dinengdeng a nasagpawan iti kappo (tahong)

Dinengdeng! Also known as inabraw. The staple dish of the Ilokanos to go with innapuy or steamed rice. A medley of vegetables, preferably green leafy veggies, boiled or blanched in bugguong (fish sauce/paste) broth. With or without a sagpaw (an add on of either fish or meat, grilled, fried, or dried).

Or with shellfish. Like kaggo (big brackish water clam). Or tahong (kappo, mussel).

Oh, this is a really different dinengdeng, a first time that I tried to add tahong in it:

Here, our beloved dinengdeng will comprise saluyot, squash flowers, and kabatiti (sponge gourd):

The veggies are ready:

Boil the bugguong essence in a minimal water, put in the kabatiti first, simmer, then put in the saluyot and squash flowers, steam briefly then put the mussels atop and steam quickly to cook:

And here’s it, my unusual dinengdeng, well, kind of. The tahong’s unique flavor and scent fused with the bugguong’s inherent aroma and the natural sweetness of the fresh veggies made this one dinengdeng phenomenal. And see, it’s gorgeous even, a colorful blend :

More dinengdengs:

• Dinengdeng, glorious dinengdeng!
• Dinengdeng/inabraw, more, once more
• Dinengdeng once more, because one can live in dinengdeng alone
• "The Dinengdeng Debate: Authencity and Cuisine"
• Dinengdeng a bunga ti singkamas, jicama fruit stew
• Dinengdeng bunga ti singkamas a naalseman iti palali
• Dinengdeng a sabunganay, banana blossom stew
• Dinengdeng a mais, white corn stew/soup
• Dinengdeng a marunggay with kaggo, marunggay leaves and clam soup
• Langka/jackfruit and pallang/winged bean dinengdeng
• Dinengdeng a saba! banana/plantain stew
• Karabasa & utong, squash goodies and string beans stew
• Fresh veggies for dinengdeng in casantolan
• Dinengdeng nga aba, stewed taro leaves/stems/roots
• Kalalaki nga alukon, "male" alukon
• Dinengdeng with tinapa (smoked mackerel)
• Dinengdeng with fried paltat
• Dinengdeng nga uong-mais ken uggot-marunggay, wild mushrooms and marunggay leaves
• Saluyot and rabong variation--with bulong-sili, kalunay and utong
• Buridibod a kamangeg nga addaan pallang ken kalunay sa nasagpawan tinapa
• Red/purple katuday

For more Ilokano vegetable dishes, you can follow Ilokano Food page on Facebook and enjoy more sumptuous photos of dinengdeng and other vegetable dishes plus more veggies! 

