Home-grown and local flavors at SM City Iloilo Foodcourt

Food offerings that are more familiar and closer to the heart of the Ilonggos are just some of the gastronomic highlights of SM City Iloilo Foodcourt. While there are certain Foodcourt stores that provide satisfaction to one's "international" palate (Read Foodtrip around the World and SM Food Hall), nothing beats the taste of local flavors. Be it homegrown restaurants serving local cuisine and dishes.

And SM City Iloilo Foodcourt has lots to choose from when it comes homegrown restaurant and local cuisine. Be it well-loved Ilonggo restaurants or those coming other places but still serves Filipino dishes, it's a feast to both the eyes and tummy!

Casa Ilongga, as the name suggests, serves mostly Ilonggo cuisine and is a local favorite. Two of its specialties are very close to the heart (and stomachs) of the locals - KBL and Lapaz Batchoy. KBL is almost everybody's favorite dish and often most missed of those outside the region. It is named after its three main ingredients - kadyos (purplish beans), baboy (pork pata is the best) and langka (unripe jackfruit). Add to that is the local souring fruit batwan which gives the broth a mild sour flavor mostly preferred by the ILonggos.

But none is more iconic than the Ilonggo specialty - Lapaz Batchoy. A concoction of pork, liver, intestines, chicharon, egg noodles and meat broth, it is, as always, Iloilo best known cuisine. And the comfort and convenience of having the taste of batchoy at the food court makes it a filling meal or snack of those who are always on the go!

Breakthrough is an iconic seafood restaurant along the stretch of Villa Beach in Arevalo. Yet it cna be found all throughout the city under different settings and names as well as in foodcourts. Bringing its signature dishes fastfood-style and in a more convenient locations, it aims to satisfy your cravings as well as not making a dent on your pockets.

Try its Sinabawang Isda, Sizzling Crabmeat and Aligue Rice, among others and you'll just be as satisfied as you can be.

Ocean City is another home-grown restaurant that makes it presence among the foodcourts. While it has two other casual dining branches, its food court offerings of local and Chinese specialties make a mark on the foodies.

Take your pick from Beef with Broccoli, Ox Tongue Estofado and Grilled Sibingan, among others. Specialty foods at a fraction of the price you pay and served as your order.

As its names suggests, Bacolod Lechon Haus serves roasted meat like Chicken, Pork BBQ and Lechon Baboy by the plate. A great way to satisfy your craving for lechon as you can order in small or party sizes. Extra rice please!

Are you ready to sizzle? Sizzling Plate offers delicious and affordable combo meals - yes they all sizzle!

Take you pick from Sizzling Pork Steak or Honey-glazed Pork Chop. Or better yet order it together, so you'll have two serving of Java rice and two meaty offerings.

"Double-time" continues with this Double Decker sizzler made with two pieces ground meat patties with cheese - a local take on Salisbury steak. Now, where'e my extra rice?

Still have space for more meaty goodness? How about the yummy offerings of Reyes Barbecue?

Aside from its best-selling Pork Barbecue on sticks, one cannot say no to Chicken and Pork Belly Barbecue. With its signature marinade and basting sauce, you can already smell its deliciousness from afar.

Speaking of aroma, how about the Langhap-Sarap goodness of the Philippines' most iconic fastfood chain Jollibee? Despite all the food offerings on the table, no one says "no" to Jolly Spaghetti and Chicken Joy.

To cap it all off, how about some fresh fruit salad made while you wait.

You can choose from the fresh locals fruits (seasonal or not) for a healthy and delicious mix as dessert after your food binge.

As we end this food trip on a sweet yet healthy note, SM City Iloilo Foodcourt has everything for everyone. Its just a matter of a few steps in and around the area to satisfy what you've been craving for!

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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