ILOILO FOOD TRIP

I am a big fan of canned tuna! In fact I have this "gastronomic affair" with Century Tuna , for more than a decade now - from eating it straight from the can or making simple on the spot recipes. So I've had sinigang, sisig, casserole, ala king and more on top of just adding calamansi or vinegar to the tuna. So here's a new addition to my (canned) Tuna Recipes collection and it's a delight in every bite! Here's the recipe for (canned) Tuna Embutido

I looooove Adobo sa Achuete! Be it pork, chicken or almost anything. The delicious mix of  flavours of the oil, vinegar and garlic is often makes my adobo cravings and the meat is just secondary. Well, sort of. But if the meat preferably chicken is sort of fried a bit but still tender and comes right off the bone... extra rice, please! And here's a recipe for Chicken Adobo with Achuete and one can tweak this recipe to suit his own taste and/or with the availability of ingredients especially those with limited sources.

Manila, Philippines. December 5, 2022 — Finding the perfect holiday gifts for loved ones can be challenging for some people. Well, gift giving doesn’t come with no pressure since we only want to give our loves ones what’s best for them. If you’re still looking for the ideal presents or rather need some inspiration, Filipina singer-songwriter Moira dela Torre shares her holiday gift ideas that are perfect for all ages and for every special person in your life!  Making it a merrier Christmas season, Home Credit recently launched The Great 0% Interest Festival , so every shopper can check out items from almost 10,000 partner stores nationwide. Customers can choose from more than 50,000 products available through Home Credit that they get at 0% interest until January 31, 2023. Are you ready? Check out what’s in Moira’s shopping list this holiday season! Gifts for learning and entertainment Now is the time to reward hard-working children and inaanaks the gadgets they deserve. Gifting th...

Characterized by it's purple hue because of its quintessential partner - ube or purple yam,  Puto Bumbong  is very synonymous with the  Pinoy  Christmas. It is part of the Holiday gastronomic scene especially during 9-day early morning mass called  Simbang Gabi . . 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. Here's a simple recipe that could start your gastronomic love affair with the native delicacy even if it isn't Christmas. And you can cook  puto bumbong  even without the  bumbong  or bamboo tubes!

Just like what a popular tagline says "Once you pop, you can't stop". Adapted from the Pringles slogan, I like to use it to describe food discoveries that becoming addicting. Except for the popping , I really can't stop eating these short bread biscuits known as masa podrida from Cheling's Delicacies. Just as simple as it is,  it was delicious. You won't find any fancy design or shapes nor over the top ingredients. It's just addictively delicious. Even, my friends can't help but also be addicted since each bite deserves another and in no time at all, we finish a whole pack. One of them describes this to be a polvoron made into a crisp cookie. Whether you agree or not, it is much better if you can taste these masa podrida. Each box costs PhP160 and contains three packs having 6 or 7 biscuits so that's around  8 pesos for each bite of heaven. Other than this short bread, they also have Carrot Cakes, ...

Sotanghon is one of my favorite noodles to cook with, whether it's a soup or just a dry noodle dish. I like the texture of the noodles as well as its ability to absorb much of the flavor.  While there are so many brands - local and imported, I am very partial with the Marca Pato brand here in Iloilo as it "soft and fluffy" - I don't know if these are the right words, when cooked. Nonetheless, any dish with this brand is just deliciously good. Here's a basic recipe for a Sotanghon Guisado where you can tweak using more or less ingredients of your choice. Ingredients 1 pack Sotanghon, 500 grams 1 cup of pork slices or shredded chicken 1 cup carrot strips 1 medium cabbage, chopped 1 medium onion, chopped 3 cloves garlic, chopped Oil Salt Pepper 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce 2-3 cups Pork/Chicken stock or water with 2-3 pieces of bouillon cubes Sesame Oil, optional Calamansi How to cook Sotanghon Guisado In a large heated wok, pl...

This is it! How about some delicious Pancit?! Most of the time, the noodle dishes we grew up with has lots and lots of meat. It's time to lessen and veer away from the meaty pancit and try something new and by the sound of it, appetizingly delicious too! Thanks to Chef Tope Arañador, the young and contemporary Ilonggo chef/owner of PUNOT Restaurant , for another wonderful noodle dish idea that makes our favorite pancit level up in taste. Chef Tope has partnered with VFC increating special recipes for us to have a taste of Negros, right at home. With this collab, VFC and Chef Tope has created 15 recipes using Victorias Foods signature products - Spanish Style Bangus and Sardines in Soya Oil. So, this is really it, pancit! Ingredients 4 cans Victorias Hot Bangus in Soya oil, drained 15 pieces Fishballs 1 small head of Cabbage cut into 3-inch strips 2 large Carrots, 2 inch strips 1 small Onion, chopped 1 clove Garlic, chopped 10 pieces Bagui...

PINAKBET is  a merry mix of vegetables with meat all embraced by the Pinoy favorite - bago-ong . And there are many ways of cooking pinakbet and its mainly on the meat component and the type of bago-ong used. But the vegetable component almost remain the same - kalabasa, ampalaya, sitaw, okra and talong . Here's a simple recipe for Pinakbet using the Ilonggo bago-ong called Guinamos.