Follow also Ilokano Food @ Instagram and subscribe to Ilokano Food YoutTube channel for more photos, videos, and stories about Ilokano food, cooking, cuisine, and culture.

~~~~~

Read More

pinakbet with kaggo

Pinakbet nga addaan kaggo.

Yet another kaggo dish. And now with the ubiquitous but venerable pinakbet. Instead of the usual meat such as pork with thick fat or that quintessential bagnet (also called chicharon, deeply fried pork shanks), or fish grilled or fried or dried, let's try some shellfish. And kaggo, being a large clam with a promising "meat" is one suitable consideration for a sagpaw.

These are really humongous clams, you bet: 

Open the shells of the live kaggo and shuck the meat out, save the tasty “digo” for the pinakbet:

Cook the pinakbet as it is, instead of water, use the kaggo’s “broth” to dilute the bugguong, for a truly kaggo-flavored pinakbet. Put in the kaggo meat when all the veggies are about to be done, simmer for a few minutes, don’t overcook the kaggo so that it stays tender and succulent:

In this pinakbet, besides tarong, paria, sili, okra and kamatis, I added bagas ti kamote (sweet potato) to thicken and sweeten the pakbet:

This pinakbet is unique in that it has the tastiness and kaggo-ness of the popular brackish water clam. The flavor is enhanced by the sweetness of the camote, a more Ilokano, and therefore more original taste, that is distinct from that Tagalog pinakbet variation which is soupy and infused with karabasa (squash). An original Ilokano pinakbet has no karabasa in it. If it’s needed to be sweetened, starchy tubers such as camote or taro (like rabok) or some yams (like balinghoy, tugi, ubi, kamangeg) are added.

Come, let's eat, share with me this Ilokano gastronomic bliss:

:::::

Read More

kaggo & karibuyo

Kaggo & karibuyo soup.

Kaggo is a big clam found in brackish and muddy waters in Cagayan, where rivers or swamps meet with the sea or sea water, usually under or along nipa trees. Also called kappo in other places, it is the same as the lukan of the Tagalogs. But they're more abundant and popular on the notherrn Cagayan towns along the coast, like Sanchez Mira, Pamplona, Abulug, Ballesteros, Aparri, Buguey and Sta. Teresita. Karibuyo is a sea clam gathered along the seashore of same coastal towns including Claveria, Gonzaga and Sta. Ana.

Kaggo can be made into a savory soup or stew, boiled/blanched, grilled, or simply into a kilawen or eaten raw right from the shell dipped in calamansi juice just like that of oysters. Its meat shucked, it's perfect as a sagpaw (add-on) to your dinengdeng or pinakbet or as a topping in pancit dishes like bijon or canton or other seafood dishes.

Karibuyo is so good as a soup, its broth is so tasty with the karibuyo's great juicy meat. It can also be consumed raw, the meat and "juice" mildly salty like that of gakka (tiny sea clams consumed as a saramsam or snacks just like watermelon seeds) shells.

Karibuyo for sale at the municipal fish port in Sta. Teresita, Cagayan.

Kaggo being grilled.

Shucked grilled kaggo in Villa, Sta. Teresita, Cagayan.

Slightly boiled kaggo, ready to be shucked for my kaggo "salad." If you prefer to boil kaggo, don't overcook it to retain the "fatness" and succulence of the meat. Just boil it mildly just so its shells crack slightly for you to break it open. Save its naturally salty "juice" as a broth.

Slightly boiled kaggo meat with its own juice as a little broth. I seasoned it with some salt, garnished with onions and ginger, and soured it with calamansi.

The karibuyo, I made into a kind of tinola. I sauteed onions, garlic, ginger and tomatoes in little oil, and boiled it with some pieces of chayote, and then the karibuyo shells. Don't overcook the karibuyo. Just put it in when the broth is boiling. Simmer quickly and put off fire immediately and serve hot when the shells are open.

Enjoy tinola a karibuyo. The soup is so good, the meat is just so tasty.

I reserved some of the kaggo "salad" and tinola a karibuyo for what a "lethal" ("pamatay" he-he!) dish that I'm planning for the next day. And here's it, I made it into a combo kaggo and karibuyo soup: I mixed all the meat of the shells and their soup/broth and made it into one great clam soup with petchay (I just browned/caramelized some garlic and onions, poured the soup and boiled it and then I put in the petchay stalks and leaves, and then the kaggo & karibuyo meat):

What a bliss!

:::::

Read More

yet another buridibod, with marunggay pods, shucked clam meat and grilled malaga (repost)

I'm so in love with buridibud (buribod, baradibud; vegetables and root crop stew) that I always cook/consume this authentic Ilokano dish--as often as when I came upon any available ingredients in my regular forays in the veggie/wet local markets. Especially when it's alukon season, I always make a buridibod with alukon flowerettes and other greens like marunggay leaves and pechay (especially the small murumor ones, pechay sowed and grown like seedlings; or petchay with flowers).

And it's also perfect with young/immature marunggay pod or fruit (more popularly known as "drumstick" elsewhere outside the Philippines, especially in India).

I was a bit lucky that market day because aside from the abundance of marunggay pods and camotes, I also chanced upon heaps of shucked and dried small freshwater clam meat; and in the fish section, a bountiful supply of one of the fish I love--malaga (rabbitfish; rare and pricey in this parts).

The dried clam meat is from the tukmem (or bennek, or dukkiang). It's called "narnar" in Cagayan (also called "gasagas" or "ginasagas" owing to the process of how it was shucked from its shell, using a bigao-like bamboo strainer similar to "karadikad"). It's usually added to dinengdeng, or made into a delicious ukoy (fritter or patty).

"Narnar"

A close-up look at the "narnar"

Malaga fish to be grilled

These would be great for my buridibod! The malaga will be grilled a put atop a narnar-suffused buridibud!

Camote and marunggay pod (fruit)

This is how I "muri" or prepare the marunggay pods.

The grilled malaga

As with my other versions of buridibod, I boil bugguong first, and then put in the camote, and the marunggay pods after the camote is slightly cooked. (You can lightly mash some of the tender camote cubes if you want a more pulpy and sweeter broth.) The pods should not be overcooked. Next, I put in the the "narnar," and a few minutes before serving I put atop the grilled malaga. (You can put the fish earlier as in other sagpaw, but malaga is very delicate in that its flesh will become "maburbor" (disintegrated) if it's cooked for quite a longer time.)

And here's it, steaming right from the pot, ready to be served hot.

Here's the final product:

A closer look to savor its sumptous beauty:

Read More