dinengdeng ken panagdengdeng idiay awaymi/a way we do the dinengdeng in our community

It's rather unusual for some, even to the most self-professedly G.I. or "patneng nga Ilokano" (so-called true blue, "native" Ilokano), to find a dinengdeng like this, some of the Ilokanos in our rural home and place of the heart and hearth so to speak, in Casantolan. I mean this particular way that the fruit stalk or stem of the aubergine (well, that's tarong commonly called eggplant but here, these are not even egg-shaped so I call it aubergine;...

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bugguong

Bugguong (bagoong in Tagalog) defines the Ilokano palate. Be it in the dinengdeng or in the pinakbet or simply in the famous Ilokano salsa called KBL (kamatis-bugguong-lasona). But besides the usual bugguong nga ikan like monamon and tirong, we ‘re also crazy about salt and preserve other river/sea produce with it to serve as an appetizer to our dinengdeng, fried fish, grilled meat, and the like. With squeeze of calamansi or dalayap, we relish...

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padpadol: bunga ti sabidukong

Padpadol is the fruit or pod of the sabidukong or bagbagkong vine (Telosma procumbens, tonkin jasmine, latok (Tagalog)), a plant with so many local names. The fruit is primarily called "padpadol" in Ilokano because it resembles "padol" or stake. In Tagalog, it is also called "puso-puso" as it is somewhat kind of heart-shaped, albeit elongated. The immature pod is edible just like its more popular inflorescence or flower. For the curious and uninitiated,...

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kinilnat a papait with padas

Papait once more. Can't get enough with papait as long as it is readily available. Especially when I chance upon the so-called "native" one that just grows in the wild in wild abandon. and not the "commercially" propagated and cultivated "big" and "hybrid" papait usually being sold in the market. The native papait is more bitter and so, it is more preferred by the devotedly pait-loving Ilokano in us. And it is best as a kind of salad....

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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...

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