the venerable patupat of ballesteros, and the patupat i know

You missed a lot when you went to Ballesteros, Cagayan and missed its famous "isang subo ka lang!" (you're just a mouthful!) glutinous rice cake, the patupat. It's the mostly Ilokano-populated town's so-called pride, virtually or even officially its OTOP (one town one product) for besides its equally great "royal" bibingka, its own version/rendition/innovation/variety of the blessed suman (rice cake), Balleteros' patupat is almost synonymous to...

Read More

dinengdeng a saba! banana/plantain stew

You might be surprised to know that saba (saging na saba, the dippig variety, plantain, banana) can also be made into a hearty dinengdeng! Well, it is, really, and I'm cooking it every time I fancy or when I terribly miss my mother's dinengdeng a saba which we often partake when I was still in Nueva Vizcaya. Folks here in Cagayan seem unaware that dippig a saba can be cooked as a masida (ulam, viand) or as dinengdeng. Most know only of its culinary...

Read More

dinengdeng nga aba, stewed taro leaves/stems/roots

Aba. Gabi. Taro. Somewhat a staple root vegetable in Pinoy cuisine, specifically in Bicol where its stalks especially its leaves, fresh or dried, is prized for the hot (spiced with lots of chilis) and coconut-milky laing or ginataang gabi (cooked in coconut milk). Ilokano simply make dinengdeng nga aba (stewed,boiled in bugguong broth)or sour it as paksiw nga aba, stalks (stem), leaves and with the root (called corm; laman, bagas)....

Read More

idiay tiendaan, talipapa, merkado publiko, market (part 2)

More forays in local public wet market, roadside and/or makeshift market stalls... This a continuation of an earlier post about tiendaan. I keep on going to the market myself to buy ingredients for the next dish. I also stop by some roadside stalls whenever I could to check what's fresh and unusual goodies not available in the wet markets. These are from different places. I love roaming the market of what ever town or city that I've been to. What...

Read More

pinakbet ingredients

These, typically, are the vegetable ingredients of the famous pinakbet, the basic of which, are tarong (eggplant), paria (bitter melon), kamatis (tomato), okra and the obligatory lasona/sibuyas (onion), bawang (garlic) and laya (ginger). These the basic ingredients of an authentic...

Read More