kilawen a tirong: a picnic by the beach [repost]

Tirong is small saltwater fish. It's called bonnet mouth fish and is the ingredient in the popular bugguong (bagoong, fish sauce/paste) called bugguong a tirong. Tirong when fully grown (to its adult size) is called "dalagang bukid" and is great for sinigang and escabeche or simply as fried. And of course, the inevitable kilawen, freshly caught tirong eaten raw with the pristine saltiness and sweetness and succulence of the raw sea.

Kilawen a tirong.

Stopping by at Candon City on our way to a writer's convention in La Union, we decided to rest awhile and while away the thick and humid Ilocos summer heat and take a dip at the Ilocos Sur sea.

We went to a beach at Barangay Calungboyan and there we were lucky enough to come upon some fishermen who just came ashore in a rakit (balsa, bamboo raft) with their sea bounty.

There, the precious tirong, about 3 kilos of it, the only catch so far of the jolly Ilokano mangngalap (fisherman), besides a single pana-pana (sea urchin) and a baby kurita (octopus).

We bought all the tirong, of course, as we are so over-eager to have a taste of its freshness, its inviting deliciousness, its mouth-watering rawness...

We unanimously voted to have it as kilawen. No way should its freshness and succulence be wasted! And so we simply made it with available condiments. We poured vinegar on the tirong and it's done, it's that simple. With some salt and chili by the side.

You have to pick the tirong by hand, have some salt on it and eat it right on, have your mouth and palate some guilty pleasures. Its flesh is sweetish, a little bitter because of its intact entrails, briny with the natural taste of the raw sea. Eat it all, fishhead and fishbone, it's so small you can chew all its goodness.


And but of course, it's more palatable and with drinks, its inevitable partner. We've got a case of Red Horse Litro to down the great kilawen a tirong.

Ah! Goodness gracious, how refreshing and delectable life could be at the seashore. Life's a beach, indeed!

Drinkers. :-)

Calongbuyan Beach
Candon City, Ilocos Sur.

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More kilawen nga ikan:

• Kilawen a bilis, raw sardine/herring
• Kilawen a talibukno
• Kilawen a bilis manen, sardine/herring ceviche
• Kilawen a taburkit/munamon
• Kilawen a pusit/laki

For more Ilokano dishes and others like this kilawen, you can follow Ilokano Food page on Facebook.

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.

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kilawen a kalding, goat skin, meat, and liver "salad"

This is "kilawen a kalding" ("kilawing kambing" in Tagalog) or goat's singed/burnt skin and grilled meat and liver chopped and spiced and made into a kind of "salad." An Ilokano dish, it is kind of "exotic" to others but is a popular goat dish throughout the Philippines. What's distinctly Ilokano about it is that Ilokano folks, used to bitterness, err, bitter food, usually season it with the goat's bile or the pespes (extract of the undigested grass) itself.

Let's take a look at the mystery of this authentic Ilokano delicacy... Here's the goat's skin/hide, its hair singed, cleaned, this is slightly boiled to tenderize the hide:

And this is the meat and the liver, slightly grilled and so it's succulent and sweet:

Chopping time!

Chopped goat goodies:

And spiced with onions, ginger, salt, some vinegar (calamansi juice is more preferred), chili if you prefer it really spicy, and pour in some bile or pespes and thoroughly mix the whole lot and it's ready. This is the best for pulutan or finger food for drinks!

Related dish:

• Pinapaitan, the really bitter original innards stew

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ket manen sadiay tiendaan, public markets/roadside vendors (part 4)

A continuation of my series on tiendaan/palengke/merkado/talipapa (local or public markets) [see Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3], this is a long overdue blog post. When given a chance to travel to some places, I always see to it that I visit the market, be it the public or municipal market or the talipapas and roadside stalls, or even simple vendors hawking their goods and produces. I am always fascinated with the local markets especially the wet and veggie sections as I'm fond of scouring for something new, something "exotic" that I may fancy to buy and experiment on preparing and cooking it.

Kalalaki nga alukon.
Public market, Gonzaga, Cagayan.

"Thousand fish" (a.k.a. "million fish), bunog, and native paltat (catfish) and buntiek (mudfish).
Public market, Bambang, Nueva Vizcaya.

Mani (peanut), boiled/dried/raw.
Along the national highway, Sta. Lucia, Ilocos Sur.

Rasa (mudcrabs) and kaggo (brackish water clams).
Along the national highway, Pamplona, Cagayan.

Fish and sea and freshwater shellfish (kappo, bennek, agurong).
Public market, Cabugao, Ilocos Sur. Needless to say, but maybe worth mentioning here, Cabugao's public market prides itself, as painted in its facade, as "Region 1's Cleanest and Healthiest Public Market."

