"Krazy Burger" at Steps of Rome

With the novel idea of creating your own burger and eating as many you want, Steps of Rome recently launched KRAZY BURGER. Happening every Wednesdays and Thursdays for the whole month of September, satisfy your burger cravings without borders and limits!

For PhP150, you get to create a burger that fits your taste by choosing your own bun, dressing and toppings. Each table that goes "Krazy Burger" is given this menu where guests check their choices and wait a few minutes for their orders to become "a reality".

So last Thursday, me and my fellow food blogger Greg of Cafe Ilonggo, decided to check it out for ourselves betting whose gonna last this burger challenge. So I created my first burger (topmost photos) with smoked ham, cheddar cheese and bacon bits dressed with garlic mayo in a Kaiser bun. I just loved how the patty was cooked "well done" for its always the one I prefer.

My second burger came in quite late for there was a long queue for we were competing with more than 30 other "Krazies" for this burger mania. This time I had it in a white sesame seed bun with white onion rings, mozzarella cheese and more bacon bits with mustard and honey mayo dressing.

My third burger seemed to be on the healthy side as it had garlic mushrooms, cucumbers and cheddar cheese with lite mayo dressing in a classic burger bun. The cucumbers had my buds tasting something raw giving it some fresher dimension.

Had all these burgers with this filling chocolate chip milk shake. I could have had my fourth burger as we had time for our last order but it would be gluttony in the works. At least it gives me enough reason to be back again and make some more Krazy Burgers and it'll be gastronomic another experiment...

Steps of Rome

by Gruppo Al DEente

Plazuela de Iloilo, Mandurriao, Iloilo City
033-333-3509

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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