ILOILO FOOD TRIP

Giniling na Baboy is both a dish and is actually the literal translation of ground pork. It's among the easiest recipes and one that can be tweaked to suit you own taste at the same time cooked with whatever ingredients are available. While most often it is cooked with tomato sauce, it can be one with out it. Too add more kick to it, I often smother it bottled hot sauce.  Namit gid! Here's a simple recipe for Giniling na Baboy

The are many different types of edible seaweeds but lato , gulaman and guso are the most popular. They are a staple in most seaside communities households and restaurants. And the best part is that preparing them into an appetizing salad / kinilaw is very simple.   Here's a recipe for a simple Kinilaw na Guso

Ramboys. Liempo. That's probably it. Ofcourse, you'll have to have some extra rice to go with that deliciously crispy liempo that would surely make you rave and crave for more. You'd never look at any other liempo when you tried Ramboy's version. In fact, that would become your standard for a great-tasting liempo. SM City Iloilo invited members of the Iloilo Bloggers for a gastronomic adventure showcasing SM Southpoint.  The newest hang-out of the Ilonggos is an al fresco wing of the biggest mall in the region consisting of local and home grown restaurants and cafes as well new local and "imported" players in the food service industry. It's time to discover what SM Southpoint has to offer ...

POCHERO. The most familiar recipes are the ones stewed with tomatoes (or tomato sauce) or the Cebu variant which is like bulalo or nilaga, but the pochero I grew up with is just very simple. It's just pork cooked with potatoes and/or saba (cooking banana) with kamote tops or pechay. I just love the mild sweetness of the broth brought about by the bananas to the savory broth. Or sometimes, it tends lean more of the tomato based recipe, just without the tomato itself or sauce. The recipe is just very simple - just boil the pork first until tender. Add the "hard" veggies like potatoes, saba, carrots, etc then finally when the leafy veggies when its almost done. Just season it with salt or broth cubes for a savory broth. Here's a recipe guide for a simple Pochero Ilonggo

  The now-iconic restaurant called Casa  Ilongga  used to be just a small eatery -- and was even established far from its Iloilo roots.  But it owes its success story to serendipity, when they discovered that one of the  Sy  siblings of the Shoe Mart fame was a regular customer, affirming the goodness of their food and that they deserve to be on a bigger stage. Based on Spanish  words  Casa (home) and  Ilongga  (a female resident in Iloilo), the original establishment consisted of just a one long  table serving  Batchoy  before  exploded into popularity and became firmly entrenched as one of the longest-running restaurants with over 40 years in operation.   Humble Origins   Challenged by the closure of their oil business in Bacolod due to the sugar crisis in the late 1970’s, Emilio and  Julieta Uytiepo  decided to move to Manila together with their children t...

With it's signature French bread quality - crisp outside and soft inside, Panaderia ni Pa-a (formerly Jaro Bakery) has influenced the gastronomy of the Ilonggos especially those residing in Jaro. Established in 1896,  is very popular then and now with a singular item - pan de sal .  Founded by Jose Uy's great grandfather, Chiquito Uy, the bakery has withstood the test and taste of time and lived up to more than a century of baking and maintaining the quality and taste of it products especially the famed pan de sal.    Panaderia ni Pa-a was named in honor of Jose Uy's father, Uy Pa-a who was a native of the Southern China province of Fujian. 

Ilonggos have their own favorite sio pao. Be it one with a savoury filling or maybe that which has a nicely textured bun. It can also come from one’s favorite Chinese restaurant, a snack shop along the highway or a hole in the wall food shop. Let me take you in a “sio pao in the city” gastronomic tour and begin with the restaurant that sio pao built.