FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

What's a trip without pasalubong? It's almost like a vacation without taking photos. I got these Biscocho Haus paperbags for PhP25 pesos (smaller bags costs PhP20) to make my pasalubong even more authentic Ilonggo. Packaging is important for me so I have to package my pasalubong to make it good inside out. So what were inside these pasalubong bags? All-time favorites like butterscoth (PJ's Delicacies), yemas (Biscocho Haus) and buttered toasts (Angelina Bakeshop) to personal requests like thick piaya ( Wewin's) and banadas (Biscocho Haus). Even got boneless dilis and papered squid (squid flakes) from the grocery as bonus. So what's inside your pasalubong bag?

Having breakfast is one of the many good ways to start your day. And it's even better when you have your favorites in one plate. Here's a plate full of my favorites; corned tuna, fried boneless dilis, fried banana and hardboiled egg . I even had another plate of boneless dilis and miniature dilis with tomatoes. Now this is really breakfast!

Boneless dilis are are currently my so-called addiction. I used to laugh this one out citing its "impossibility" but then it wasn't as impossible as I thought it would be. The mere mention of these to my guests from Manila created quite a "stir" in our casual conversations. So it became a target when we visited the dried seafood section of the Iloilo Central market when they had their "dried" pasalubong shopping. Before I just got these boneless dilis from the grocery but now I was very "ecstatic"(lol) to see mounds and mounds of these at the wet market. A kilo at the groceries or even at Deco's pasalubong shop costs more than PhP500 while it's cheaper by around 50 pesos. A mere 1/8 of a kilo would go a long way. My fish tocino now has a firece competitor as novelty dried seafood pasalubong! Whether cooked for breakfast or just for pulutan these boneless dilis will surely make any gastronomic endeavour , err, "sarap to the bon...

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.

This is the bomb! Can't wait for another serving of fried boneless dilis.

While grocering at the Atrium, without thinking I grabbed pack of boneless dilis and fishbone at the dried seafood section. Iloilo Supermart has a wider selection and better variety at this section (compared to SM Grocery) that it's almost the (2nd) best place to get dried seafood. Ofcourse, the Central market is still the best place to shop. This is just a taste (no pun intended) of what's to come. Though I've had them before I'd like to update my tastebuds and ofcourse I'm more excited about blogging about these two opposites, bones and boneless. Fishbone If you think you don't have anything to eat at first glance, think again. Actually you'll eat everthing. Boneless dilis It could have started as one of the impossible so to speak, but now here's proof that balingon (or dilis) can actually be made boneless. And if you're wondering where on earth I got the title of this post (lol) ....