Pinia (pineapple), aba (taro), sabunganay (banana blossoms).
Public market, Gonzaga, Cagayan.

Fresh tirem (oysters).
Along the Mission River, Sta. Teresita, Cagayan.

Various dried fish.
Public market, Gonzaga, Cagayan.

Fish, shrimps, and unusually large gakka (little but tasty sea shellfish sold primarily as a kind of snack). Public market, Sanchez Mira, Cagayan.

Kurita (octopus) and various reef fishes (molmol, etc.).
Public market, Claveria, Cagayan.

Various fishes (sosay [perfect for kilawen!], etc.), kurita.
Public market, Sanchez Mira, Cagayan.

Abuos/buos (red tree ants) eggs/pupae, with those kamatis for a really delicious and exotic abuos eggs sauteed in onions and tomatoes.
Public market, Gonzaga, Cagayan.

[See higher resolution (larger and clearer) version of these photographs.]

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a hearty ilokano lunch by the seaside in ilocos sur

I've just came from a meeting of minds with some Ilokano writers, but what I can't help thinking about, or should I say craving about is the sumptuous lunch served during the meet up. Of course this is Ilocos Sur, right by the heart of the Ilokano country in the town of San Juan (a.k.a. Lapog) and right by a seaside barangay called Saoang.

This is my labay, pardon my gluttony:

And this is Saoang beach, the tide is low that time and so the breeze is kind of exotic, as it is strongly flavored with the scent of salt and reef: 

Dinengdeng nga utong ken pallang with rabok (gabi root):

A salad of radish fruit and KBL (tomato, bugguong, young onions):

An igado version of San Juan folks:

Pinakbet with lots of patani:

Fried malaga:

Steamed ipon:

What we feasted on:

Still burping...

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ipon, fish fries/silver fish

Ipon? Ipon what? You mean hipon? Or iPhone? Yes, the tiny fish, ipon, which is a prized fish in the Ilocos and Cagayan Valley regions, is often mispronounced, misunderstood, mistaken. Some non-Ilokano folks mistake it as hipon or small shrimps (aramang, alamang in Tagalog), due to mispronunciation or the way it sounded to them. And do you know that when you google image "ipon" much of the search results point to that pesky iPhone (Apple) luxury phone?

Fresh ipon from Santa, Ilocos Sur.

Ipon for sale in Dugo, Camalaniugan, Cagayan.

Another ipon (larger fries) for sale in Dugo, Camalaniugan, Cagayan.

This is ipon, a "tiny fish," but this is actually the fries of the goby fish, or in some instance, that of the anchovy fish. It's also called silver fish. And it's also called dulong in some Ilocos areas (not the big and rare, and as a result expensive, ludong). Ipon for some is considered an Ilokano exotic food or delicacy because of its mystery, rarity, high price, and of course of its distinct flavor favored by Ilokanos.

Ipon can be prepared and cooked in a variety of ways, kilawen (raw, with sliced tomatoes, chopped onions, diced ginger, salt), as a soup (boiled with lots of tomatoes, onions and ginger), as a tamales wrapped in banana leaf and steamed or grilled, or simply steamed or boiled dry, and many others.

Kilawen nga ipon.

Ipon in a savory soup with tomatoes, ginger, and onions.

Ipon soup.

Ipon soup (detail).

This is a real kicker! Boiled ipon with gamet (dried seaweed, nori).

Ipon with gamet (detail).

Steamed ipon with ginger and onions.

Kilawen nga ipon.

Ipon to be mixed as a kilawen.

Kilawen nga ipon and kilawen a kalding as pulotan.

Ipon is  also good with dinengdeng or the ubiquitous Ilokano medley of veggies and leafy greens in soup with the essential bugguong.

Dinengdeng nga ipon with bulong ti paria.

Ipon is also best as dried or daing to be fried or as a sagpaw, again, in a dinengdeng.

Ipon being prepared to be sundried, on a leaf and atop a galvanized iron roof.

Beautiful sun-dried ipon.

 

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More on fish and more kilawen nga ikan:

• Ipon, once more
• Kilawen a tirong, picnic by the beach
• Kilawen a bilis, raw sardine/herring
• Kilawen a sosay (tanigue, tangngigue)
• Kilawen a bilis manen, sardine/herring ceviche
• Kilawen a taburkit/munamon
• Kilawen a pusit/laki
• kilawen a talibukno

For more Ilokano dishes and others like this kilawen, you can follow Ilokano Food page on Facebook.

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.

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