dinengdeng a nasagpawan iti kappo (tahong)

Dinengdeng! Also known as inabraw. The staple dish of the Ilokanos to go with innapuy or steamed rice. A medley of vegetables, preferably green leafy veggies, boiled or blanched in bugguong (fish sauce/paste) broth. With or without a sagpaw (an add on of either fish or meat, grilled, fried, or dried).

Or with shellfish. Like kaggo (big brackish water clam). Or tahong (kappo, mussel).

Oh, this is a really different dinengdeng, a first time that I tried to add tahong in it:

Here, our beloved dinengdeng will comprise saluyot, squash flowers, and kabatiti (sponge gourd):

The veggies are ready:

Boil the bugguong essence in a minimal water, put in the kabatiti first, simmer, then put in the saluyot and squash flowers, steam briefly then put the mussels atop and steam quickly to cook:

And here’s it, my unusual dinengdeng, well, kind of. The tahong’s unique flavor and scent fused with the bugguong’s inherent aroma and the natural sweetness of the fresh veggies made this one dinengdeng phenomenal. And see, it’s gorgeous even, a colorful blend :

More dinengdengs:

• Dinengdeng, glorious dinengdeng!
• Dinengdeng/inabraw, more, once more
• Dinengdeng once more, because one can live in dinengdeng alone
• "The Dinengdeng Debate: Authencity and Cuisine"
• Dinengdeng a bunga ti singkamas, jicama fruit stew
• Dinengdeng bunga ti singkamas a naalseman iti palali
• Dinengdeng a sabunganay, banana blossom stew
• Dinengdeng a mais, white corn stew/soup
• Dinengdeng a marunggay with kaggo, marunggay leaves and clam soup
• Langka/jackfruit and pallang/winged bean dinengdeng
• Dinengdeng a saba! banana/plantain stew
• Karabasa & utong, squash goodies and string beans stew
• Fresh veggies for dinengdeng in casantolan
• Dinengdeng nga aba, stewed taro leaves/stems/roots
• Kalalaki nga alukon, "male" alukon
• Dinengdeng with tinapa (smoked mackerel)
• Dinengdeng with fried paltat
• Dinengdeng nga uong-mais ken uggot-marunggay, wild mushrooms and marunggay leaves
• Saluyot and rabong variation--with bulong-sili, kalunay and utong
• Buridibod a kamangeg nga addaan pallang ken kalunay sa nasagpawan tinapa
• Red/purple katuday

For more Ilokano vegetable dishes, you can follow Ilokano Food page on Facebook and enjoy more sumptuous photos of dinengdeng and other vegetable dishes plus more veggies! 

