ILOILO FOOD TRIP

Sarap to the Bones! While this line is attributed to a fried chicken restaurant, it is also more apt to describe this Filipino bone-in beef shank soup. While BULALO is among the most popular beef soups  and can be found in different parts of the Philippines, bulalo "country" is Batangas and some parts of Cavite like Tagaytay. And with this, 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. It's 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 Ingredients 3 kilos beef shank with bones 3-4 bundles of pechay (or 1 head cabbage, bok choy)   3 medium size onion, whole and peeled 5 cloves garlic, peeled 4-5 pcs. corn, cut into 4-5 slices each 5 medium size potato, quartered (optional) 2 s...

While it may sound redundant, POCHERO is in part of the country (Visayas) basically is like pork nilaga and is cooked mostly without tomato or tomato sauce. Simple Pochero with Tomato Sauce It is just pork cooked with saba (cooking bananas) and cabbage. For a simpler version, it is just pork, saba and kamote tops. Though at times, one may add potatoes and carrots with cabbage or pechay. Sometimes to make it look and taste like the original Spanish dish, the addition of tomato sauce on this simple Visayan recipe does the trick. A simple fusion (or is it confusion?) dish is made. So let's make a very Simple Pochero with Tomato Sauce, before we get totally confused. Ingredients 2/3 kilo pork 5 saba, halved 2 medium potatoes, quartered 2 medium carrots, sliced 5 stalks pechay, washed 5 string beans, sliced 2 inches long,optional 1 cup tomato sauce, adjust Salt and Pepper, to taste Broth cubes, optional, according to taste Water, adjust How to make Poc...

I can still vividly remember how deliciously satisfying at the same time visually appealing our food tasting session with Victorias Foods Corporation last March. Created for its "A Taste of Negros" campaign , we savored three deliciously concocted recipes made with the VFC best-sellers - Hot Sardines in Soya Oil and Spanish-style Bangus, as well as the specialties of Punot Restaurant . Among the stand-outs was Bangus Bruschetta which was the ultimate visual delight. Beautifully plated, every angle comes out with the dish as photogenic as it can be. It consisted of toasted bread and topped with tomatoes and VFC Bangus in Soya Oil. A perfect fusion of international and local ways of cooking and ingredients. Chef Tope Arañador, the 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 and best-se...

Adapted from the Filipinized version of beef steak, pork chops can be made ala bistek . But add a flavor twist with the addition of beer.  It's the savory combination of marinade that eventually becomes the sauce that makes the dish a rice magnet. The mix of flavors of the onion, soy sauce and calamansi plus your favorite beer creates is simply too tempting to resist. Here's a simple and adapted recipe for Beer-marinated Pork Chop Steak

A foreign sounding fruit yet very close to the hearts to the Pinoys - Indian Mango!  Very popular because of its very tamed sourness even when "green", Indian mango is a popular snack among the Pinoys especially pair with rock salt and of course bago-ong . We are very fortunate at home that we have Indian mango trees that give us fresh produce at certain times of the year that we just wait for them to be of the right size and just pick them from the branches.  Right then and there, we enjoy the fruit under the its shade. We just ready our knives plus salt under the tree. Unlike its cousin the regular Carabao mangoes which is famed for its sweetness when ripe, Indian mango is not really as tasty when ripe.  Its way better when its still green with subtle hints of sourness. But still adding salt or even bago-ong makes it more enjoyable. But still an Indian mango, whether ripe or unripe, still gives us that salivating se...

Forget the sauce, these fresh lumpia are very delicious on its own. The aroma alone can already make you salivate and what more when you finally sink your teeth into them. I've grown up with these kind of lumpiang ubod that I shy away from those that come with peanut sauce or something. A good fresh lumpia for me must have the right blend of a garlicky flavour and subtle sweetness though the trend right now especially to those homemade ones is there is "light, medium, strong" garlicky taste. So, vampires beware! Making one seems simple enough - just saute garlic (lots of it), ground pork and ubod. Season the mixture with salt and pepper and fibally add sugar. Then wrap into special kind of lumpia wrapper - a thinner one since this it is "no-cook" that what makes it "fresh". The heat and moisture from the filling eventually makes it softer and it is eaten best - cold.Garnishing like onion leaves are added to have more flavour and visual...

Kare-kare is a Filipino stew made usually with pork or beef with a peanut based thick sauce. As it is quite plain when it comes to flavour despite its thick sauce, it is often partnered with  guisadong bago-ong  (sauteed shrimp paste) to get the full goodness of this favorite Filipino recipe. Here's a simple recipe for Kare-kare.

While chicken is the more popular meat in making a curry dish, its pork version is also as delicious. Making Pork Curry is very simple - just some frying, mixing and stewing. And around an hour, you will be already enjoying the aroma and taste of a simple curry dish. Basically, just replace chicken in your favorite curry recipe with slices of pork and you are good to go with a simple pork curry dish. Now, let's start cooking... INGREDIENTS 2/3 kilo pork, bite size pieces 2 medium potatoes, sliced into cubes 1 large carrot, sliced 1 large bellpepper, sliced 1 pack curry powder mix or plain curry 1 cup thick coconut cream 1 medium onion, chopped 3 cloves garlic, minced Oil Water Salt and pepper to taste PROCEDURE In a pan, brown pork slices then saute in onion and garlic in its own oil. You may add oil if you want. Add in and stir fry potatoes, carrots and  bellpeppers (or you may add bellpeppers last) Add coconut cream (you may use canned gata or gata ...

Sinabawan is the more basic Ilonggo sinigang where only tomatoes and onions make the dish. Its a hearty fish soup that is often found on most household for a simple yet delicious meal. Here's the recipe for a Sinabawan na Bangus

I just love hot and spicy canned sardines/bangus! And it's the Victorias brand, I love it even more. I can still remember iconic brand back in the 80s or 90s when it still had its signature yellow wrap. You could already spot it in the grocery shelves from afar.  Now back to the future 20s and Victorias Foods Corporation is p artnering with Chef Tope Arañador, a young and contemporary Ilonggo chef/owner of PUNOT Restaurant. With this partnership, VFC and Chef Tope has created 15 recipes using Victorias Foods signature products - Spanish Style Bangus and Sardines in Soya Oil. And just in time for the Lenten celebrations, here's the first recipe created by Chef Tope using Victorias Hot Bangus in Soya Oil Ingredients   4 cans Victorias Hot Bangus in Soya Oil, drained 3 cups Jasmine rice, cooked 1/4 cup chopped carrots 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped 1/4 cup corn kernel 1/4 cup frozen peas 2 cloves garlic 2 tbsp spring onions 1 shallot 1 egg, large 1/2 tsp chicken stock,...