FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

Now where do I start? I think I have enough feature on kadyos (and KBL ) that I find having a new post ... redundant. But there are times I can’t resist taking a photo and making another blog post. Like this instance, I chanced upon kadyos being “plucked” from its pod. Never got this one before so it would seem a good photo op. But now I’ve got one what’s next? Of course the perennial kadyos cuisine – KBL . Kadyos, baboy, langka is an Ilonggo favorite, no doubt about it. The beans being endemic almost in the region makes gives it (and the dish) a sense of popularity and a following. Ilonggos away from home often crave for the dish and it’s often one of the first they request when finally back home. The common yet special dish usually consists of broiled pork leg boiled until tender with kadyos beans, jackfruit and some greens. Batwan , another almost endemic fruit to the region, gives the broth a distinct sourness very different from others li...

Though overshadowed by the more popular KBL ( kadyos, baboy, langka ), another uniquely dish that makes Ilonggos crave and yearn for simple but delicious eats is the combination of kadyos, manok and ubad . With no "monicker" of its own – ditch that KMU suggestion for this aint “labor-revolting ”, it’s just plainly named as such because of the three main ingredients. The ever popular-to-the-Ilonggos-but-alien-to-others is kadyos – pigeon pea. Soft beans with hues playing from dark brown to black and gives a distinct violet shade to the broth it makes. Chicken also provides protein for this dish and to make it more Ilonggo, most of the time native chickens referred to as “ Bisaya ” are used. These free roaming chickens are much flavourful than those raised in “captivity”. And ubad – it’s no typo error; yes it’s ubad with an “A”. Not to be confused with ubod, both are different yet share a similarity. Ubod is the pith of the coconut tree while ubad is t...

It started last March during the Sooo Pinoy event of Unilever Food Solutions in Iloilo when I met Ms Maricar Erese, the Executive Producer of the TV show THE PINOY FOODIE . The show is hosted by the (self proclaimed she always say) "Adobo Queen" Nancy Reyes Lumen and shown every Sunday 830am on GMA NEWS TV . Plans of having the said show shoot in Iloilo began to take form and just last week, I co-organized the The Pinoy Foodie Iloilo Food and Heritage shoot with Mr. Eugene Jamerlan, among others, that spanned 3 days of non-stop eating, shooting and more eating ... It all began with a breakfast in Sta. Barbara, Iloilo hosted by the Municipal Tourism Officer Ms. Irene Magallon. Everybody digged in the delectable “pamahaw” prepared by Ms Irene consisting of kusahos (a local beef tapa version which is sundried for days), binodo (tuyo that has been “soaked” in salt for days then fried and finally having a vinegar as broth), linagpang nga bangrus with guinamos (grille...

KBL is an Ilonggo favorite dish made with kadyos (pigeon peas), baboy (pork) and langka (jackfruit). Usually pata (pork legs) are first broiled then boiled together with the vegetables then a local fruit, batuan , is added as a souring ingredient. The soup is purplish from the kadyos and the sour broth combined with the “essence” of the broiled meat makes a distinctive flavour Ilonggos yearn for. KBL is one of my personal favorites and no matter how many times I blogged about it, each time is unique and delicious as the last one. And that makes it figuratively “ walang kamatayan ” (ever living?) in contrast the season of the “dead”.

What's the occasion? I asked last Sunday when a galore of " occasional " food greeted me for (my late) lunch. The combination of such dishes cooked during special occasions made me wonder that it was not just any ordinary Sunday. Though at times, we have them during the usual Sunday luncheon but not together. So even though I finished my photo session and was halfway through this sumptuous lunch, I still haven't figured it out. A big bowl of kadyos which turned out to be not the usual KBL ( kadyos, baboy and langka ) but just KBP ( kadyos, baboy and papaya ) but it was still as good. The papaya was just of the right for cooking - not too raw or ripe. The pork was soft but with consirable resistece on every bite. The kadyos provided a certain flavour that makes it different from the usual pork nilaga dishes and the kamote tops - the greens and texture. A weird kadyos combo to most but still tasted good. A large pan of valenciana ,the best I have eaten in a long...

Would I get tired of eating and blogging about KBL? As of now as this entry shows obviously,the answer is no. I couldn't remember how many blogposts I have about kadyos, baboy and langka but this one gots the best visuals. For your eyes only ... Do check out my other entries about KBL. K adyos beans B aboy L angka Batwan . A local fruit used to sour dishes

One of the most popular Ilonggo cuisine is KBL - acronym for kadyos, baboy and langka. That's why not only my blog has lots of it - lol, but also most native restaurants and stalls in the food courts serve them. Though this dish has found it's way commercially, still a home made KBL is still the best. Like this one we had few days ago. The best KBL for me is when the B (baboy- pork, whatever part of it) is first broiled (thus the color of the skin) then boiled together with the langka and kadyos then soured with batwan. It gives the soup a distinct flavour I usually look for whenever KBL makes it's way into my plate. Similary, this KBL from Ocean City at SM City's food court makes use of pata but the pork was obviously just boiled with the other ingredients that the taste was just the usual commercial KBL. But for PhP65 and order this, bowl of KBL was worth to satisfy my cravings for KBL that time.

My KBL craving two Sundays was finally satisfied last Sunday. I got the last serving of Ocean City's KBL at a foodcourt. It was this restaurant's KBL I really craved for but I was sort of dismayed since it was different from what I expected. A serving costs PhP55 and it was worth the quantity. A big slice of pata tenderly cooked but the broth wasn't as sour as I wanted it to be plus the langka and kadyos were still sort of "hard". But it was enough to satisfy my craving that time and had two cups of rice to go with it.

This would be my "NTH" entry for KBL (kadyos, baboy and langka) and surely not my last. It is always a treat to have KBL on the table no matter what or even when there's no occasion at all. By the way, this isn't really a real KBL since the "B" for this one isn't baboy (pork) but baka (beef). But it's still KBL, both literally and figuratively.

Kadyos, baboy & langka popularly shortened as KBL is no doubt among the top (vegetable) cuisine of the Ilonggos. And something this good deserves more than one entry ( this could probably be fifth one .) As the name suggests, the three basic ingredients are kadyos (cow peas/black eyed beans), baboy (pork) and langka (jackfruit-the unripe one). The fourth one, batwan gives the dish a distinct soury soup base. Kadyos . A common sight in local markets when in season, kadyos gives this dish some unique qualities. When boiled, it gives the broth a light purplish hue and enhances the taste of soup. Baboy . The most commonly used cut is pata (hinds) since it has this lean-fat-cartilage/tendon combo that gives the soup .... However, even left over lechon or adobo cut pork can also be used. But grilling the pork first gives the soup a distinct taste. Langka . Usually cut into large cubes and boiled until cooked before adding the souring ingredient. Doing otherwise (i.e. adding batwan, e...

Ask Ilonggos away from home which food they miss most, "KBL" would probably rank in the top three. A very simple dish made of kadyos (cowpeas), broiled pork, langka and greened with kamote leaves. Left-over lechon also makes this recipe even more satisfying What really makes a good KBL, is the combination of "melts-in-your-mouth" pork (with fat) and the "thick" soup soured with batuan and made even tastier by the pork's fat. Photo courtesy of FOOD Magazine August 2007 Issue RECIPE Boil kadyos, pork and langka until tender. Add batuwan (or sampaloc/sinigang mix). Season with salt. Serve with kamote leaves (optional) Ilongga chef Pauline Goriceta-Banusing shared the KBL recipe in the August 2007 issue of FOOD magazine