FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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 (

Be it chicken inasal or grilled pork chop to seafoods especially  talaba, a spiced vinegar is the perfect dip to further one's appetite. While every region in the Philippines has it's own version of a spiced vinegar and a name for it, when in Western Visayas especially - just look for SINAMAK . But one need not to look far as it can found almost anywhere for it is a staple dip in almost every household and native restaurants.  It basically sits on the center table in most dining places and you can't miss it! The recipe varies from each household and the percentage of the "ingredients" too but always present are siling labuyo (green and red for color variation and makes it more visually appetizing), ginger (locals used langkawas or galangal but regular ginger will do) and garlic. How to make Sinamak Ingredients 2-3 cups native (coconut) vinegar (adjust according to bottle size) 1 cup siling labuyo 1/2 cup ginger, s

You can almost smell and taste the goodness of this dish. It's sinugba na pata with a sour broth and banana heart. Its almost like the recipe for the Ilonggo favorite KBL   (kadyos baboy langka) for the pork is first grilled then soured with batwan . The absence of the kadyos beans and langka is made up for by the the puso ng saging which makes a milk broth. Now what more can I say but, extra rice please!

Do you like cassava cake? It's a popular "modernized" native delicacy that got us craving for more in every bite. Good this it is very convenient to have when since it-s a staple in most bakeries and you can even order it online and be delivered right at your doorstep! I love it when its soft with a slightly burnt top that's full of cheese mixing with the condensed milk topping. It's a treat to have that creaminess mix with the sweetness and cheesiness creating a delicious explosion of flavors. But it is also easy to prepare at as the ingredients can be mostly found in the wet market or even grocery stores. Here's a simple cassava cake recipe Ingredients : CAKE   2 and 1/2 cups grated cassava 1 and coconut milk 1 and 1/2cup condensed 1 cup evap 5 Tbsp sugar 2 egg yolks 1 Tbsp flour in 2 Tbsp milk Butter for greasing TOPPINGS 1/4 cup condensed Evap Coconut 2 egg yolks 1 Tbsp flour in 2 Tbsp milk 1 cup grated cheese Procedure Preheat o

The past days of rain was the perfect time to crave for a hot bowl of soup. And it was Lomi that I was craving for. But then, all I had were mostly ingredients for Pancit Molo, so I decided to combine the specialties of Iloilo and Batangas into one, I must say delicious, noodle dish. Though, it's not really the authentic recipe for the Batangueno soup but it satisfied my lomi cravings. And it's very easy to make despite how heavy and complicated the resulting dish becomes. It's more of the fact that the noodles used are Pancit Molo wrappers and meat are the filling but you can also use dried flat noodles and plain ground meat. Check out the RECIPE .

I've been cooking this dish for the longest time but it's only now that I've known it has name. It is called TINUTUAN. A very basic vegetable dish and just like LASWA, it is very versatile with no specific ingredients. You can just throw-in what's available and sort of edible when cooked and mixed. TINUTUAN, as I always cook it, is mostly flavored by sauteed sardines. Or at times, no sauteeing is needed. Other times, canned tuna is also good. This one in particular has malunggay, papaya, sayote and patola with a can of sardines in oil. The latter's sauce type made the dish retain its original color as opposed to one that's in tomato sauce. TINUTU-AN is a perfect side dish to fried or broiled fish or meat. But on its own, it' s already a delicious and nutritious dish perfect with a plate of hot rice. What't your Tinutu-an story?

What makes the Ilonggo fresh lumpia different from most lumpiang sariwa is the absence of the sauce for the flavours is already "built-in". It is conveniently eaten on the go and sold in some stalls and bakeshops in the malls.  I got to discover this delicious fresh lumpia courtesy of Mr Eugene Jamerlan who helped the maker, Ms. Charito del Rosario, in marketing her delectable products (she also makes empanada). Each costs PhP15 and Ms Chari takes a minimum order of 50 pieces. That's too many and too expensive I thought.  Well, it's just her a sideline job for her and she doesn't make it on a daily basis, just upon order. But if you're lucky enough to order at the same time she has a big order, she can lower the minimum to maybe around 20 pieces.  Her recipe is very simple based on the actual product and it has a delectable clean taste where in you can savour the melange of the ingredients at the same time retaining some of the

