FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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...

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. 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.)  Ubad sold in local markets. You will only use the white center/core portion.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 popular recipe using ubad... Ingredients 1 whole (native) Chicken, cut into bite-size pieces 3-4 cups chopped Ubad, prepared as described above 1 st...

Kalamay-hati is native delicacy of the Visayas and basically made from a concoction of sticky rice flour , muscovado sugar and coconut milk. It is sold in halved coconut shells ( bao ) that are then sealed by "paper tapes". Made with almost the  same ingredients as the baye-baye , vendors along the highway in Sta. Barbara, Iloilo augment their baye-baye sales with kalamay-hati  sold in plastic cups. While purists condemn such practice, these vendors reason out the convenience (it comes in a handy plastic cup sealed with aluminum foil then wrapped in plastic and comes with a spoon). Also with such convenient size, it can be an instant snack for only Php10 a cup. Here's a basic ingredients and procdures on how to make kalamay-hati  adapted from ILoveIloilo blog . INGREDIENTS 2 cups of pilit (sticky or glutinous rice used in rice cakes) 2 cups of   muscovado sugar 4 cups of coconut milk PROCEDURE 1. Wash the pilit . Make ...

I often take pinasugbo for granted. Aside that I almost always ended up in a mess, I find it really sweet and often takes a toll on my teeth. But there are certain situations that I don’t wish for; it just comes at the right time.  A pack of pinasugbo from Deocampo suddenly appeared at home (who, when, where, etc still a mystery) and it just screamed to be eaten. So loud that in order to shut it up, I have to shove it in my mouth – lol. Pinasugbo is made from slices of banana (saba variety) slice length-wise, deep fried and smothered with caramel. Then a number of these slices are packed in paper cones for easy consumption.  But as the caramel hardens, it sticks to the cones and most often one might find himself eating a bit of paper. But luckily a trick I got from one of blog’s comments solved this problem – just heat it for a few seconds in the microwave and it slides off easily. That made me enjoy these pinasugbo from Deocampo that tim...

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'...

Now who doesn't love puto? One of my favorites before was the puto I christened " Puto Calaboa " as it was made in Brgy. Calaboa Santa Barbara, Iloilo. But after sometime, they supply stopped coming to town as the maker of the puto had some personal health issues. Now enter another puto maker from Santa Barbara - this time coming from Brgy. Lanag, an adjacent baranggay to the poblacion. Wrapped in 5's using banana leaves, the puto is made fresh daily every morning. The puto-maker just make a limited batch so as to ensure the quality and avoid having oversupply to be sold the following day. The puto smells very good as if you are already eating it. Each bite (though I could easily eat it all in one bite) gives a full flavour esp. of the richness of the coconut milk. Its the kind of puto that you can't stop eating given its almost dainty size at the same time rich flavour - but it's not " makasalum-od " ( ...

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.

Hawker food centres are popular in Singapore as they offer every day food conveniences at an affordable price in generally expensive Lion City. Newton Food Centre is among the OG hawker centres in Singapore and still remains among the most popular - even featured in the movie Crazy Rich Asians. During my first time in Singapore ( thank you Cebu Pacific ), I was able to visit this hawker centre and it was overwhelming - so many stalls to choose from aside from having unfamiliar yet appetizing and inviting dishes all throughout. Here are some pics and picks of our gastronomic adventure in Singapore at Newton Food Centre. And had a gastronomic affair with these flavors of Singapore. Cereal Prawns Roast Pork combo Fried Rice Stingray in Sambal Sauce Nasi Goreng Char Kway Teow Nasi Lemak Fruit platter Good thing there’s an MTR station nearby bearing its name, so going there is relatively easy. It was a delicious foodie adventure at Newton Food Centre and I won’t mind  going there again ...