Follow also Ilokano Food @ Instagram and subscribe to Ilokano Food YoutTube channel for more photos, videos, and stories about Ilokano food, cooking, cuisine, and culture.

~~~~~

Read More

alukon leaves stew with smoked fish

Well, yeas, of course, the leaves of the alukon (allaeanthus glaber), also alokon, bungon, baeg, himbabao, is also edible, and is a great leafy green for an Ilokano dinengdeng. It's not just the flowers, you see. 

Here's one tasty dinengdeng using alukon leaves only, made more delicious and flavorful with smoked fish (tinapa):

Cooking this Ilokano dish is simple. Just boil bugguong first, with some onion slices and then put in the washed leaves and the flaked tinapa into the boiling broth:

Simmer for a few minutes....

And it's done:

Serve the dinengdeng immediately while hot and steaming, the smoky aroma is so overwhelming it makes you salivate:

Here. it's perfect for your steamed rice, old or newly cooked. The broth is so tasty, perfect for a hearty labay:

::::

See another delicious dinengdeng/inabraw a bulong ti alukon!

Read More

papait a naigisa iti itlog, papait omelette

Papait a naigisa sa nalaokan iti itlog.

What's good and delicious about papait, besides the popular salad it is usually known for or associated with? Of course it can be sauteed in onions and garlic and some tomatoes or in just plain soy and/or oyster sauce adobo-style; and it can be the bitter substitute of paria leaves in an inabraw, or in boiled beans (mongo, beans, cowpea, etc.). But what else?

Why, or course, it's perfect for an omelette! But this fact I only recently known and realized courtesy of a friend, Fidel Sambaoa of Anvil Publishing. I used to make an omelette with almost every edible leafy greens like that of marunggay, bilonak, pechay, paria, kalunay, kamotig, saluyot, etc. but I didn't yet try papait leaves.

Cultivated a "hybrid" a nagdadakkelan
a papait a kadawyan a mailaklako iti tiendaan.

First, I sauteed the papait in cooking oil, garlic and onions, stir frying it quickly in high heat with some salt and pepper:

For a ginisa a papait, this could have sufficed:

But I want a papait omelette, so here I am about to pour beaten egg:

Stir quickly and evenly in moderate heat, the egg cooks quickly:

And it's done!

As simple as this, my first papait omelette:

There's this distinct or should I say unique papait aroma that's now blended with the egg that makes this omelette kind of "exotic" and insanely palatable, the bitterness splendidly and subtly subdued rendering it deliciously sweet.

This culinary kind of master dish requires a lot of steamed rice. I spiked it more with some KBL (kamatis-bugguong-lasona) to enhance its bitterness that I adored in its salad state.

:::::

More papait dishes:

• Bitter is better: papait salad appetizer
• Papait salad ken dinengdeng

Read More

fresh veggies for dinengdeng in casantolan

After some years of just passing by my home province (Nueva Vizcaya) on my travels to the big city, I finally decided one cold dawn to drop by the national highway in Bambang on my trip back to Cagayan. It's a sudden decision to stop the bus and step down and have my feet touch the familiar earth of my province again, at 4AM, and transact with one of the night-shift tricycle drivers awaiting for passengers at the bend of the road going to Dupax del Norte to bring me to Mabasa and thence to Casantolan, to home, again, perchance to dream...

Yes, i'm always dreaming green when I'm reminiscing about my native place, literally green with the greens of Casantolan. I mean, the nateng, the kanatengan, the vegetables, the veggie patches, of course, of which I always crave, etched in my childhood memory of a farm kid, my mother's lush and verdant gardens of edible and ornamental plants.

So the first thing I did, attack the veggie patches and take advantage of the freshness of the greens, mostly green leafy goodies, here's my modest harvest for the morning, I wanted a dinengdeng of various leaves for breakfast (click on the photos for a larger view):

Saluyots are all around, I'm so over-eager to pick:

There, saluyot, kamotig tops, alukon shoots, kalunay (this one's a big variety of spinach growing wild  all over the yard), some tarongs:

And here, karabasa blossoms to complete my dinengdeng:

Naimurianen ken nabugguan, the veggies are ready:

What I miss more about being a barrio boy ("barriotic") is the way the food is prepared, using simple wares and employing the most basic chores. Here's a unique way to cook dinengdeng -- in a rice kaldero rather than in a tayab or banga. And, to top the experience, cooked upon an improvised iron stove and using binalsig, chopped firewood:

The bugguong is boiled; next, the veggies by layers, with the sabong-karabasa on top. No sagpaws needed, I want a real dinengdeng of just veggies, no dried/fried fish/meat to distract the generosity of the plant kingdom:

After a few minutes (no overcooking, please, I want it kind of "medium rare" to enjoy it pristine and succulent), here's the final dinengdeng:

Here's my labay, my plate, my rice and dinengdeng. I missed much this unique tin plate, complete with a tilbak (dent), of my childhood, so rural and so promdi but it only adds up more memories to enjoy and delight upon while savoring my dinengdeng ala-Casantolan:

What a bliss! This makes me craving for more Casantolan homecoming. I should.

:::::

Read More

manen, idiay tiendaan, talipapa, merkado publiko, market (part 3)

More "marketing" escapades, just so to enjoy my market fascination, I see to it that I'm the one going out to the tiendaan or palengke, or go with someone, to buy the day's or week's supply of vegetables or meat or fish. Or if going places, I always satisfy my curiosity by going first to the public market or stop over at any roadside talipapa...

A potpourri of local veggies, Public Market, Iguig, Cagayan. 

Read More

marunggay solo dinengdeng

Dinengdeng a solsolo a marunggay.

Marunggay, its leaves (and all its edibleness, fruit, and flowers), is simply my favorite leafy veggie, not just because of its richness in nutritive or mineral value, but because of its simplicity and versatility as a truly Ilokano vegetable, just like saluyot. I can make in it a quick salad express when I'm in a hurry for a meal, especially when I'm hungry for a kilabban.

Read More

dinengdeng a mais, white corn stew/soup

Mais, corn, young corn kernel, is one of the best for soups, well, Ilokano-wise, Pinoy-wise. Well, besides being boiled and/or grilled on the cob. And the best, for me, is the small "native" diket (malagkit, "sticky") white corn. The dish is popular all over, it's called "sinuwam na mais" by the Tagalogs, the Ilokanos simply call it as "dinengdeng a mais."

Read More

Home-cooked meals add to life expectancy

From time to time, as a respite, I'll be featuring some "guest" articles here, like this one about home-cooked meals, relevant to our quest for a more healthy lifestyle.

Dinengdeng a marunggay being cooked at home.
(click on photo for a larger view) 

Tucking into a home-cooked meal up to five times a week could add years to your life, according to new research.

The study, recently published in Public Health Nutrition by researchers from Monash University, the National Defense Medical Centre, Taiwan and the National Health Research Institutes, Taiwan, found that people who cooked at home at least five times a week were 47 per cent more likely to still be alive after 10 years.

The ten-year study looked at the cooking habits of Taiwanese living independently aged over 65 years. Of the participants, 31 per cent reportedly prepared meals at home at least five times per week, 17 per cent cooked no more than twice a week, 9 per cent cooked at home three to five times per week, while the remainder (43 per cent) reported that they never cooked at home.

Authentic home-cooked dinengdeng: string beans, lima/broad beans, pigeon peas, marunggay, and grilled bangus.
(click on photo for a larger view) 

When researchers followed up ten years later, they found of the surviving participants that frequent cooking was a significant factor in their health and long life.

Lead author, Emeritus Professor Mark Wahlqvist from Monash University’s Asia Pacific Health and Nutrition Centre at the Monash Asia Institute, said those who cooked more often had a better diet.

“We found those that cooked more frequently had a better sense of nutritional knowledge than those who didn’t,” Emeritus Professor Wahlqvist said.

Authentic home-cooked dinengdeng:
alukon, langka, marungay, kabatiti, sabong-karabasa, patani.
Photo by James V. Felipe
(click on photo for a larger view) 

“Cooking is an activity that requires both good mental and physical health. Besides the health benefits the actual cooked meal provides, there are other physiological benefits obtained from its production, purchase, preparation and eating, especially with others.”

The researchers found that dietary diversity was also associated with greater survival rates amongst the participants.

“We found that those who cooked more frequently had a better diet and more favourable nutrient densities,” Emeritus Professor Wahlqvist said. "It is therefore possible that cooking is related to longevity through food choice and quality.”

Authentic home-cooked chicken tinola with paria leaves.
Photo by Gina Bumatay Cayanan.
(click on photo for a larger view) 

Nutrient density is the ratio of nutrient content (in grams) to the total energy content (in kilocalories or joules).

The results also indicated women lived longer than men when there was a need to cook for a spouse, suggesting that women are more likely to find physiological health benefits from the pleasure in cooking for others.


(Source: http://www.monash.edu.au/news/show/home-cooked-meals-add-to-life-expectancy)

Read More