When one speaks of tambo or bamboo shoots, ginat-an nga tambo   would always be the first that comes to mind. While the latter would have  dahon sang tagabang  ( saluyot  leaves),  okra ,  takway  ( gabi/ taro tendrils) with shrimps or crabs,  paklay  or  pinaklay nga tambo  at home would just be plain and simple - bamboo shoots sauteed with meat. It could almost be mistaken as a lumpia filling! Though the recipe varies from region to region, it seems that pinaklay is consistent to be something that is cut into thin strips. Be it vegetable, meat or combination of both made into one dish. Potatoes and carrots would most probably be the most common but ours would sometimes be made with labanos (radish), singkamas (jicama) and tambo with most ground or small bits pork or hibe or dried shrimps. With the variation of recipe, there would be around a hundred and one paklay recipe! Bon apetit!

Overshadowed by the more popular KBL (Kadyos, Baboy, Langka), another classic dish that makes Ilonggos crave and yearn for that simple but delicious eats is the combination of kadyos, native chicken and ubad. The ever popular-to-the-Ilonggos-but-alien-to-others is kadyos – pigeon pea. Soft beans with hues playing from dark purple to black and gives a distinct violet shade to the broth it makes. READ MORE Chicken also provides protein for this dish and to make it more Ilonggo, most of the time native chickens referred to as “Bisaya” or "darag" are used. NATIVE CHICKEN LITSON And then there's ubad – it’s no typo error; yes it’s ubad with an “A”. Not to be confused with ubod, both are different yet share a similarity. Ubod is the pith of the coconut tree while ubad is the center of the banana trunk. To get the fresh ubad, one has to peel the banana trunk to obtain that fleshy and white core that looks like a fluorescent lamp. The prepare the ubad, the banana pi

Suman Latik is one of my ultimate favorite native delicacies ( check out more ) and most of the time these are sold in the public markets in pairs. It consists of a flattened ibos (or suman as referred up north) topped with bukayo - coconut strips sweetened by muscovado sugar. But most of the time, my appetite hungers for more than a pair of these or the bukayo portion is bitin that I wish there's more. And at times we just make our own at home so that we can enjoy this suman-bukayo combo to our heart's content. But the wrapping of the sticky rice in banana leaves when cooking and unwrapping it for eating, is labor extensive - sort of. So out of the blue, we just thought of making it "Trifle-style". Inspired by the British dessert which Tinapayan at Iloilo Supermart recreates in Ube and Strawberry , our Suman Latik "Trifle" is a native delicacies version made with layers of suman/ibos and bukayo. It's a delectable presentation, easy

When there's more than enough green mangoes at home, they often end up as  binuro nga paho  so we can enjoy their green-ness for a longer period of time. Making pickles out of these fruit differ from household to household, so it depends on the recipe you grew up with or if you have none, the one that you find online. Ours is very simple. Sliced mangoes are stored in a concoction of salt and  fresh garlic - and remains untouched for a week before it can be utilized. Sometimes a little water is added to thoroughly mix them but most of the time, the juice from the mangoes does the trick. Aside from being appetizers, it sometimes find its way into some pinamalhan recipes. Enjoy this appetizing binuro nga paho !

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 .

My first memories of aripahol , were just exactly like this - steamed grated coconut meat and pounded pilit ( malagkit ) rice wrapped in banana leaves. Almost every afternoon then, I hear the manuglibod , yell her stuff and we'd almost always buy aripahol . But then as time went by, it became "scarce" as the  manuglibod , suddenly made her disappearing act that eventually led to the non existence of  aripahol  in our place or even in town. Then came to my senses another kind of aripahol - puto lanson.  This one's made with grated balinghoy  ( kamoteng-kahoy or cassava) mixed with butter and sugar then steamed. But still, my tastebuds crave for the aripahol I grew up with. I got quite  surprise a few days ago upon seeing this very familiar sight - a delightful combination of pilit, white coconut meat and green banana leaves. And that familiar smell! Aripahol nga pilit kag niyog finally made a comeback at home. I've been searchin

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 

  A favorite of many Ilonggos,   ginat-an nga tambo   is heaven to them and fans of Ilonggo cuisine. With coconut milk and greens like saluyot, takway and okra plus subak like shrimps or crabs – this would automatically induce a lot of cravings.  Especially when you’re abroad where raw ingredients are often hard to find and if they are luckily available, it still doesn’t taste like the one you might have grown up with. Even so, it is more than enough one's craving for this Ilonggo cuisine, no matter where you are in the world.