Kadyos, baboy, langka (KBL) for Fiestas in the City 2013

I was at SM City Iloilo yesterday to take part in one of the side activities for the annual Fiestas in the City event of the Department of Tourism Region 6 with the cooperation of both the Province and City Tourism Offices. Opened last Monday and will run through the weekend, the event showcases the merry month of May and how it is celebrated all throughout the city and province of Iloilo - festivals, fiestas, festivals queens, Santacruzan and of course gastronomy.

To a hungry crowd of onlookers, Chef Red Zamora - a one-time contest of Kitchen Superstar over at GMA 7 hosted by Marvin Agustin and developed some of the menu of Book Latte, shared his version of KBL. To most Ilonggos, kadyos-baboy-langka is among the ultimate Ilonggos cuisine and served on fiestas and other events. Chef Red shared the recipe he got from Miag-ao and together with culinary students from John B. Lacson Foundation Maritime University, it was one afternoon filled gastronomy.

Using rice washing (water used to wash rice) as based for the broth, Chef Red boiled the kadyos beans, unripe langka (jackfruit), batwan and the oven baked pork belly. At home, our KBL recipe always call for the pork to be grilled for the aroma and flavour of the "sinugba nga baboy" seeps into the soup giving it a dimension on taste. To add more flavour, he sauteed some guinamos and added it to the boiling pot.

Presentation is the key and Chef Red did a very appetizingly presented KBL that even from above, one will surely salivate looking at the finished product. Indeed, this combination of pork, jackfruit, beans endemic to the region plus a souring ingredient (batwan) that is also an "indigenous" to the region makes KBL one of the most sought after Ilonggos dishes.

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 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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