A Dinagyang lunch at Roberto's

As the Dinagyang Festival is also the "fiesta" of the City Proper district of Iloilo City, it has been a tradition for most residents to have a feast in their homes despite the abundance of food in the city. And I was part of one of these fiesta's the Dinagyang Sunday of 2012. Together with the awesome couple Anton Diaz (Our Awesome Planet) and wife Rachelle, we snaked our way through the crowd and found ourselves in a more crowded place - Roberto's Restaurant.

During regular days, Roberto's is already crowded so given this is one very hectic day for the Ilonggos, the crowded never thinned out. With their famous Queen sio pao selling like "hotcakes" plus their other specialties like meatballs, pancit bihon, hamburger and a lot more, the Ilonggos still favor the homegrown taste of Roberto's.

But we went further up the building and joined in the fiesta fare prepared by the family of Claudes, that guy you'd often see manning the cashier's booth and often heard shouting "Isa pa ka Reyna" - referring to an order of Queen sio pao. It was my first time to be in this part of the Roberto's for usually I just have some take outs. It was two flights of stairs before we reached where the gastronomy was and it was already teeming with people - mostly acquaintances.

So we wasted no time digging in the fiesta fare which included lechon, chicken inasal, beef stew, caldereta, chopsuey and pancit canton, among others. I can't help but long for meatballs, bihon and camaron rebosado for these are among the popular food items at Roberto's. It was just a quick lunch but satisfying for there were a lot more friend lining up the stairs down below plus we had a lot to discover in the streets - from food and stuff to interesting people and places along the way.

After all it's Dinagyang, the biggest street party in Iloilo and it comes only once a year so we had to make the most part of it. And for Anton and Rachelle, it was their first time to join and celebrate Dinagyang so it was also a time for them to discover the things Iloilo has to offer especially during this big celebration. Hala Bira!

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

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.

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?"

A cooking weed called Lupo

Lupo is a weed that is commonly found in ricefields and roadside in provinces. It is most prevalent in Ilonggo cooking compared to others as it is mostly the Ilonggos who can recognize lupo , though maybe called differently in other places. Most commonly used in laswa or monggo dishes to add greens like kamote tops, it also makes a good partner in sinabawan na isda recipes. It has hints of bitterness but don't expect it to be ampalaya-bitter like. It is mostly sold in wet local wet markets by the tumpok .

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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