Sooo Pinoy in Davao City RELOADED! Day 2

I was in Davao City exactly this day a year ago, to be part of Unilever Food Solutions' Sooo Pinoy Food Trip. The goal of the Food Trip is to show that Filipino dishes per region have different identities based on the culture, lifestyle and history of the area. The Food Trip also aims to show that there are many Filipino recipes from different regions of the Philippines, each having its own specialty that has to be recognized for the unique flavor it adds to the Filipino Cuisine.

Our second day of nothing but food trip started with us appearing on a local morning show featuring our food trip the day before. It was a prelude to another gastronomic day as we were scheduled to have at least 6 restaurants for the day. Read more about our Sooo Pinoy Food Trip in Davao City Day 2.

PROBINSYA BUFFET RESTAURANT

Buffets form part a large of the Davao gastronomic scene and I had my first at Probinsya serving Balbacua (a gingery version of the Ilonggo pata), Kare-kare, Lechon Liempo, Laing and assorted kakanin. Lucky is the restaurant that is featured during breakfast as everything they serve will become delicious – we’re all hungry. But in fairness to Probinsya they really did serve good food – especially the lechon liempo. Read more about Probinsya.

AHFAT SEAFOODS PLAZA

Just a few meters (and minutes) away was lunch in one of the most popular Chinese restaurants in town – Ahfat Seafood Plaza. I liked the open kitchen concept as diners can watch how their orders are being prepared and cooked. There we had our first galore of tuna - Grilled Panga (jaw), Belly and Buntot (tail) plus grilled Bihod (sac of fish roe) and Bagaybay (the male equivalent) and the Pineapple Rice - both a visual and palate treat. Even if we just had breakfast, hunger set in as we saw what the restaurant had prepared for us. And the PANGA adventure started. Read More about Ahfat Seafoods Plaza.

D'LEONOR HOTEL

We really got lost as we trooped to our next food destination – D’ Leonor Hotel. We travelled far and wide almost reaching the hillsides and at last, we found the right place, which was actually just right across the street outside the carpark – just a walking distance! Anyway, D’ Leonor Hotel gave samplers of their Special Roasted Chicken with Napoli Sauce, Fiesta Lapu-lapu and Leche Flan. Finally dessert and their leche flan with lemon zest was quite good – or maybe it was the fact it was of different taste. Nonetheless, it was it made up for our “lost gastronomy”. Read more about D'Leonor Hotel.

THE RITZ at GARDEN OASES

It was this Pinakbet with Lechon Kawali in Gata that got my attention when food started coming out from the kitchen of The Ritz Hotel at Garden Oases in Davao City. Aptly named since the place has integrated a lot of greenery into its surroundings aside from offering the comforts and amenities for the business and leisure travellers. It is just a 20-minute drive to the Davao International Airport and it is located within the business, commercial and center leisure spots in Davao City. Read more about The Ritz at Garden Oases.

E.Y.s TUNA

From a small tent in Tagum City, Eloisa Yee started her food business during night markets and from then on it started to expand and in November of 2010, E.Y.s Tuna was born. Among the most competitive restaurants in Davao offering tuna and other grilled specialties, EY's Tuna gives Dabawenyos the healthier choice in its line up of local cuisine focusing more on non-pork dishes. But for the Sooo Pinoy visit in one of their branches they dishes up something very exotic; Chicken Adobo ala Mode - that's adobo with CHOCOLATES! Read more about E.Y.s Tuna.

To cap off our second day, a feast of Davao delights and specialtiewelcomed us at Flyover Ihaw-Ihaw. An open kitchen greeted the Sooo Pinoy foodie team when we went in and there was a rhythmic gastronomic chaos as the cooks were all busy preparing orders here and there. Conceived almost 20 years ago, the restaurant aims to impart delectable savory food at the same time generating employment for economic progress. Its main specialties are the chicken and pork barbecues thus the "ihaw-ihaw". Read more about Flyover Ihaw-Ihaw.

So Day 2 of our epic Davao food trip with Sooo Pinoy has just ended and the word “beach” made us all excited for our third day as our eatinery promised some “sand, sea and surf”. SEA you “tomorrow” …

The Sooo Pinoy Davao foodies at Flyover Ihaw-Ihaw

Filipinos are encouraged to join and support the Sooo Pinoy movement, a partnership between Unilever Food Solutions and the Department of Tourism, and go on a gastronomic adventure that both fills the stomach and enriches our awareness of our own identity. To know more about the campaign, food lovers are invited to like the Sooo Pinoy page on Facebook and follow @SoooPinoy on Twitter

Sooo Pinoy Epic DAVAO Food Trip: June 25-29, 2012

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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