FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

The lure of the "novelty" of a bakeshop inside a hospital had me, in a span of three days, twice inside St Paul's Hospital lining up for this moist, fluffy and delicious carrot bread from Sisters' Delight Bakeshop. But after all, the bread itself is a very big delight as the delicious aroma of this bread leaves a lingering desire to have more than just a bite. Made with fresh and organic ingredients with no preservatives, this carrot bread is the best seller among their baked goodies which includes Carrot Cup, Chocolate Cup Cake, Challah Bread, Torta Cebuana and Ensaymada. The carrot bread in particular is baked every morning but it isn't available until the early afternoon like around 2pm. It has to be cooled to ambient temperature before it can be wrapped so as to prevent deformation and rapid moistening of the bread in its wrapper. They bake a very limited number per day - that's more or less 30 loaves of bread, thus it'

Almost as famous as its namesake festival, chicken sio pao from Dinagyang Refreshment is truly worth the trip to this hole-in-the-wall food shop. Both of its more convenient branches are located within the MaryMart Center but you will surely have second thoughts if its really worth it since ambiance is never heard of (except the one in the food court). Their main branch though is located in the district of Villa. Dinagyang Refreshment also have shorts orders from batchoy to spaghetti, and turo turo items for lunch and dinner, to chocolate cakes and brazo de mercedes for desserts. But it is their sio pao, especially the chicken that made this food shop stamp its foot in the very competitive gastronomic scene of Iloilo.

Bingkahan sa Mohon makes one of the most popular bingka places in Iloilo City. It has been one of my blog frustrations before not having a feature on them. I've tried many times before but I ended up with more frustrations - having no more bingkas left or my reserved order was given to others. It's not easy to get them since I live far from where they are located. But finally I ended this streak of bad luck; I got "tons" of bingka from Mohon and I loved it! What makes it delicious aside from the concoction is the amount of coconut strips in each of these small round bingkas. While others have microscopic amount, Mohon bingkas have more than enough that sometimes it feels like eating bucayo rather than bingka . Sold for PhP 10 per pack of four, this quick fix will surely makes one crave for more and oftentimes come back and buy some more. Good thing I bought 5 packs that time, more than enough for me to savour every bite. With the h

What the Bicolanos (and the rest of the Philippines?) know as laing , the Ilonggos call it pangat . This particular one from Breakthrough Restaurant along Villa beach in Iloilo City is among the most popular commercially produced pangat .  There are also a number of pangat -makers especially in Villa with pangat  like the one served during the Arevalo fiesta. The one below was during the Jaro Fiesta served at the Jamerlans. Pork or whatever filling one prefers (seafood) is wrapped inside  gabi  leaves. It is then simmered in low fire in a coconut milk-ginger concoction until cooked. 

Ramboys. Liempo!  That's probably it. Ofcourse, you'll have to have some extra rice to go with that deliciously crispy liempo that would surely make you rave and crave for more. You'd never look at any other liempo when you tried Ramboy's version. In fact, that would become your standard for a great-tasting liempo. And I am not yet finished with my Ramboy's liempo addiction. First, its the cripy-licious skin that would make you salivate. The slow charcoal roasting of the liempo makes the skin chicharon like especially if it's hot of the grill. So you'd be better be there early when the lunch or dinner crowd thickens as you'd probably wait long for an order or worse - it will be out of stock. The meat is well flavored that I usually don't use any sawsawan it comes with. It has the citrussy flavor from the calamansi in the marinade plus other spices and seasoning that you can also smell when served.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, there would be thousands of the word namit (delicious) written all over this native delicacy called bot-ong. Bot-ong is made with glutinous rice mixed with gata wrapped in banana leaves in a pointed shape then boiled until cooked. It is like ibos but with different shape and wrapper. Ibos is mostly tubular and wrapped on coconut leaves while bot-ong is pointed at one end and wrapped in banana leaves. Ibos and Bot-ong being wrapped and still uncooked. Photo from Google While the dips could be interchangeable, ibos is usually paired with sugar, bukayo or ripe mango while bot-ong with latik which is  made with gata and sugar boiled until it is syrupy and caramelized. One of my fave bot-ongs now comes from Brgy. Lanag in Santa Barbara, Iloilo from the same makers of  Puto sa Lanag .  I could eat 5 or even more in just one sitting when the bot-ong is warm and drizzled with the latik.  Will give details on how to order these delicious

The famous La Paz batchoy is a concoction of noodles, pork, liver and innards in broth topped with chicharon , garlic and chives. Among the popular batchoyans in town is Ted's Oldtimer who is credited to be the innovator of La Paz batchoy as it is known today throughout the country. Among the innovations they introduced are batchoys using different kinds of noodles which one can decide upon ordering in their stores. The original and default order is made with these yellow egg noodles known as meke . With a hint of saltiness, these noodles have been chosen as the original maybe it is among the least expensive during those days. Also the noodles compliment the taste and the color of the other ingredients making it pleasing to the eyes. And usually this noodles makes the perfect presentation of the batcho y as it holds firmly the other ingredients that makes the signature mound on a batchoy bowl. Sad to say that the new deep bowls being used now in some branches