Welcoming the Year of the Metal Ox

Kiong Hee Huat Tsai!

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Kung Hei Fat Chai!

No matter how they are said, these greetings for the Lunar New Year or more popularly referred to as the Chinese New Year are among the most said and heard during the biggest celebrations during the first two months of every year.

Together with Valentine's Day and for the Ilonggos, Dinagyang Festival, these events shaped our malling, shopping and eating weeks or days leading to these events.

So it's like an extension of the December holidays with a more thematic gastronomy served in and out of our homes.

A few days before the Chinese New Year, I received a basket from Iloilo Supermart filled with lots and lots of Chinese delicacies and snacks one can find at their grocery stores.

Ranging from the CNY staple Tikoy that came in various sizes and variants, there was also some hopia, rice & peanut rolls and kiamoy among others in the snacks basket.

That became a sign that welcoming the Year of the Metal was to be celebrated.

Come February 12, 2021, it was a simple Pinoy-style celebration without the Chinese traditional fanfare - just foods with Chinese influence, fruits that are often associated with the occasion and the delectable goodies from Iloilo Supermart.

So, here's a little round up of the simple gastronomic celebration we had to usher in the 2021 Lunar New Year!

Tikoy

Fried Tikoy dipped in Egg

Eggless fried Tikoy

Monggo filled Tikoy Balls

Peanut, Beans, Sesame Tikoy

Lomi with Pan de Leche

Hopia

Longevity Peach Buns

This Chinese dessert bun from Tinapayan Bakeshop at Iloilo Supermart is made with soft white dough and filled with yellow bean paste.

They are shaped and colored like peaches to symbolize the blessings for a long life.

Kiat-Kiat

On a side note, most of the goodies from Iloilo Supermart were actually gone even days before the celebration, so they never actually reached the climax of the celebration.

Maybe next year...

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 (

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.

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

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

An Ilonggo favorite - Suman Latik

Suman Latik is one of my favorite native delicacies - plain suman/ibos topped with sweetened coconut strips or bukayo . Most of the time those sold in the markets have this two (suman and bukayo) already in one wrap and all you have to to is devour it. But most of the time, the bukayo portion is bitin that I wish there's more. So why not make our own suman latik so you can have all the suman we want with all the bukayo toppings we desire! Here's a simple recipe for Suman Latik

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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