Mooncake Festival Buffet at The Promenade at Days Hotel Iloilo

Highlighting various Chinese dishes and specialties like mooncakes, The Promenade at Days Hotel Iloilo celebrates Mid Autumn Festival 2014 with a special buffet series that started yesterday and to conclude on the day of the festival itself on Monday, Sept. 8

A display of various mooncakes greeted us during the informal launch of the buffet yesterday. It came in different variants to choose from like lotus seed, yellow monggo and black monggo, among others. They were enough reason for us to start our gastronomic quest so we can have them as "prize at the end of our food journey" - so to speak.

It began with a tasty soup made with pork strips and mushrooms among others that whet our appetites even before we headed to the appetizer station.

There's even more when we got there with Golden Shrimps Balls (crunchy with a taste of real shimps in every bit) and Stuffed Bean Curd (perfect for tofu lovers or even first timers).

Over at the Dimsum station, we gorge on sio mai and sio pao, among others.

On top of the fresh and organic choices at the Salad Bar are the Chinese Bean Sprout Salad and Shrimp Salad.

A vegetarian delight the Bean Sprout Salad was a healthy and tasty mix of sprouts and fried bean curd in light dressing while the Shrimp Salad had shrimps, apples and carrots in an Asian fusion style recipe.

Then off to the main course and starting with the Peking-style rice with mushrooms, squid and pineapple among others. A complete "meal" unto itself!

But since it's a buffet, we got some Hoisin Chicken...

and Stir-fry fish fillet!

For our veggies, there's four in one dish having mushrooms, young corn, chinese pechay (bok choy) and tomatoes.

And then there's hung ma, a braised pork dish with mushrooms and hardboiled egg, among others which instantly became everybody's favorite. Who could resist tender slow cooked pork in savoury sauce with that layer of fat?

Different "Chinese Special" stations will highlight the 8-day buffet and for starters, we had the White Chicken, Soy Chicken and Roast Pork Asado Station to aptly start the Chinese festival Buffet.

So what it will be - chicken or pork? "Of course, BOTH!" answers Greg of Cafe Ilonggo who captures this station in all its appetizing glory.

Harder to resist are the sweets making up the Dessert Station as The Promenade offers the best dessert station in town. So popular that it even has its own buffet called Sweet Cravings.

Specially made for the Mid Autumn Festival were desserts one would would usually find in Chinese restaurants.

How about some Buchi and Amond Jelly?

And there's iced black gulaman and white sago.

Those wanting more icy treats are most welcome to concoct their own at the Halo-halo station with more than a dozen ingredients to choose from.

Then there's the the barrage of sweets like egg tarts, cupcakes, cookies, bars and squares plus dessert cups and so much more.

Also an the station are puddings and whole cakes like this full-of-aroma and delicious banana-walnut cake.

Fruits are always present and they come in their freshest all the time.

And we came in full circle - we're back to the mooncake which is the star of the moment during this Mid Autumn Festival. When you like it, you can purchase some more from the display in front or get some from Tinapayan Bakeshop at the ground floor.

Indeed the Mooncake Festival Buffet is another gastronomic event and The Promenade at Days Hotel Iloilo is awaits you within the next five days.

Mid Autumn Festival Buffets at The Promenade happens during the International Lunch Buffet from Sept. 1-5 and Sept. 8 from 11am to 2pm; Indulgence Buffet on Sept. 6 from 6pm-10pm and Sunday Lunch Buffet on Sept. 7, 11am to 2pm.

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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