FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

Seafood and vegetables often make a good medley when cooked together. A few of the celebrated Ilonggo vegetable dishes are made with this combination like laswa and ginata-ang tambo . Others like nilatik or the Ilonggo adaptation of pinakbet can also be revised to include seafood. Laswa is probably the simplest among the Ilonggo vegetable dishes. Its a stew of differnet kinds of vegetables usually kalabasa (squash) , tagabang (saluyot) , hantak (string beans) , okra , talong (eggplant), takway (taro plant tendrils) and a lot more. Dried seafood like pinakas na guma-a (daing) or balingon (dilis) often accompanies this recipe for the saltiness of the fishes add flavour to the mix of vegetables. Another favorite is ginat-an na tambo (bamboo shoots with coconut milk). Shrimps and/or crabs create a perfect dish in combination with the bamboo shoots, saluyot and at times, corn all cooked together in coconut milk. Another coconut milk based vegetable dish is the quintessential ni...

Or simply nilatik , this uniquely Ilonggo dish is referred as such for the use of coconut milk in it's preparation. Other places may just refer to it as ginata-ang kalabasa . Among the favorite of the locals, this dish is packed with vitamins and minerals from it's two main ingredients. The kalabasa , with its yellow color provides vitamin A while the malunggay, well, innumerable nutrients. Preparing this dish is as simple as it looks. Just boil peeled squash in diluted coconut milk until soft and easily mashed. Add salt and other seasoning to taste and bring to a boil. Then add coconut milk and finally malunggay leaves. Easy does it!