ILOILO FOOD TRIP

Mention laswa  and a merry mix of vegetables would come to mind. This is a perfect "realization" of the Filipino folk song "Bahay Kubo" which narrates an abundance of vegetables beside the traditional Filipino hut. Laswa has no definite list of ingredients nor way or cooking as it is just "stewing" available vegetables, not only from the garden, but what's inside your fridge or you bought from the market. It ranges from the simple all vegetable dish to ones having seafood like shrimps, crabs and more. But in the end it all boils ( pun intended ) down to what you prefer at the same time, what is available. Here's a simple recipe for Laswa

Be it filled with meat, vegetable or mix of both, FRIED LUMPIA is always an enjoyable treat . The gastronomic sensation of having crispy fried lumpia dipped in vinegar garlic sauce (or sweet chili sauce) always makes me salivate just with the thought. Usually its a mixture of ground meat and vegetables when we make lumpia, but at times if we made a big batch of  pancit molo filling  then it also makes a good fried lumpia. Fishes like bangus and tilapia also makes delicious lumpia filling. Here's a basic Fried Lumpia recipe

Linusguan na Pasayan or halabos na hipon is the easiest way to cook shrimps. Just boil in salt and water until almost dries up. It's perfect with your dip of choice like toyomansi or just a good eaten on its own. With this kind of simple cooking, many decided to complicate it a bit for some challenge thus born one of the most popular  halabos  recipe which uses lemon soda like 7Up or Sprite instead of water. Here's the simple recipe for Linusgusan na Pasayan (Halabos na Hipon)

Paksiw nga Pata (pork hocks) is almost like cooking adobo but at home it has hints of estofado . No, it doesn't have fried saba  and/or pineapples but it is sauce tends to be sweet almost bordering on the taste of the latter.  Making  pinaksiw nga pata  is simple but tends to have a slow cooking time. But in the end its worth the wait nd you'll be almost screaming "extra rice"! Here is the recipe for Paksiw na Pata

As a main meal, pamahaw means  almusal or breakfast. While non-native Hiligaynon speakers might be confused, Ilonggos associate the use with just thr right timing and the actual food eaten. The typical Ilonggo pamahaw would usual consist of dried seafood like tabagak ( tuyo ), balingon ( dilis ) or pinakas (sundried and salted daing ) plus egg and rice.  Processed meats like choriso ( longganisa ), tapa and tocino also form part of the 1st meal of the day.  So, what's your typical  pamahaw ?