FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

“The siopao, a Filipino fast food favorite, may be counted among “Filipinized” Chinese dishes, like pancit” points out food writer Margaux Salcedo. But her quick search on the Internet shows that nowhere else in the world are these buns also called siopao. “ The Chinese (apparently) calls them baozi, the Thais – salapao, Hawaiians refer to them as char siu bao; the Vietnamese identifies them as banh bao” she writes in her column on the Philippine Daily Inquirer ” But they all mean the same thing - a filled bun.” “The difference seems to be in the filling. The Hawaiians’ char siu bao offers barbecued pork inside, similar to our asado siopao, while the Vietnamese version offers ground pork, like our bola-bola siopao” reveals her further search. “The “Filipinization” is obvious with the asado filling, pork asado being a viand of Spanish influence derived from the Spanish word “asado” meaning “roasted,” although pork asado is a favorite at Filipino-Chinese restaurants” she finishes. Il...

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?

Despite the hype and popularity of other sio paos in Iloilo City, I still prefer Wewin's pork sio pao. It has a a gracious filling of pork adobo (flakes and sometimes even thumb sized pieces) and hardboiled egg. It's simplicity makes you appreciate the bun and filling combination more. And there's no need for sauce for this sio pao since the filling itself is "saucy". Besides they'll only give you banana catsup as sauce if you ask for it -lol.

Jiecel and Thea's is famous for their siopao and siomai. This snackshop in Mandurriao they say has a cook that came from Ma Mon Luk - a famous Chinese resto in Manila specializing in sio pao. This sio pao is dry - both the pao and teh chicken adobo filling. RATING 3.0 of out 5.0 Kusina Tsina's asado sio pao realy looks like it has been filled with chopped pork asado. I found it weird to see such a reddish sio pao. Their dough is somewhat like that of Tibiao's. RATING 2.0 out of 5.0 Another royalty from Roberto's is their King sio pao. It has almost the same filling as the Queen counterpart but instead of bacon it has ham. Also it is readily available anytime but is much smaller than the Queen and cheaper by 2 pesos. RATING 3.5 out of 5.0. Believe it or not, this is Yok Pek sio pao. Thought to have disappeared forever, Yok Pek survives but regrettably striving in this hotly contested sio pao industry. But would you believe this sio pao tastes really good. Got this on...

A previous entry discussed about the branding of (hopefully) some Iloilo products and brands as Iloilo's Finest. I had some issues with it's implementation but here's the "biggest" issue I just came across with. It seems that Wewin's Bakery has been using the line "Iloilo's Finest" for years now. Now will there be any legal? issues concerning this? Let's just wait and see.

I'll be sending a former officemate some Ilonggo delicacies next week. From the usual yemas and buttered toasts to boneless dilis and a "ref magnet". But one request "got" me. It was for a "thick piaya". Piayas are usually thin yet some manage bakeshops to "get some air" into these. But it wasn't that either that she wants. She wanted a fully filled thick piaya that almost resembles like hopia in one way or another. I found the answer while browsing over my blogs photos album, they've got to be these piayas from Wewin's! As if she dreamt about these piayas and craved when she woke up. (lol) Just to be sure I bought a "sample" for a taste test and for a visual confirmation if they really are these ones. Haven't received the confirmation though, but I surely loved them myself that I got to finish a pack of 5's in less than 5 minutes after more than 15 minutes of photosession.

Even with if there are more famous and hyped sio paos in Iloilo City, I still prefer this pork sio pao from a restaurant not known for sio pao. It just happens that I like the dough mix plus the pork filling even though they just pair it with ketchup.

Coming from the chocolate festival at The Atrium, it was another Coffeebreak nightcap for me last Wednesday at The Avenue and it was chocolate all over again. Though they had pizza and pasta plus some cookies, I still cannot resist the lure of those specialty cakes on the top display. With catchy names to match its visual appeal, I dont know why I chose a morbid one, Death by Chocolate. And I as if it wasn't enough I partnered it with a choco-based Rocky Road Frappe. *** Finally, I was able to taste Wewin's pancit Molo. Together with my favorite sio pao, this snack made me going through the whole afternoon. I got a much broader picture of the menu wall while waiting for my order. The ledge where a Sto. Nino stands also acts as an offering table since I saw some cookies placed there. A more likely combo this time, sio pao and pancit Molo. I swore I can make a chicken sandwich of these chicken chunks in my pancit Molo. The molo balls tasted like meatballs since it had those swe...

I was glad to squeeze in this visit despite the heavy downpour today. Before I even reached the said snack shop, I already know what I'm going to order, Pancit Molo and hamburger . The former to form part of my pancit Molo quest and the latter being one of the popular items, I heard. So after ordering I chose a spot facing the wall to minimize curious onlookers during my photo shoot. As usual I took some shots around the place like their "Mega" menus and their pasalubong shelves. It came to me that time that Wewin's is just like a pioneering neighbourhood bakery that went big-time because of a famous product (that being biscocho) then decided to serve short orders (and turo-turo) as expansion of the products. My burger and drinks arrive first and after a few minutes the waitress said pancit Molo was unavailable that time and she suggested lomi. Being curious with the lomi an old lady two tables away from me ordered, I consented. Their burger was a dismay since it w...