sabidukong, the edible wild flower with so many names

Sabidukong, it is. But it goes by so many names and monikers as people from many places in the Ilocos. Cagayan Valley, and Cordillera regions argue to agree and disagree on what to call it. But, well, this vine with beloved blossom and prized fruit is as loved as it is diversified depending on its place of domicile, wild or cultured/domesticated.

You can call it all you want, tonkin jasmine in English, and be it sabsabidukong, ampupuyat, bagbagkong, dukep, padpadol, kapaskapas, sipsippayot, tintirintin, pusapusa, saguyepyep, badbadiong, sapsapungot, turoturog, alimpapaok, ampapayot, sakasaka ti uwak, barbakilia, patpatayok, dogdogsol, dulangdulang, padpadulang, lupluppaaw, kuriday-ong, tibtibien, and many more (in Tagalog region, they call it bulakbulakan, puso-puso, latok, tramuki or taramuke), but it is still as delicious. Be it as a partner to your boiled balatong or a companion to your dinengdeng or a garnishing of sort to your pinakbet.

And here, the perfect combination: sabsabidukong with boiled balatong! I added bunga ti paria to certify the combo as a truly Ilokano dish. Naigisa a pinablad a balatong a nalaokan iti sabidukong ken paria. Sauteed boiled mung beans with wild sabidukong flowers and bitter melon.With lots of lasona and bawang to boot!

This is so.... so delicious!

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More sabidukong stories:

• sabidukong/pusapusa/dukep/bagbagkong/ampupuyat, edible wild vine flower

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mongo beans soup with rattan bud/shoot

Boiled balatong (mongo, mung beans), sautéed with lots of onions and garlic, is one stable Filipino viand especially preferred during rainy and cold days. Paired with a variety of other vegetables (specially green leafy veggies) and meat and fish sagpaws (add-on), it’s one appetizing dish to go with steamed rice. A favorite companion vegetable is usually the leaves or fruit of paria (amargoso, ampalaya, bitter melon) as the bitterness of it is just a perfect flavor of the exotic kind to blend with the starchy balatong.

And speaking of exotic bitterness, here’s a bunch of ubog ti way (rattan bud/shoot) to offer just that bitterness:

Peeling of the stalks of the shoots:

And there’s the boiled balatong ready:

The ubog now cut and ready:

The sautéed balatong now being boiled with the ubog ti way:

And it’s done, here’s one bean soup with a touch of exoticness, bitter but so delicious and comforting:

See more ubog recipes:

• Ubog ti way, rattan bud (heart)
• Kalalaki nga alukon, "male" alukon

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