FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

Inubaran  basically means the dish is cooked with ubad . No, it's not a typo error, it is really ubad not ubod  - different from but practically the same. Confusing? Well ubod is the pith or the center of a coconut tree while ubad is the pith of a banana tree. Ubad sold in local markets. You will only use the white center/core portion. To make this dish, one has to prepare an ubad for cooking - first thinly slice, around half a centimeter, the cleaned pith (must be very white and sized like a fluorescent lamp to be sure of the quality.) .  Then using a barbecue stick, remove web like fibers "interconnecting" these slices (these are actually hardened banana sap). When finished you can crush is into smaller pieces and add to your cooking. Here's a recipe for Inubaran na Manok Ingredients 1 whole (native) Chicken 3-4 cups chopped Ubad, prepared as described above 1 stalk Tanglad (Lemongrass) 1 thumb size Ginger, slic...

While the most popular Ilonggo recipe for Adobo has istiwitis or achuete / annatto, sometime experimenting on other region's adobo recipes an open up our taste. So what is "white" adobo? It is basically the usual adobo recipe minus one major ingredient - soy sauce or toyo . I like it especially when the garlic mixes with the oil and vinegar concoction - a burst of flavorful aroma that you could almost taste. Here's a simple recipe for Pork Liempo White Adobo

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...

Laswa is among the most popular Ilonggo vegetable dish and among my most "blogged" about. It has so many variations despite it's simplicity and mostly dependent on the the availability of vegetables. Usually it has kalabasa, talong, okra, hantak (sitaw), tagabang (saluyot), patola and a host of other vegetables. For this recipe puso ng saging (banana heart) was added not only as "extender" but to add some texture. Cooking laswa is simple - just stew the vegetables and subak (usually fresh seafoods like shrimps, crabs, or even snails locals call bango-ngon ) then season with salt or use broth cubes . Others prefer to use dried and salted seafoods like pinakas for it adds more flavour to the dish at the same time makes this vegetable dish more appetizing. Or at times this is solely a vegetable dish (no subak whatsoever) and is perfect partnered with fried or grilled meat and fish. No matter how you cook it or what you partn...

It's still an "unexplained tradition" for me why native delicacies are the staples when Pista Minatay comes. Some say it's "Filipinizing Halloween" that instead of candies and other sweets, we have these native delicacies to share as treats and not as tricks. And it started in the rural areas where the abundance of rice and coconuts, among others has made these traditional eats as the "undying" staple this annual celebration of remembering the departed. So, let's start our native delicacies gastronomic journey with IBOS or more commonly known as "SUMAN" in other areas. Click for IBOS Recipe This is probably what comes to mind when one says "kakanin" as this is made with sticky rice and often partnered with ripe mango, native chocolate or just plain sugar, whether refined, brown or muscovado. There's the SUMAN which others refer to as BIKO. A delicious treat of glutinous rice oiled in coc...

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

If these liempo chips, look good - they surely tasted even better! It was part of my lunch, today, at Punot Restaurant at the Riverside Boardwalk Complex beside the Iloilo River Esplanade in Mandurriao, At first glance, it may look like deep fried bacon but they are really thinly sliced pork belly and almost as thin the chips would be. If not machine cut, I would say they are sliced when the liempo is (very) frozen, to achieve the perfect cut and thinness. It is then deep-fried with maybe just a salt rub and then the excess oil made to drip. Though I think the liempo strips are sun-dried (after being sliced) to get the awesome crunchiness. A perfect appetizer, it comes with an equally appetizing dip of spiced vinegar- perfect blend of hot, sweet and spicy flavors that would surely whet your appetite. Now, what are you waiting for? Enjoy the crunch of these liempo chips from Punot!

KBL  or kadyos baboy langka is a ubiquitous Ilonggo dish found in most households and restaurants in Iloilo and beyond. Like adobo as to the whole of the Philippines, it is also one of those dishes that comes in the basic recipe but little tweaks are still acceptable.  The basic recipe calls for the baboy (pork) usually the pata (hocks) to be broiled. Then together with the langka and kadyos beans, they are boiled until the last two ingredients are cooked - the langka is easy to bite, the kadyos is soft and the baboy. I liked it if it almost melts in the mouth esp the fat and skin portion. This way of cooking adapts the vernacular method of having the meat subjected to direct heat as to preserve its flavor more and the same time gives the broth a rather smoky taste. Finally,  batwan  fruit is added as souring ingredient. The greens usually kamote tops or in this case malunggay leaves, adds color, texture and more nut...

Kusahos is my favorite way of enjoying beef. it is basically sun-dried beef strips marinated adobo style - that is with vinegar, garlic and soy sauce, among others. After an overnight marination, it is then sun-dried for a few days - watch for flies as this is a fly-magnet! The drier it becomes, the better tasting it will become. It is then deep fried or at time placed directly over charcoal, for a crunchy-lious local beef gastronomic experience.  Here's the recipe for Kusahos

Probably this is among the only few surviving food items of my younger years that still is "unchanged". From the packaging to how it looks and tastes like, this is still the kropeck I grew up with.  Come to think of it, there is nothing extra ordinary about this kropeck. Got these from Iloilo Supermart, it's one of those generic snacks in the shelves that don't even a second look. Only those who grew up with it might find it interesting enough. And ceetainly  can relive the childhood memories it comes with. Up close, it looks like a miniature gulaman bar sold in the groceries. An orange and shrimp flavoured one, that is. Aside from groceries, it cam be found in stalls at the malls and some bakeries and old-world restaurants too.

Amidst the emergence of new modern ritzy restaurants and food places in Iloilo City, there are always original Ilonggo restaurants that continue to standout because of their specialty dishes that make their patrons come back for more. Ilonggos and the city’s visitors come to its door for the signature dishes to satisfy cravings at any time of the day. There’s the Grilled Squid, buttered chicken, Lapu-Lapu with Soy Sauce, Seafood Roll, Pork Leg Patatim, Baked Scallops, Birthday Miswa, Mixed Veggies, Sizzling Bulalo, Bacon Wrapper Shrimp, Bulalo Pochero, Ocean City Fried Chicken, or Pork Steak Chinese Style. These and many can be found at Ocean City Seafood Restaurant, which is only one of the more popular and long-lasting home-grown restaurants established in the heart of the Philippines. Aside from its main branch along General Luna in City Proper, Ocean City brought its wide array of delicious cuisine, mainly local and Chinese specialties, closer to mall-goers at SM City Iloilo in Man...