A bounty of fruits for the New Year

Filipinos have embraced the Chinese tradition of having a bounty of fruits to welcome the New year. Whether it's a dozen representing each month a year or 13 fruits (the extra one for the 1st month of the next New Year), the tradition continues as Pinoys scramble to look for these fruits for the belief it will bring good luck in the coming New Year.

So in this tradition I will end 2014 and start 2015 with the bounty of fruits - that made 2014 another very fruitful year in blogging and hoping 2015 will be as bountiful or even more.

BUKO From salads, halo-halo and shakes to chicken binakol and native delicacies like linugaw, buko/niyog/coconut will always be an essential ingredient of Filipino cuisine.

PERSIMMON I just had my first bite of persimmon a few days (available at Iloilo Supermart) and it tasted like a hard gelatinzed star apple or kaymito.

CHICO We used to have five native chico trees in our yard and only one remains - but still give us plenty of fruits when chico is in season.

LANSONES When it's in season, almost 80% of all the fruits sold along the streets in the city are lansones. With so much competition, prices tend to drop and one can get these succulent fruits for as low as PhP40/kilo. With that bargain I often buy 3 kilos and almost eat them all by myself. But sometimes, I am willing to pay to around Php50/kilo for the assurance of a good lansones - sweet even when small and the skin is still smooth and brownish, not black.

BUDYAWI People call this as the sago fruit since the white edible part tastes and feels likes tapioca pearls - though a bit more gummy and hard. And I'm glad I was able to find this hard-to-find fruit this year thus giving my blog a good picture of budyawi.

AVOCADO We don't have guacamole here but avocado makes a great dessert when mixed with condensed milk or when made into an ice cream (just freeze the one with condensed milk).

CATMON I live in a town whose old name is catmon and there's only one surviving catmon tree. So its really worth learning and preserving its history.

GRAPES & PEAR I remember having this fruit bowl as lunch a few days ago as I found myself too inundated with the rich Holiday gastronomy. So I went on this 2-fruit diet... and ate lunch a full lunch 30 minutes after.

TAMBIS I only used to know the pink variety of tambis until this green variety found itself at home given to us by our neighbour who has a tree grown in their backyard.

SANTOL While we also have a native santol tree in our backyard and most of the fruits just fall on the ground, I can't say no this this batch of big and sweet Bangkok santol variety.

SARGUELAS One of the most missed fruits especially those outside the country, the fruit brings back the childhood memories of most Pinoys. Whether it was climbing on the tree to get these fruits or that unfortunate fall that followed such climb - it stll makes good memories altogether.

STAR APPLE One of the most common fruit trees in our yard, we might have around 10 and the question that still remain unanswered is that what is star apple in the local dialect? Kaymito is the Tagalog name but I've grown calling this to be star apple ever since.

MANGOSTEEN Embarrassing but true, I only tasted my first mangosteen a few months ago even though I've passed by stalls selling them for years. And now I know why many like this fruit and I am one of them now...

Saved the best for last and I'll just let this photo of MANGOES from GUIMARAS speak for itself.

Happy New Year, everyone.

Wishing you all a prosperous, bountiful and FRUITful 2015!

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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