FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

The Valentine Dinner Buffet at The Promenade at Days Hotel Iloilo is no doubt among the top Valentine gastronomic events in the city during Hearts' Day. Dubbed as FEAST OF THE HEART, it is one of the most indulgent buffets the hotel has to offer throughout the year with its wide selection of food. From hors d'oeuvres, soups and breads to the  organic salad bar, sushi & sashimi, main entrees, carvint station and desserts, it's all one big delicious gastromantic celebration! And for the NTH year, I spent Valentine's Day 2020 together with the Iloilo Bloggers Inc. indulging in the sumptuous offerings Days Hotel Iloilo has in store during the most romantic day of the year. Here's what we enjoyed last Valentine at The Promenade at Days Hotel Iloilo's  FEAST OF THE HEART  Let's whet up our appetites with the HORS D' OUEVRES/APPETIZERS/SOUP Stations. Breads come in many variants. Make your own salad in...

A mouth-watering discovery at the new branch of this iconic Iloilo restaurant in the town of Pavia. Kong Kee's fried sio pao has the same savory filling like its sio pao but this one comes in a deep fried dough. The "bread" is already good to go as it is like deep fried mantou? bread. It is very densed and it is sort of crisp outside but soft inside. Sold at PhP 35 each, around half of the price of the sio pao, it is also half as big. None theless it is a new take on sio pao coming from an iconic restaurant that sio pao built!

Now who doesn't love Ube Halaya ? From being a halo-halo ingredient to fillings of cakes and even brazo de mercedes , the lure of the purple yam is irresistible to most Filipinos. Cooking  ube halaya  is just simple but it tends to be almost tedious especially the mixing. First of all you must make sure you have quality  ube  (purple yam), preferably the  tapul  variety. That's easy if you have a trusted and dependable suki at the market who won't shortchange you by substituting purple sweet potato. When you're "ube-ready", just boil the purple yam until soft and then mash it until the texture you want. If you want to have a halaya with some "bites and pieces", you can hand-mash it until the texture you want. But if you prefer the smooth one, you can use a blender. Detailed recipe >>>  UBE HALAYA DETAILED RECIPE Now the tedious process begins. In a low heated wok, place the ube and add milk...

  Wishing everybody a healthy, prosperous and bountiful 2022💜

Puto Bumbong is very synonymous with the  Pinoy Christmas as it is part of the Holiday gastronomic scene especially during 9-day early morning mass called Simbang Gabi . Characterized by it's purple hue because of its quintessential partner - ube or purple yam. Its named as such because of the usage of bamboo as steaming "vessel" for the native delicacy. Placed on banana leaves, it is then topped sugar, shredded coconut, margarine and even cheese. But you can cook puto bumbong even without the bumbong or bamboo tubes. Here's a simple recipe that could start your gastronomic love affair with the native delicacy the Filipino Christmas gastronomic scene is made of. Ingredients Puto 2 cups boiled and mashed Ube (Purple Yam) 1 cup Gata (Coconut Milk) 1 1/2 cup  Malagkit (Glutinous Rice)  flour Salt Water Banana leaves Toppings Shredded niyog (mature coconut) Margarine Brown sugar (muscovado is also good) Cheese ...

A visually enticing and mouth-watering collection of Pinoy appetizers makes up this bilao full of favorites. Making one in you own home is just easy as collecting and making these individually and then arranging them to make an appetizer centerpiece. There's steamed okra , atsara , piniritong talong , steamed kamote tops, itlog na maalat (which you can also make as a salted egg sauce ),  fresh tomatoes and onions, sweet and spicy dilis , bago-ong (either fresh or guisado ) and lato or seagrapes which you can serve fresh or salad . You can mix and match a variety of appetizers, taking into consideration its flavors at the same time colors to make it appeal more and yes - visually and gastronomically appetizing! Click the links below for the recipes: Papaya Atsara  Salted Egg Sauce Guisadong Bago-ing Alamang Lato Salad Sweet Spicy Dilis  

Among the many reinventions of the fruit salad, one of the most interesting I find is the addition of sago as base or "extender". Though the latter may sound "negative", but once you've seen and tasted this new take on a fruit salad, you'll be asking for more! Tapioca (or sago) is an essential ingredient of native delicacies and desserts like  linugaw  and taho.  But now it has found its way to more "modern" desserts like puddings and salads. With the availability of cooked "sago pearls" in the market and in different size, making these desserts is just simple and easy. Here's a recipe for Creamy Sago and Fruits Salad