ILOILO FOOD TRIP

Buko Salad is one of the most popular fruits salads. Aside from being easy to make, it is also versatile to easily suit your taste and budget. And whatever your end product maybe or how it will look like, it still is a salad and chances are they will be asking for more! So here's a basic recipe for Buko Salad.

One of the fastest and easiest hunger-buster are those instant noodles wherein you'll just boil the noodles in water then add seasoning... hungry no more! But most of the time I tweak this instant recipe by making adding things I can find in the cupboard and fridge. Thus this instant and favorite recipe of mine was born.

With its rich, thick and egg "enriched" soup that complements the meat and vegetables, LOMI is another Pinoy noodle soup dish which has a big Chinese influence and just in time for todays Lunar New Year celebration welcoming the Year of the Metal Ox. The noodles used is making Lomi is among the thickest in the Philippine culinary scene and most of the time, soaked in lye water to give it more chewy texture. The soup is also thick because of the addition of egg and other times corn starch. And it usually has pork, liver, meatballs and seafood balls as well as cabbage carrots as its basic meat and vegetable ingredients. Because of its popularity around the country, the recipe varies from household to household as well as in the carinderias and restaurants offering the dish.  Here's a simple Lomi recipe to celebrate the Chinese New Year 2021! Ingredients 1/2 kilo Lomi noodles,  2 cups of pork meat, sliced into strips 1 cup pork liver, sliced 10 piece...

There are so many things to do when you  visit the historic town of Santa Barbara, Iloilo . You will be amazed its beautifully restored church and convent, see one of the biggest Philippine flags atop one of the tallest flagpoles, tee in the oldest existing golf course in the country, explore its attractive plaza, discover the Philippines' only hand-made Belgian lace making facility and so much more. You can also indulge in the town's popular native snacks - baye-baye,  bingka , rice crackers, and more. Quench your thirst with its "mysterious" drinking water that is colored like whisky and "it burns" . But you can also satisfy and fulfill your gastronomic cravings as well as make more Instagram worthy posts when you chase "The Blue Butterfly". Le Papillon Bleu is a "pleasantly comfortable and cozy" restaurant along Hingco Street in Sta. Barbara, Iloilo.

Talaba (or oysters) are good on their own and usually steamed dipped in sinamak - the Ilonggo spiced vinegar. It can also be served baked with cheese and even an  oyster cake .  Serving it  kinilaw -style is somewhat halfway between "steamed and fully cooked" and still as delicious as it any oyster dish can be! Here's a basic and simple recipe for Kinilaw na Talaba

There many ways of cooking GINISANG MONGGO as the recipe varies from household to household. It's basically just a mix and match of the leafy vegetables and sliced veggies plus the subak or meat/seafood add-ins.  And is often a perfect partner of fried or grilled fish and meat, ginisang monggo is a staple in Pinoy gastronomy.  Here's a simple recipe for Ginisang Monggo with many variations to choose from.

K.B.L. or Kadyos, Baboy, Langka is the ultimate favorite dish of most Ilonggos. It is also one of the most missed native dishes as kadyos and the souring ingredient, batwan , are hard to find when outside of the Ilonggo region.  Basically, it is boiled/stewed pork dish owing its "deliciousness" to the combination of the soft and tender pork, the tamed sourness of  batwan  and the  malinamnam na sabaw . One of the "secrets" of the malinamnamn na sabaw , is the fact that the pork, whether just the plain meat or pata (hocks) are first grilled or broiled. This gives the broth a rather smoky taste that makes it more appetizing. You'd really taste ane even smell the difference when the pork is not grilled. Learn how to make the Ilonggo dish KBL (Kadyos, Baboy, at Langka) with this recipe.