fresh veggies for dinengdeng in casantolan

After some years of just passing by my home province (Nueva Vizcaya) on my travels to the big city, I finally decided one cold dawn to drop by the national highway in Bambang on my trip back to Cagayan. It's a sudden decision to stop the bus and step down and have my feet touch the familiar earth of my province again, at 4AM, and transact with one of the night-shift tricycle drivers awaiting for passengers at the bend of the road going to Dupax del Norte to bring me to Mabasa and thence to Casantolan, to home, again, perchance to dream...

Yes, i'm always dreaming green when I'm reminiscing about my native place, literally green with the greens of Casantolan. I mean, the nateng, the kanatengan, the vegetables, the veggie patches, of course, of which I always crave, etched in my childhood memory of a farm kid, my mother's lush and verdant gardens of edible and ornamental plants.

So the first thing I did, attack the veggie patches and take advantage of the freshness of the greens, mostly green leafy goodies, here's my modest harvest for the morning, I wanted a dinengdeng of various leaves for breakfast (click on the photos for a larger view):

Saluyots are all around, I'm so over-eager to pick:

There, saluyot, kamotig tops, alukon shoots, kalunay (this one's a big variety of spinach growing wild  all over the yard), some tarongs:

And here, karabasa blossoms to complete my dinengdeng:

Naimurianen ken nabugguan, the veggies are ready:

What I miss more about being a barrio boy ("barriotic") is the way the food is prepared, using simple wares and employing the most basic chores. Here's a unique way to cook dinengdeng -- in a rice kaldero rather than in a tayab or banga. And, to top the experience, cooked upon an improvised iron stove and using binalsig, chopped firewood:

The bugguong is boiled; next, the veggies by layers, with the sabong-karabasa on top. No sagpaws needed, I want a real dinengdeng of just veggies, no dried/fried fish/meat to distract the generosity of the plant kingdom:

After a few minutes (no overcooking, please, I want it kind of "medium rare" to enjoy it pristine and succulent), here's the final dinengdeng:

Here's my labay, my plate, my rice and dinengdeng. I missed much this unique tin plate, complete with a tilbak (dent), of my childhood, so rural and so promdi but it only adds up more memories to enjoy and delight upon while savoring my dinengdeng ala-Casantolan:

What a bliss! This makes me craving for more Casantolan homecoming. I should.

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kalalaki nga alukon, "male" alukon

Dinengdeng a kalalaki nga alukon with patani, kardis and pallang.

Not many folks, even those so-called patneng nga Ilokanos (true-blue Ilokanos) know or are aware that the fruit (or is it flower?) of the kalalaki nga alukon (male alukon [allaeanthus glaber, himbabao] tree) is edible or as sumptous as the commonly consumed slender and longish flowerette sabong ti alukon. Maybe because kalalaki nga alukon trees are rare. In fact, I only know of it because we have once a kalalaki tree right in our backyard in Mabasa, Dupax del Norte, Nueva Vizcaya, my native place. As a child, we used to climb up the tree and gather (or cut branches with) flower/fruit and shoots of this unique alukon and my mother make it into a delectable dinengdeng with patani, kardis, or young utong pods/beans and with pallang or parda, sometimes with paria fruit and occassionally with ubog ti barit (bud/heartof a wild smaller variety of rattan). I relished it as a child and until my bachelorhood. When I came to Cagayan, I didn't see any tree, much more of it being sold in the local tiendaans.

And imagine my amazement and joy when I saw these beautiful kalalaki nga alukon "balls" (yes, it resembles the human male testicle, complete with hairs--of which I presume is one reason why it was called "lalaki") sold by an old woman in the merkado publiko in Gonzaga, Cagayan--I immediately bought two liter-fulls, while my companions at that time keep on exclaiming wonder and utter disbelief ("nah, masida gayam ti kasta?" "diak man ammo a mabalin a sidaen dayta, nagadu kasta 'diay ayanmi!" "ania ngay ramanna daytan, kasla met ukel-ukel, ne, adda pay urmotna, wahaha!"):

A close up of the miniature "balls" (click on the photos for a larger view):

I eagerly, and painstakingly, prepared my first kalalaki nga alukon dinengdeng in Cagayan. I was in luck that day because I also chanced upon some gorgeous ubog ti way ( rattan bud/heart) in the same market, which is a perfect pair to alukon (paria, especially the "native" ones is also good; I prefer bitter veggies for my alukon dinengdengs). I also bought some patani:

And here's it, my dinengdeng a kalalaki nga alukon with ubog ti way and patani, with dried shrimps (kuros, aramang)--it overloaded my carbo intake that day, because I consumed a lot of rice with it:

The next day, I cooked the remaining balls with patani, kardis and pallang, and with kuros, of course, my way of reminiscing and re-living and relieving my childhood in Nueva Vizcaya, and an act of giving kudos to the dinengdeng expertise of my mother, her basic cooking skills (mostly on dinengdengs and barely with meats [on rare occassions when we have tinola a manok for dinner, or a pinapaitan for lunch in rare occourences where some carabaos are butchered to be mauraga or loaned in exchange for palay when harvest comes], because that was our life then in the barrio, a farming community. living simply and contented with our own backyard produce) which I terribly miss, and of which I shamelessly claim to have "inherited":

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red/purple katuday

Nalabbasit a katuday.

It's February. And it's 14th. Supposedly a lovers' day for all. It's also flowers and chocolate's day, you can't imagine how many tons of cut flowers and chocolate bars may have been gifted upon and consumed on this single day of the year...

