FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

Bujawi (budjawi, budyawi) is what Ilonggos refer to the fruit of the buri or century palm tree . Abundant in many parts of the province of Iloilo, the buri has many many uses from the leaves to its trunk. It produces a fermented drink (tuba), alcohol, vinegar, syrup, and sugar. The trunk yields large quantities of starch. The bud (ubod) is used for salad or as a vegetable. The kernels of the young fruits are edible and are made into a sweetmeats. The mature seeds are used for beads? (rosaries) and buttons.  The petiole yields so-called buntal fiber of which, the famous Baliuag and Lucban hats are made, or which, when crudely extracted, is sometimes twisted into rope. Mature leaf is used for covering tobacco bales, rarely as a thatch for houses, while the ribs are used for making brooms. From the unopened leaf is obtained a very fine fiber, corresponding to raffia fiber, which is utilized in making cloth, fancy articles, and as string. Fibers ...

Tino-um is basically a cooking technique where in the ingredients are wrapped in banana leaves then cooked. Among the most popular tino-um dishes is the tino-um nga manok of the town of Cabatuan. You can also to-um other ingredients including fishes, shrimps and vegetables, among others.  For a Bangus Belly tino-um , all you need are sliced bangus belly (bigger and thicker, of course, the yummier), tomatoes, onions, chives and some fresh banana leaves. The recipe is basic - just place the belly on the banana leaves and place all the other ingredients on top. Season with some salt and pepper, and if you want - olive oil. Then wrap it close by using some thin banana stalks as strings. Place it in a pan with just the right amount of water below it. Its for the steaming process that will eventually cook it. A good 15-20 minutes will cook the bangus belly. Or when the banana leaves themselves appear to be cooked, its time to turn off th...

If you love canned or bottles Spanish-style sardines, here a simple recipe that would sure excite your taste buds. How about some home-made Spanish-style bangus ? It's easy as 1-2-3 and simple as prepare-pressure cook- wait... All you need are thoroughly cleaned and thickly sliced bangus or you can opt to have whole small bangus. Add some crushed garlic cloves, onions, olive or corn oil, bay leaves, sliced carrots, pickles, water, salt, and whole pepper corn with the optional ingredients chilies and tomato sauce and paste. When everything's ready, just arrange everything in the pressure cooker, making sure the bangus and other ingredients are covered with the water and oil mix.  Pressure cook for about 30 minutes or until the bangus is cooked. Serve and enjoy! Link to detailed recipe >>> Spansih Style Bangus

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 us...

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'...

FOOD (well, almost everything) in HongKong 🇭🇰 is EXPENSIVE. A rice topping combo meal with drinks from typical roadside restos is usually around ₱500,  pastries cost almost ₱250/piece as well as bottled soda/juice/etc around ₱90. Char Siu and Soy Chicken Rice Toppings Food at malls and at HK Disneyland (₱1,200 for my Hulk burger combo) will make a dent on your budget… plus many more. Hulk Burger Combo with Large Fries and Drinks  Good thing I found one turo-turo in Tsim Sha Shui called Eat More More that serves affordable food (for HK standards). For only HK$ 33 (roughly ₱250) you get 1 rice and 2 ulam (becomes HK$40 with 3 ulam) Though it is still expensive when converted but it is already cheap when you spend in HK$. They said that these RICE + ULAM shops started during the pandemic when most chefs were out of work and to make ends meet, they made food from their homes and sell - carinderia-style. While most of these turo-turo are TAKE OUT ONLY (like the one in TST), I fou...