FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

The Iloilo Central Market community has a lot of finds especially those in food and food ways. Turo-turo stall owners and market vendors are drawn to this showcase of Ilonggo gastronomy. Among them, an enterprising couple who don’t only sell live and dressed native chicken but also makes one delectable litson manok! BEST “SELLERS” For Jesus Janeo Jr. and wife Evangeline, their business involving Bisaya nga manok has been a way of life for almost 35 years.   Having a stall at the Iloilo Central Market, they’ve been selling live or dressed native chicken for years to bring up their five children.  “Rawit”, as Jesus is fondly referred to, is among the big suppliers of dressed Darag chicken in the market. Darag is a Philippine native chicken strain found in Iloilo and the rest of Western Visayas. Best known for its unique flavor, taste and meat texture - it has become famous as an alternative to commercial chicken, and has captivated the taste buds o...

It was another "occasional lunch" today Sunday , as it was a post-birthdays celebration at home.  And occasions like this bring out the home-made and tested specialties and recipes.  Like these two native chicken recipes - Tinolang Manok with Sili and Malunggay Leaves and Linagpang na Manok. It pays to have free roaming chickens in the backyard for we just pluck them anytime if we feel like having Bisaya na manok dishes. While Tinolang Manok is almost a national recipe Linagpang na Manok is basically a recipe close to the hearts of the Ilonggos and other Panay natives.  It's basically grilled chicken (and tomatoes too) that has spicy and milky broth. Just saute (onions, garlic, sili), season (others add bago-ong) and add hot water (just like Linagpang na Bangus ). Finally add some milk (optional) and garnish with chives. And what's a handaan without any pancit dish? Here's Pancit Canton Guisado for everyone. Another eve...

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 have an ubad means a whole banana tree has been cut down and stripped to bare its center. So goodbye to banana fruit, leaves and heart. 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.) . 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. This particular recipe also makes use of (young) libas leaves as a souring ingredient. Just saute pieces of (native) chicken in ginger,ga...