FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

Tino-um is basically a cooking technique where in the ingredients are wrapped in banana leaves then cooked. Among the most popular tino-um  dished is the tino-um nga manok of the town of Cabatuan. You can also to-um other ingredients including shrimps and vegetables.  Here are some uhong or native mushrooms which can be bought in the wet market or at times at the grocery.  After washing and cleaning, its just layering them together with the other ingredients.  So you put a little oil in the pan then place the banana leaves with layers of tomatoes, onions  patola and mushrooms.  Just season with a little salt, pepper, soy sauce and more oil. Fold the banana leaves, tie them and cover the pan and cook in medium fire. After around 10 minutes or so, remove from heat, let it cool for a minute or two then serve. The juices from the vegetables will serve as broth. You can also experiment this basic recipe by adding shri...

Tino-um is a vernacular way of cooking with all the ingredients wrapped in banana leaves then placed over heat, directly or indirectly. And its one of the best ways to cook lobo-lobo which are minute silver fishes around half an inch long. After washing the fish, just place them in banana leaves (partially warmed over fire so that it wont easily break) together with tomatoes, onions, garlic, chives, chili pepper and seasonings (like salt and pepper or you can opt not to). Over low heat, place the wrapped ingredients in a pan and cook for a few minutes. You can also place small amount of water in the pan to lessen the heat that directly reaches the "wrap". When done, you can also opt to sprinkle olive or sesame oil before serving.