Bulalo is one of the most popular beef soups and can be found in different parts of the country. But the bulalo "country" is Batangas and some parts of Cavite like Tagaytay. Like most dishes, the recipe tends to vary from one region to another but the basic is just it is slowly boiled beef shanks with bone (marrows) with an assortment of vegetables. Its one easy recipe but takes a lot of patience to prepare since it requires hours of boiling the meat until tender that it almost falls off the bones... Here's  a basic recipe on how to cook BULALO

One’s visit to Iloilo City is not complete without going on in an exciting food trip experience.  True to its title “the Food Haven of the Philippines”, Iloilo City offers lots of must-try gastronomic delights. Aside from authentic Ilonggo delicacies like La Paz batchoy, Pancit Molo, laswa, chicke inasal, chiken binakol, and KBL, there are several famous restaurants around the city that offers international authentic cuisines such as Korean, Thai and Chinese. One can find and discover lots of these specialty or authentic restaurants as local and international food chains at SM City Iloilo  The biggest mall in Iloilo and in the region has been supporting the local government unit of Iloilo City in its effort to promote more the city as the country’s gastronomic hotspot. One of the homegrown brands nestled particularly at SM City Iloilo Southpoint is the Kusina Tsina 中 國 小 館  of restaurateur Eugene Chua. Kusina Tsina is one of the best restaurants serving authentic Chinese ...

So what is "white" adobo? It is basically the usual adobo recipe minus one major ingredient - soy sauce or toyo . It's been a fad years ago and it stayed on making it a successful experiment to whomever made the first "white" adobo There are no secret ingredients to this - just omit soy sauce, from your usual recipe. And choosing the right meat part can also make it a recipe to remember. Enjoy! Here's a simple recipe for Pork Liempo White Adobo

The coffee industry in Iloilo, even in Western Visayas, is inevitably hot and brewing.  The popularity of local coffee shops is one proof how Ilonggos are coffee lovers, or we say, "coffee business"-minded. Seeing the industry's potential, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) beefed up its support to the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the coffee industry in the region. In fact, it is one of the seven priority industry sectors of the department.  For 2022 alone, the DTI regional office 6 has prepared 18 kinds of training for coffee entrepreneurs to help them improve their products in terms of packaging and marketing.  Among others, DTI has "Kapatid MentorMe" program – its flagship program that aims to create smart entrepreneurs. In Iloilo City, the city government, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) Iloilo Chapter, Inc. and other stakeholders forged a partnership with the goal of providing a venue to promote local coffee ...

La Paz Batchoy of Iloilo is one of the homegrown favorites of the Ilonggos that captured the taste of the Filipinos.  Along with Pancit Molo, batchoy is a must-try when in Iloilo, thus the statement “your visit to Iloilo is not complete if you have not tried batchoy.” The original batchoy ingredients include miki (noodles), pork caldo, pork strips, pork liver and intestines, crushed pork cracklings or chicharon and seasoned with garlic, onions, and onion chives. Like other food dishes, it has also innovated through the years and has different versions. For one, customers have now options aside from miki as its main ingredient and these are bihon, sotanghon and miswa noodles. Because of its popularity and affordability, batchoy business has thrived in the city and province of Iloilo. Many created their own version of batchoy.  The food business like batchoy is one of the Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) that got the support of local government units. The first-ever “Batch...

I've been experimenting with various kinds of canned seafood pasta for the longest time but never had the chance to do it with Spanish-style sardines. When I attended a food tasting session for " A Taste of Negros " event of Victorias Foods Corporation , I had a sort of deja vu with the pasta dish served. I may have experimented on the same ingredients before but Chef Tope edged me out with the use of the sun dried tomatoes and sardines in oil. Chef Tope Arañador, a young and contemporary Ilonggo chef/owner of PUNOT Restaurant has partnered with Victorias Foods Corporation in creating special recipes. With this collab, VFC and Chef Tope has created 15 recipes using Victorias Foods signature products - Spanish Style Bangus and Sardines in Soya Oil. His pasta creation is a fusion of beloved Italian ingredients with local heirloom recipe in the convenience of a de lata - that is Victorias  Sardines in Soya Oil . Ingredients 3 cans Victorias Hot Sardines in Soya Oil, drained...

Whether it comes from you suki fastfood, streetside stall or just simply cooked at home, Chicken Inasal is always a delicious way to eat.  It also tends to do away with pretentions as you almost and always have to do it "kinamot" (eating with barehands) and diets also go away - unli-rice, please! So let's make a delicious batch of Chicken Inasal and enjoy every bite of it!

The first icebox cake we made at home had broas as base. Later as the recipe "evolved" it became graham crackers and sometimes, chiffon cake baked or bakery bought. Just make sure that the cake is not so overwhelming in flavour so not as to contradict the over-all flavour. ICEBOX Cake made with Grahams and Fruit cocktail There are many ways of making an Icebox Cake and its very simple to make. While the original Icebox Cake calls for wafers and whipped cream, Filipinos tweak the recipe using local biscuits and a variation of fruits as toppings.  Here's a simple recipe for an ICEBOX CAKE.

There are many ways of cooking adobo - be it pork, chicken or even vegetables. And the recipes varies from region to region and even household to household.  The most common is pork and/or adobo and this alone has many variations. But one of my favorites is Chicken Liver Adobo especially if the liver is sort of crisp and the adobo sauce is a bit darker than the usual. But I won't say no to the cholesteroliffic oily adobo version either given its awesome texture and flavors explosion. Here's a simple Chicken Liver (and Heart) Adobo Recipe Ingredients 3/4 kilo Chicken Liver (and heart, if you desire) 1/3 to 1/2 cup Vinegar 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce Oil 2 pcs  Bay leaves 1 head garlic, chopped 1 large head garlic, minced 1 medium onion, sliced Whole black peppercorns How to cook Chicken Liver Adobo In a wok or pan, add oil and fry 1/3 of the chopped garlic until crisp. Set aside for this will serve as toppings. Add more oil and fry (almost deep fry) chick...