Grilled chorizo and more at Chika-an at Robinson's Place Iloilo

Ilonggos can now savour the flavors of Cebu as Chika-an finally opened it's gastronomic doors at the newly renovated Robinson's Place Iloilo. My many trips to Cebu within last two years only brought me to seeing many Chika-an stores all over Cebu but never had the time to experience their specialties. Good thing I can now enjoy what they had to offer right here in Iloilo.

As the Iloilo Bloggers were invited to the opening last May 15, we all had a preview of Chika-an's wide range of specialties like crispy pata, grilled squid, beef kaldereta, pancit canton and a lot more.

But another visit, this time for the weekly #lamonfriday, yielded yet another gastronomic discovery - Grilled Chorizo de Cebu! And I've been craving for it eversince.

The longganisa had more fatty portions and that makes it even more delicious and grilling it brings out its real juices ad gives its flavour a new dimension. Add to that the chorizo in infused with chillies that every bite gives a thrill and you'll definite want some more. A serving of 4 chorizo in a stick costs PhP99 - quite expensive perhaps to most, but its one hell of an order that one is surely have to get another.

Their Crispy Pata lived up to it's name as everything was crispy even to the bone (lol). A quick dip in your very own sawsawan will surely create crispy pata memories with a big crunch.

The baked scallops caught my attention as they were actually using the "Cebuano" scallops - the one with more defined "corrugated" shells. But without the shell, the scallops swimming in the melted cheese and spices gave me another reason to comeb ack for more.

Ending these Chika-an sessions are two of its specialty desserts - banana-langka turon and biko (that's suman for the Ilonggos) with haleya glaze. A perfect finale to one gastronomic adventure with the flavors of Cebu right here in Iloilo.

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 por...

Easy Century Tuna Recipes

If you're looking for simple, easy and delicious Century Tuna recipes online, congratulations, you've found it right here! How about spicy tuna sisig or tuna sinigang ? Maybe stir fried tuna with pickles or just yang chow fried rice . I love Century Tuna from its flakes in oil variety, the spicier the better, but when I discovered the versatility of its solid variant, it became an obsession. At first I was just into the usual tested recipes; pasta and sandwich filling, but then it got simpler – I just eat it straight from the can! Usually with a piece of bread or an apple. I just add a few drops of vinegar to spice it up a bit. Then came the experiments. Yup I got tired of that habit that one day, I decided to test my skills in the kitchen. Serendipity, you might call it yet most of them turned into good recipes that I have shared now and then. Satisfying my Palabok cravings had me experiment on this recipe on the spot. With Century Tuna in lieu of the us...

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. ...

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

It's not makopa. It's tambis

People unfamiliar with these would often mistakenly refer to tambis as makopa - for its shape and color are almost identical. That's until you you see it up close and bite into its flesh. Tambis has a smoother skin, tends to be more translucent and a lot juicier. On the other hand, mangkopa ( makopa ) has a more velvety skin, more opaque and is drier. Both come from the same genus - syzygium and just differs on the specie - aqueum , samarangense or malaccense . I really cannot point out which is which though... It was one rainy Saturday afternoon while having a meeting at Camiña Balay nga Bato in Arevalo that I curiously gazed outside the window. It was a tambi s tree teeming with its fruits - lots of it. And before I knew, we were served this basket of tambis which appreciatively devoured... It brought a lot of memories then - of afternoons climbing our neighbours tambis tree, of having ...

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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