FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

What is dampalit , you may ask? That's actually what I did when we were served  atsarang dampalit  during a welcome lunch in Roxas City. Maam Sonie, our host, explained that dampalit , is sort of a weed that grows near fishponds and most commonly used as feeds.  And they sort of have a portion of their vegetable garden that is devoted to dampalit , thus they can have this "exotic" and delicious atsara anytime. The bottled atsarang dampalit served was just a day old that we still tasted the crunch in the dampalit leaves.  While common atsaras have papaya, tambo (labong ), amargoso (bitter gourd) and even pineapple as base, its the first time I tried made from leaves of a plant.  And there's no bitter nor tartness ( pakla ) for it tastes like most  atsaras  but with a different feel and look.    It still has that sweet-sour taste that erupts in the mouth plus bell peppers giving color and fl...

I never actually dared to try apan-apan before knowing it was a local delicacy made with grasshoppers. I could just hear the crunch of it's legs and other body parts. But now, apan-apan is more popular as an apptizer made with kangkong sauteed in guinamos (the local term for bago-ong). And I get to enjoy it more and crave for it at times. Cooking apan-apan is like making adobong kangkong only with guinamos. But at times, it doesn't really matter since I almost interchange the method being an experimental cook. So it usually starts with the sauteeing of garlic and onions then adding guinamos - I often add chillis for a kick. Then I add vinegar, soy sauce and kangkong leaves and the upper portion of the stalk. Then it's just simmering it until the stalks are soft enough to be eaten. ( Click for Recipe-style post ) I like tweaking the recipe by adding (ingredients I love like) calamansi and sesame oil. The former brings more tang and the latter the dif...

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...

All roads lead to Jaro, Iloilo City every February 2, as Ilonggos celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Candles in different aspects - religious, gastronomic, enterprising, and more. As early as December the Jaro Plaza is teeming with the Jaro Grand Carnival with activities like carnival games, food stalls, fruit stands and ukay-ukay, among others. It culminates on fiesta day with the coronation of the Fiesta Queen, chosen among the lasses of Jaro families.  The district Jaro, Iloilo celebrates biggest fiesta in the region characterized by the pageantry and the grandeur of the occasion paying homage to Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria, the patron saint of Western Visayas. Check out my Jaro Fiesta blogposts for 2013 , 2014 and 2015 !

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 s...

Non-Ilonggos would only be familiar with bangrus which is how the Ilonggos call bangus or milkfish. So how about linagpang and guinamos ? Guinamos is the local bago-ong which is made from small shrimps pounded into a paste and is sold in mounds in the local market. It is used the same way bago-ong - as a flavor enhancer, as a dip, as a side dish (to kare-kare) and goes well with green mangoes too! Linagpang meanwhile is basically a soup with almost all of the ingredient are broiled. It's a "peasant dish" they say since it is very simple and easy to make. It has rustic origins as it is attributed to how the farmers would come home tired from the days work and all they'll do is to broil the ingredients, flake and slice them, add broth then season it with salt, among others. Fish and poultry are often the most popular meats for linagpang as they can be conveniently cooked. The process slightly differs when using ch...

Buho Bakery is one of the more iconic neighborhood bakeshops in Iloilo City. Just the mere mention of it brings back memories of yesteryears and of course it's claim to fame bread - panso . While its a take off from pancho , which is a desiccated coconut filled bread, panso from Buho is more of the commercialized version of it. But nevertheless, it's so delicious especially when its hot off the oven. "Buho" means hole in Hiligay-non and it's this hole on its wall that gave it it's monicker. At certain times of the day they are closed, but everytime you'd crave for their breads, you just knock at thins window and it'll be opened to take your orders.   The filling of these bread is like coloured and chewey dough with some slight flavor.  And the bread, which is very good on its own, is their basic bread recipe used for their other products like teren-teren, pan del eche and more. These panso costs PhP2 each and you...

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 por...

It was a curiosity order via an online buy and sell community chatroom. And for only PhP20 a piece, these Kalamay sa Buri were worth the sugar high and the calories.  Also called "parak" or "pinarak" in the local foodie dialect, Kalamay sa Buri is a sweet native delicacy made from the sap or juice of the buri palm tree.  The stately Buri Palm Buri is among the largest and most common palm found in the Philippines which can live up to 30 years or more.  ( Text and above photo source ) While the leaf is considered the most important part of this palm tree - which is made into hats, ropes, brooms, mats, bags and more, buri also offers a lot as a food source. Boiled Budyawi Buri buds locally known as  budyawi  are eaten boiled, raw in salads or processed into sweets like kaong. It is like boiled corn with each kernel enclosed in a pod of its own. Budyawi Pods signal the death of the buri palm The trunk of the buri tree contains a good qual...

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 .

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. Here's a recipe for Ginat-an nga Tambo

Now where do I start? I think I have enough feature on kadyos (and KBL ) that I find having a new post ... redundant. But there are times I can’t resist taking a photo and making another blog post. Like this instance, I chanced upon kadyos being “plucked” from its pod. Never got this one before so it would seem a good photo op. But now I’ve got one what’s next? Of course the perennial kadyos cuisine – KBL . Kadyos, baboy, langka is an Ilonggo favorite, no doubt about it. The beans being endemic almost in the region makes gives it (and the dish) a sense of popularity and a following. Ilonggos away from home often crave for the dish and it’s often one of the first they request when finally back home. The common yet special dish usually consists of broiled pork leg boiled until tender with kadyos beans, jackfruit and some greens. Batwan , another almost endemic fruit to the region, gives the broth a distinct sourness very different from others li...

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 ord...