inalseman nga igat

Passing by the province of Nueva Vizcaya by lunch time, I decided to have myr hunger settled by a roadside eatery in Barangay Baretbet in Bagabag town where my hungry eyes caught a placard announcing the availability of igat (eel), udingan (or bunog), burasi (carp) and other freshwater delicacies fished right from the Magat River nearby.

I readily ordered the igat offer. And here’s it, sinigang (inalseman), soured with tomato, cooked just so tender to render its own fatty essence:

The inalseman nga igat is just cooked right and even if it’s sinigang and not cooked dry as paksiw or adobo but with some broth, it’s not “nalangsi” or “malansa” (gamy). The preparation and cooking is expertly done. The eatery is kind of popular as hungry travelers are incessantly stopping by to eat and partake of the igat specialty.

So wickedly delicious, it oozes with gustatory goodness to dare you to a rice intake overload!

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More igat dishes:

• Eel soured with palali (catmon) fruit

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ipon, once more

This is ipon, tiny fish, but this is actually the fries of the goby fish, or in some instance, that of the anchovy fish. Some non-Ilokano folks mistake it as hipon or small shrimps (aramang, alamang in Tagalog), due to mispronunciation or the way it sounded to them. It is also called dulong in some Ilocos places (not the big and rare, and as a result, expensive, ludong). Ipon for some is considered an Ilokano "exotic" food or a kind of delicacy because of its mystery, rarity, high price, and of course, its distinct flavor favored by Ilokanos.

Ipon, freshly caught, is best as kilawen (kilawin, raw) with sliced tomatoes and onions, some ginger, and salt.

It’s also good as sinigang with soup or broth, and as tamales, wrapped in banana leaves and steamed or broiled.

And fried:

It’s also one of the best for bugguong (bottled here, the white ones)

And yes, as a torta or omellete. And dried as daing.

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More on fish and more kilawen nga ikan:

• Ipon, fish fries/silver fish
• Kilawen a tirong, picnic by the beach
• Kilawen a bilis, raw sardine/herring
• Kilawen a sosay (tanigue, tangngigue)
• Kilawen a bilis manen, sardine/herring ceviche
• Kilawen a taburkit/munamon
• Kilawen a pusit/laki
• kilawen a talibukno

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