FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

No, I didn't go back to school nor plans on doing so. It's just I want another acronym in my post title just like the previous one. MBA just stands for monggo, balingon and alugbati. Monggo is probably the most popular legume in the Philippines with more than a hundred (or so) dishes that can be prepared using this bean from soups to even desserts. Balingon , the local term for dilis , is also among the country's most popular dried seafoodand prepared mostly for breakfast but now has been elevated to appetizers, snackfood (love those sweet, spicy and crispy dilis ) and even salads. Alugbati meanwhile, sounds and looks (even tastes) "foreign" to most (outside Western Visayas, maybe). It's a leafy green vegetable with purple stem and a perfect partner for monggo dishes. It's also great with kalabasa (squash) with pinakas (dried fish) for another acronym dish. Take your pick from PKA, KAP, KPA, APK and so it goes - lol. Also in this dish, is balagay know...

Actually these are just fried boneless dilis. Unlike the regular ones, these turn golden brown and become really crunchy that they can pass as "chips". As I've said a kilo of these fried boneless dilis wont last long.

I just wanted to heat these left over balingon over fire but instead making up them sweet and spicy ( almost ) like the ones commercially sold. I just added oil, catsup, chili powder and sugar. But the chili powder let me down since it has lost its spiceness even though I intentionally placed lots of it. And instead of being a snack, I had a plateful of rice since adding vinegar on them really whipped up my apetite

Got this pack together with camaron and morcon. For only PhP it's one of those buy now-think later purchases. But I didn't really regret it though it has it's own taste but I still like the (red) crispy-spicy balingon. Now where's the vinegar ....?

Though this post wouldn't do justice on how balingon ( dilis ) really makes a big impact in our gastronomy ( the satisfying simplicity, fond memories, cravings, etc ), I still would share them. Seeing this pan full of balingon being dried under the sun, I immediately imagined a handful of these swimming in a plateful of tomatoes. I just microwaved these before mixing the tomatoes. But still nothing beats frying them and making a calo-calo (fried rice) in the used oil (adding soy sauce, seasoning, etc) Now you know, why I had to use the microwave oven ...