ILOILO FOOD TRIP

Making  ube halaya  is just simple but it tends to be almost tedious especially the mixing. The most important is that you 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.  And if you're ready for the challenge, here's a simple recipe  to make a delicious Ube Halaya

Every region in the Philippines has it's own version of a spiced vinegar and a name for it. In most parts of Western Visayas especially in Iloilo, it is known as sinamak .  One can find it almost anywhere for it is a staple dip in almost every household and native restaurants. Be it chicken inasal or grilled pork chop to seafoods especially talaba, sinamak is the perfect dip to further one's appetite.

While the original kilawin recipe calls for raw meat or seafood to be part of the dish "cooked" with  the acidity of vinegar, this dish is an offshoot adaptation of the recipe. Its more of friendly to those who don't want to ingest something "raw" but in some sense get the know how  kilawin  tastes. It's basically deep-fried pork (left-over   lechon kawali   is perfect for this recipe) served  kilawin -style.  Here's the recipe for Crispy Pork "Kilawin"

My childhood memories about muasi or palitaw are not that good. I consider it as one of my hated native delicacies given itsbland taste even with the sugar dip.  But as time passed, I learned to appreciate it especially when its freshly cooked with the muscovado teeming the aroma of roasted sesame seeds. So let's make some Palitaw!

So what's a White Salad? It's just a Fruit or Buko Salad with all the white (and off white ingredients). Simple as it may seem, this could turn into one of your favorite salads and desserts for any occasions and events. Preparation is easy and the recipe can be easily tweaked to add more of your favorite "white" ingredients.  Here's an easy recipe for White Salad

I know you're fantasizing about Jollibee Burgersteak everytime you hear about "mushroom gravy". But you can always have this mouth-watering dish at the comfort of your home and it wont be limited to burger patties. Try any fried meat and you'll be asking for more. So how about some pork chops with this yummy mushroom gravy?

This simple BEEF SARCIADO is a savory and delicious combination of beef, vegetables and delectable sauce and is always an extra rice magnet! A much simpler version of those thick sauce stews, this can be done with or without tomato sauce. Just some bread crumbs and/or liver spread/potted meat to thicken the sauce if you won't be using tomato sauce. No need for fancy ingredients either, just beef, carrots, peppers and potatoes plus some garnish. Now let's begin...

It's been a while since the last I made a sotanghon recipe so I volunteered to make one during a simple birthday lunch. I love making sotanghon guisado one using shredded chicken with lots of ground pepper.  And cooking one is just very simple and this recipe can be used in making either a dry pancit sotanghin guisado or a soup version. Here's the simple recipe for making Chicken Sotanghon

There are many ways of cooking pata (pork hocks). I've made  sinigang , kare-kare , paksiw , ala " lauya "  and of course, there's crispy pata . Yet one of the simplest recipes but still very delicious, it making it part of ginisang monggo . The soft and almost fall-of-the-bone pata (slow-cooked) plus the familiar taste of  ginisang monggo makes the dish Here's the recipe for Pata with Monggo, etc

Kusahos is my favorite way of enjoying beef. it is basically sun-dried beef strips marinated adobo style - that is with vinegar, garlic and soy sauce, among others. After an overnight marination, it is then sun-dried for a few days - watch for flies as this is a fly-magnet! The drier it becomes, the better tasting it will become. It is then deep fried or at time placed directly over charcoal, for a crunchy-lious local beef gastronomic experience. Here's the recipe for Kusahos