Salmon Festival at Meshi: Japanese Dinner Buffet at The Promenade at Days Hotel Iloilo

Living up to its name, it was really SALMON everywhere - appetizers, grill, main course, sushi and sashimi station, during Meshi's Salmon Festival that started last Wednesday at The Promenade at Days Hotel Iloilo. The long-standing Japanese dinner buffet of the hotel offered its guests and patrons a lot of salmon- inspired and salmon based dishes like the Sweet and Sour Fish with Salmon Head as one of the main courses.

But to the appetizers we go as we gorged on Salmon-Tamago Maki - salmon rolled in egg, a salmon omelet .Then there's the Salmon Wafu Salad which had Salmon with Shredded vegetables. Wafu is "Japanese-style dressing" is a vinaigrette-type salad dressing based on soy sauce, popular in Japan. The standard wafu dressing consists of a mixture of Japanese soy sauce, rice vinegar and vegetable oil.(From Wikipedia)

The Salmon Kamameshi (steamed rice with Salmon and vegetables) already had all the flavours and the ingredients of a complete meal.

But then again, there was Salmon Ramen, a mix of stir fried noodles and vegetables with a lot of salmon.

And what's a Japanese buffet without the sashimi and sushi stations. Eye-catching and mouth-watering both these stations are often the most sought after at Meshi - after all its a Japanese buffet.

With soy sauce, calamansi and wasabi on the side, there more than 10 variants to choose from that night. Constantly filled as if to say, there's more where tehse come from, guests never saw these station empty. After all, what's a Japanese dinner without these two.

Finally the grill station had salmon and other fishes to be grilled on the spot and to be enjoyed "hot off the grill".

These are just a few of what Meshi has to offer every Wednesdays and Fridays from 6-10pm at The Promenande. For PhP510++, it lets you enjoy the specialties of the Land of the Rising Sun right here in Iloilo, twice a week.

For reservations, please call 63 33 337-3297. The Promenade is located at the 4th Level of The Atrium Mall, Gen. Luna Street, Iloilo City. Check Days Hotel Iloilo on Facebook too.

Check out more photos here and here.

Ultimate Ilonggo Favorite: KBL Kadyos, Baboy, Langka

K.B.L. or Kadyos, Baboy, Langka is the ultimate favorite dish of most Ilonggos. It is also one of the most missed native dishes as kadyos and the souring ingredient, batwan , are hard to find when outside of the Ilonggo region. Basically, it is boiled/stewed pork dish owing its "deliciousness" to the combination of the soft and tender pork, the tamed sourness of batwan and the malinamnam na sabaw . One of the "secrets" of the malinamnamn na sabaw , is the fact that the pork, whether just the plain meat or pata (hocks) are first grilled or broiled. This gives the broth a rather smoky taste that makes it more appetizing.. Learn how to make the Ilonggo dish KBL (Kadyos, Baboy, at Langka) with the recipe below. Ingredients 1 kilo Pata (pork hocks) or pork cubes, GRILLED and sliced into bite size pieces 1 unripe Jack fruit, cubed 2 cups pigeon pea (kadyos) 6-8 pieces batwan fruit (or tamarind powder) 1 piece pork broth cube (

An Ilonggo favorite - Valenciana

Found in almost all occasions like fiesta, birthdays, reunions and others, Ilonggos really love valenciana because most if not all have grown accustomed of having it in special gatherings at home. A complete " go, grow and glow " dish because it has the carbohydrates, protein and vitamins and minerals in just one spoonful, Valenciana is really an " occasional dish ". Here's the recipe for Valenciana

Batwan

Ilonggos know batwan or batuan by heart as the fruit is almost endemic to the Western Visayas. Its scientific name is Garcinia binucao, derived from the Tagalog name for the fruit, binukaw. It is a large green fruit with large seeds and its a favorite souring ingredient in most Ilonggo dishes especially KBL or kadyos, baboy, langka and the Ilonggo-style paksiw known as "pinamalhan". It is characterized by a tamed sourness compared to tamarind and kamias . The fruit is sold by pieces or kilo in wet markets and even big grocery stores. Batwan is the preferred souring ingredients for the Ilonggo favorite- KBL. The photo shows boiled batwan with skin and without skin (right) A favorite riddle when we were young - "Among the many fruits in the forest, but one (batuan) is the best. What is it?"

Takway

The gabi (taro) is just one of those plants which is edible from "roots to tops". The most popular of which is the tuber part which is used in a variety of dishes and mostly in combination with coconut milk. Its leaves, of course, is the main ingredient of a Bicol specialty, laing . It is dried then chopped and sauteed with other ingredients including, again, coconut milk. Then there is takway . The local term for its tendrils/runner, that part which is torn between being a stem or a root for it neither grows upwards nor downwards - it grows sideways . Scraped off of its outer skin, takway is often a key ingredient in vegetable dishes like laswa and the gabi tuber with coconut milk and local snails know as bago-ngon . It is also popular when cooked adobo style with guinamos , the local bago-ong . It is very popular in the region that even big supermarkets sell takway in style - cleaned and plastic wrapped in styro with some additions to make it easier to prepare.

A native (foods) welcome in Guimaras

Even after having breakfast less than an hour that time, we couldn't say no to this lot of native delciacies that welcomed us in Guimaras. First and foremost, Guimaras best known produce is their sweet mango famous almost worldwide. And it comes with it's best partner, ibos. This brown baye-baye variety is made from toasted rice thus giving it a more disctinct flavour compared to it's more "caucasian" cousin. I like the one wrapped in banana leaves compared with the one in plastic for it gives it a more native feel. So when you're in Guimaras, be sure to check out the markets for these native delicacies that can make your trip more gastronomically satisfying.

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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