Sooo Pinoy in Davao City RELOADED! Day 3

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.

PATOK SA MANOK

The promise of sand, sea and surf, perked us all up on our third day of discovering Davao gastronomy. And it started with a break”feast” at Patok sa Manok – makers of Davao’s original Lechon Manok. I was expecting another grill type restaurant – smoky and al fresco. But seeing a nicely interiored food place with air-conditioning and big function rooms – a déjà vu of “being in the wrong place again”. But we weren’t, the mismatch just occurred in my thoughts that was immediately erased when I saw what they prepared for us that started our third day with a break"feast". Read more about Patok sa Manok.

MARINA TUNA

For lunch, Marina Tuna showcased their 10-ways of preparing tuna. Let’s see - tuna sashimi, tuna eye soup, sizzling tuna tendon, tuna kare-kare, kinilaw na tuna, grilled tuna belly, crispy tuna tail, sizzling tuna bagaybay, sizzling bihod and yes, grilled tuna panga.And we even had a VIP in the house – former Sen. Ernesto maceda who gamely spent time with us, foodies. Back to the lots of tuna, I enjoyed the tendons for they didn’t taste like tuna at all – lol. But the tuna belly and panga tasted much better this time. Read more about Marina 10-way Tuna.

WATERFRONT INSULAR HOTEL DAVAO

It was time for our own “panga” to open just as big as the tuna’s as our next destination looms from a distance - the posh Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao. No wonder even the food they prepared for us reflected grandeur and provided a new perspective on the usual Filipino dishes. Waterfront Davao came up with Laing Espesyal with the Bicol specialty “garnished” with Prawn and Lechon Kawali. But the Crispy Pata de Paella was the bomb – deep fried pork trotters filled with paella! Read more about Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao.

Island Garden City of Samal

From the grounds of Waterfront we saw our next foodestination – separated by a kilometer or two of deep blue sea. Good thing the wharf was just on the grounds of the complex and that we just walked and took the boat for a few minutes. And we arrived on the Island Garden City of Samal and this pristine beach was a very welcoming sight and break to our Davao food trip!

PARADISE ISLAND PARK & BEACH RESORT

The Paradise Island Park and Beach Resort was breather in our eatinerary, not only it gave an entirely different ambiance; our first food was halo-halo -really nice and soothing. The food served tasted more like home - Chicken Binakol, Combo (fried banana in batter), Tinu-om na Bangus Belly, only to find out that the resort manager hails from Iloilo. They also had kamote chips, seafood curry, Fisherman’s basket (assorted steamed seafood in a wrap) and fried calamari. It was indeed a relaxing part of the food route we had that day – we even had time to lounge, others had dip in the waters, while others really fell asleep. Indeed, a paradise! Read more about Paradise Island Park and Beach Resort.

Going back to the mainland but still within reach of the sea was Moray’s Bar and Deck at Garden by the Bay. A panoramic view of Samal Island looms from afar with a large ship in the foreground reminded us that we just crossed a deep blue sea. That’s why true to their promise of surviving a “bumpy” banca ride, we all witnessed someone swearing to enjoy and appreciate PANGA. Indeed Grilled Tuna Panga was served at Garden by the Bay complemented with Inihaw na Pusit, Pork Barbecue and Eggplant Torta. The latter provided something new to our taste buds that even thought it seems ordinary, it tasted something special. Read more about Garden by the Bay.

TAKLOBO at JACK'S RIDGE

And finally, from the sea we went up the hills and had dinner with a breathtaking view of Davao City at Jack’s Ridge. There the resort on the side of Matina Hills gave a scenic Davao nightscape from the main restaurant - The Taklobo. With its logo like that of an open oyster shell, we deduced it’s really the one. But they didn’t serve oysters but dished up Seafood Supreme (a mixed of seafood in special white cream sauce), Camaron Rebosado (shrimp tempura), Grilled Tuna Belly and Durian Leche Flan. The grilled tuna was one of the juiciest and tastiest we had so far and the durian leche flan was heavenly, not because we ‘re on top of the hill much nearer to the heavens, but each bite had was a gastronomic symphony. Alleluiah! Read more about Taklobo at Jack's Ridge.

Day 3 of our epic Davao food trip with Sooo Pinoy has just ended and we can’t wait for what our fourth day has in store for us. I took a peek on our menu – crispy pata, crispy tadyang, chicken binakol, caldereta espanyol and crabs. “C” you tomorrow

The Sooo Pinoy Davao foodies at Waterfront Insular Davao

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

DAY 1: Round up | Dencio's Kamayan | Grand Regal Hotel | Barbeque Boss

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

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 (

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 usu

A native delicacy called Inday-inday

Now you may ask, what is Inday-Inday ? It's another repetitive-feminine named native delicacy that is made from rice like its more popular sister - baye-baye . While the latter is has its own original flavor and make, inday-inday is actually a combination of two well loved native delicacies - muasi ( palitaw ) and bukayo . But the muasi portion is not the the usual palitaw recipe for the it's more firm and gummy (I don't know the English term for kid-ol ). Actually its more like a hardened kutsinta and this makes it more to my liking since I'm not really fond of muasi in the first place. And its not quite easy to find inday-inday in the market today, though I've seen and tried it in Sabor Ilonggo stalls but their's is more like suman latik for the based is ibos -like. Ibos is malagkit rice boiled in gata which is called suman in Tagalog. Despite the uncertainty for its nomenclature (I've read that inday-inday is just plain pal

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.

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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