And to join the grand celebration of romance, I have here a heap of red flowers for you. Actually purple. And this is edible, mind you. This is a variety of katuday. What more could you wish for, beautiful red flowers and it's edible, too! We'll make a dinengdeng or a salad out of it to make it the more enjoyable, delightful, delicious! Naimas, naim-imas!

Let's enjoy the beauty of the blossoms first, before we subject it into a dissection to prepare it for cooking (click on the photos for a larger view):

For this dinengdeng, the purple katuday will be paired with crisp pallangs. I added camote cubes (not shown) to sweeten and starch the broth, thus making it a kind of buridibod.

Luckily, I've got some grilled tilapia as an "al-alia" (sagpaw, add-on) for my dinengdeng. I boiled it first in the simmering bugguong broth:

And it's done! It's just so unfortunate that the purple katuday lost its fabulous color and texture when it's cooked/wilted--it turned into an unsightly bluish black, much to my consternation, arrgggh! But anyway, the dinengdeng is so promising as you can see--the same bittersweet katuday flavor enhanced by the starchy sweet potato and the crispy and still green pallang:

The rest of the red blossoms, I made into a salad with KBL (kamatis-bugguong-lasona):

That's it. But I just can't get away with the royal color of this katuday, so let's have them in its majestic splendor yet again:

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katuday dinengdeng

Dinengdeng with katuday flowers.

Katuday is perfect for a salad, blanched and tossed with bugguong, kamatis and lasona/sibuyas, it's a perfect appetizer of sort. And it's mostly known and used for as a flower vegetable. But it can be also made into a hearty dinengdeng along with other greens. Yes, although some may not relish its distinct but mild bitter-sweetness, a dinengdeng-gourmand will just simply adore katuday in his bugguong-charmed veggie soup.

This is my dinengdeng with katuday, we'll have here utong, okra, paria and bilonak (alugbati), with bits and pieces of tinapa (smoked galunggong fish), boiling in its nutritious essence, its bubling bugguong broth fusing cozily with the veggies and wafting a peculiar Ilokano aroma intensified by the smokiness of the tinapa:

The secret to a truly delicious and delightful dinengdeng is its crispness and succulence--not overcooked to a bland mash, the cooking should just be quick but sure. This should be particularly noted when a katuday is in the mix because it needs just a few minutes to be done.

Try it, and you'll have this dinengdeng, too:

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labay, plateful, various plates of ilokano dishes

Labay means plate, the plate where you are eating right at the moment, breakfast, lunch or dinner. Or the act of mixing broth or soup of your sida (viand) into you rice. Whatever, here are several instances of my own labays, showcasing various Ilokano dishes I consumed the passed days or months in different places (if my memory won't fail me):

This is lunch time in my residence in Iguig, Cagayan. I've got here boiled balatong with paria leaves, boiled cabbages with sliced tomatoes and bugguong, and fried tilapia.
(Click on photo for a larger view)

Lunch, Iguig, Cagayan. Boiled young tarong with bugguong as a dip.
(Click on photo for a larger view)

Breakfast, Iguig, Cagayan. Steamed camote tops with sliced tomatoes and bugguong, grilled okra, and fried daing.
(Click on photo for a larger view)

Lunch, Tuguegarao City. Baradibod nga ube with alukon and shrimps, pinapaitan a baka, kappukan a baka, and grilled tilapia.
(Click on photo for a larger view)

Dinner, Santa ana, Cagayan. kalkalunay salad, pakbet nga alukon, and bopis.
(Click on photo for a larger view)

Lunch, Currimao, Ilocos Norte. Paksiw a malaga, Ginettaan nga aba (laing), baradibod a bunga ti marunggay, and pork adobo.
(Click on photo for a larger view)

Lunch, Currimao, Ilocos Norte.  Pokpoklo with tomatoes, grilled bangus, and sweet golden watermelon (dessert).
(Click on photo for a larger view)

Lunch, Currimao, Ilocos Norte.  Pinakbet, dinengdeng a rabong ken saluyot, and lechon carajay.
(Click on photo for a larger view)

Breakfast, Tuguegarao City. Nabaraniwan a leddeg, and pinapaitan/sinanglaw a baka.
(Click on photo for a larger view)

Lunch, Gonzaga, Cagayan. Paksiw a malaga, steamed crab, boiled ipon, chicken tinola, pinapaitan a baka, and chopsuey.
(Click on photo for a larger view)

Mealtime in Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte (not mine, photo from Pasuquin Facebook page). Dinengdeng, pinakbet, ginettaan nga aba, seaweed salas, pinakbet a paria, grilled tilapia. 
(Click on photo for a larger view)

.....posted from Bloggeroid

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buridibod yet again: camote, petchay and alukon

This is yet another buridibod variation.We have previously featured our buribod with alukon floweretters and marunggay leaves and buridibod with marunggay pods. Here's one with alukon still and with "baby" petchays (young and small petchay). The basic ingredient here is the camote root. Buridibod is buridibod as long as it has the main ingredient, which is root crop, be it camote, or other root crops like taro, yam, and other starchy edible root.

As with the others, my buridibod this time is cooked with the camotes at the base of the lot, it is put in first after the bugguong is diluted in the boiling water, simmered sometime to cook it (the camote), and then the alukon and the petchay.

Do not overcook the alukon and the petchay. Put off fire and serve immediately while crisp and green, with the sweet starchy broth steaming.

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