 |
| "Assorted" (mixed pinapaitan and lauya) at Papaitan & Laoya Sa Triangle, Libag, Tuguegarao City |
Wonder what's new in Tuguegarao City's gastronomic concerns, or, rather, culinary offering, if any--besides the old and classic and way ubiquitous pancit batil patong?
Well, its the proliferation of so-called "papaitan and laoya" in the city's roadsides and outskirts and the kind of innovative "assorted" thing that came out of the two meat soup dishes. I've been only going to one eatery serving both, pinapaitan and lauya, and been trying the "assorted" concoction at random because I most prefer pinapaitan just for the heck that I love beef or carabeef (carabao) soup only when it's bitter.
But what the heck ngarud is this "assorted" (sic)? Simply put, it's an "assortment" of the various meaty and offal pieces of pinapaitan and lauya mixed into one unique dish--the "assorted." The tastiness and essence of the mostly bony parts of the beef (well, carabao meat is the usual red meat and the most preferred here in these parts) boiled for hours, and the bitterness of the pinapaitan courtesy of the beast's bile or the pespes (extract of the masticated grass inside the small intestines).
One of the popular "papaitan (sic) and laoya (sic)" and therefore, "assorted", destination in the city is found in Barangay Libag south of the city's centro. Wedged in a fork of the national highway and the diversion road to the city:
For Php50, you'll have a complete meal of either pinapaitan or lauya, or of the "assorted" mix. What's special in this eatery is that the rice is unlimited, you can order more rice if you're not really concerned of your abs. Note that they also offer batil patong, this is actually originally a panciteria:
And here's the lauya cuts simmering (actually preboiled for hours the render the tough meat tender and tasty), hot and ready for orders:
The pinapaitan pieces is being cut:
The soups are kept hot atop live coals:
This is the lauya soup:
And this here's the pinapaitan soup:
The "assortment":
We ordered "assorted", of course, and here's how it's being prepared--half/half. On the bowl, half pinapaitan pieces, half lauya pieces; half pinapaitan broth, half lauya broth. Kind of nice mixture:
Customers flock the small eatery, and most are having the "assorted":
Our orders are served:
The soup, turned darkly greenish, is overwhelmed by the pinapaitan essence, the bitterness is just mild though because of the lauya's more meat-and-bone-flavored dominance:
And the delightful consumption has began--we were eager to sip the hot soup first as a sort of an entrée, and of course, spiced it with that obligatory chili in vinegar:
We are gourmands, or perhaps just so hungry, we ordered a zinagan (dinardaraan, dinuguan) as an added dish; this one's a crispy dinardaraan:
So, the meal is complete, and so, on to eating:
Here's my own messy labay:
We spiced our "assorted" too much with the fiery chili that we were hot and sweating and resorted to having an ice-cold soda--yet another no-no for me but just for this chance, I indulged completely:
Come to Tuguegarao, and let's go "assorting" again!