ILOILO FOOD TRIP

There’s an unwritten rule in the house – leftover fried fish will become cardillo while broiled fish becomes linagpang . While cardillo involves a more complicated process of making an egg-based broth for the fish, making linagpang is just easy as 1-2-3.  It has become quite a dish in the house as there’s no need to wait for leftover fishes – bangus in particular, in order to make linagpang . Here's the recipe for Linagpang na Bangus

Eggplants are among the most all around vegetables found in a variety of dishes. It can be fried as a torta, deep-fried like chips, cooked in sinigang and pinakbet , baked into pasta dishes and pinirito  partnered with bago-ong  casseroles,  or just plainly grilled. An off-shoot recipe from the grilled eggplant is Ensalada na Talong which is an easy to make appetizer or side dish for grilled meats and fish. Here's a simple recipe for Talong Ensalada (Eggplant Salad)

I often experimented with this recipe based on the taste memories I had of my last sweet and spicy dilis snack. Good thing, balingon or dilis is always available inside the fridge and so as the other ingredients. And making one is very simple, just frying and mixing - it's really that easy. So here's my very simple recipe which you can tweak to adjust to your own taste. I don't usually put in the measurement for most of the time I just thrown in what ever there is and adjust it during the process. Sweet and Spicy Dilis Recipe

Atsara is the Filipino version of pickles popularly made with grated unripe papaya though others use assorted vegetables,  labong (bamboo shoots) or dampalit - a weed. It is often served as a side dish for fried or grilled foods such as pork barbecue, chicken barbecue or any  inihaw  na isda.  The recipe varies from regions around the country and even from household to household. Here's a basic recipe for Atsara na Papaya .

Sorbetes is the traditional Filipino ice cream peddled in almost street corners across the country. Childhood memories are often recalled with the ringing of the bells by the neighborhood ice cream with his cart. Ube Sorbetes served with macapuno and sago pearls Take your pick from the moist popular flavors - buco, ube, keso or combination of the three. Served in plastic cups but you can opt for it one a wafer cone or placed inside a pan de leche for a literal ice cream, sandwich! Here's a Sorbetes recipe from Food.com .

When there is more than enough okra, it becomes a mainstay on the menu at home. Be it on pinakbet, sinigang, laswa and other dishes or just simply nilaga and other simple recipes which I tend to experiment on most of the time. I even just pop them inside the microwave oven at times for an instant side dish!  Easiest among these is Nilagang Okra with Bago-ong  - just partner boiled or steamed okra with ginisang bago-ong for a simple yet fulfilling sidedish. Or you can just by ready to serve bago-ong at the groceries.  I often mix it with a little calamansi so that the sour and salty taste combination would make it even more appetizing. A little chili pepper would spice it up a bit too!

Mangoes are available all year round but it is during summer that it is in season and cheapest. And when there are some many mangoes around, it is time for one of my favorite summer coolers - Mango con Hielo! Simpler to make than halo-halo , it is just as delicious and refreshing.      Here's a simple recipe for a Mango Con Hielo

Though not a native fruit to the Philippines and can be considered as exotic in some ways, persimmon is one fruit of curiosity for me. Good thing it's available at Iloilo Supermart from time to time. I just had my first bite of persimmon a few days ago and it tasted like a hard gelatinzed star apple or kaymito . It was curiosity - more than satisfied!

When there's more than enough green mangoes at home, they often end up as  binuro nga paho  (burong mangga) so we can enjoy their green-ness for a longer period of time. Making "pickles "out of these fruit differ from household to household, so it depends on the recipe you grew up with or if you have none, the one that you find online. Here's a simple Binuro nga Paho (Burong Mangga) recipe