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7/13/2020

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:

idiay tiendaan, palengke, talipapa, public market: pannakitienda/pannakiplasa/pannakidapon series (repost)

I'm always fascinated with markets, local or "wet" market in the poblacion. When I was a little child I always see to it that my mother or my father will have me tagging along when they go to the market every Sunday or on market days like Wednesdays and Thursdays and Friday, to buy basic stuff and food, usually with some meat, fish or other something pricey and "special" for the day's lunch. It would be a reward for say, having pulled out a considerable number of "white" hair, having gathered enough firewood, having watered down the masetas, having gathered weed for the carabao, and other farm and house and livelihood chores a boy can do to please his parents, he-heh! I would be rewarded, among others, with my favorite sorbetes ("dirty ice cream), some rice cakes like "tinudok" or "baduya" with lots of sweetened mongo as palaman. Mind you, there were no Jollibees or McDos yet in those olden times, there are no cheap China-imported apples even (apples are only available at Christmas-time, imported from the U.S. and it was quite a rarity in the barrios).

And yes, with those merchandise, farm produce by small-time vendors, a little harvest freshly picked form their vegetable patches or green and shoots and fruits and shells and fish gathered or caught in the wild... I'm always awed at those industrious vendors who earn some centavos and pesos, and at the way my wise mother make "tawar" to buy things with her tight budget, so typically Ilokano, thrifty and frugal but not a tightwad.

Until now that I'm old and having a family of my own, I'm still a "market boy" as I do the "marketing" and still immensely enjoy going to the "palengke" or "tiendaan" to personally pick goodies for my next dinengdeng or pinakbet. And here are some photos to document my market forays:

Various veggies, Don Domingo Public Market, Tuguegarao City.
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Kalkalunay, Don Domingo Public Market, Tuguegarao City.
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Mais, along the highway, Larion,Tuguegarao City.
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Uong, along National Highway, Gattaran, Cagayan. 
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Papait and paria a balang, along National Highway, Gattaran, Cagayan.
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Tukmem and narnar, Don Domingo Public Market, Tuguegarao City.
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Tarong, Don Domingo Public Market, Tuguegarao City.
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Pokpoklo and gamet, Don Domingo Public Market, Tuguegarao City.
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Ipon and taburkit, Dugo Public Market, Camalaniugan, Cagayan.
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Bilis vendor, National Highway in Santa Ana, Cagayan.
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Kabibi and tukmem, Allacapan Public Market, Allacapan, Cagayan.
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Taburkit, bulong-unas, Allacapan Public Market, Allacapan, Cagayan.
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