nateng- karne-ikan, balancing vegetable-meat-fish diet

Bulalo @ RGT Bulaluhan, Tuguegarao City.

Sure, that's bulalo (beef shank and marrow stew) wallowing in its delicious soup of fat, promising utmost delight with that prized bone marrow and with its truly red meaty succulence, cooked so tender and so tasty it literally melts in the mouth without much effort of chewing its savory essence... Well, once in a while I also indulge myself into red meats, a sort of guilty pleasure succumbing to sweet temptations of cholesterol, because, well, i'm still a human, after all, and I can't offer so much resistance to the seduction of food.

Yet, when I consume fatty or cholesterol-laden food, I also make sure to somehow "balance" or kind of "neutralize" it by eating more vegetables, and fruits. And so, that particular bulalo cholesterol feasting I countered with this wild mushroom and marunggay leaves dinengdeng:

Dinengdeng nga uong ken bulong-marunggay.

Of course, though I prefer more on a vegetarian diet as as I could, I also eat the usual other meat and fatty dishes as the need or chance arises. Sometimes I cook pinapaitan, dinakdakan, dinardaraan, igado, lauya at home, or order them when I happen to have lunch in a resto. But I see to it that there's always a vegetable salad side dish or a main course of dinengdeng or pinakbet. 

Dinakdakan or warek-warek.

Pnapaitan at an eatery in Capatan, Tuguegarao City.

Dinardaraan.

Dinengdeng nga uggot-kamote ken bulong-marunggay with bits of chicken.

Dinengdeng a sabong ken uggot ti kabatiti ken rangaw ti paria with chucked clam meat (nagasagas a tukmem).

Or, alternately, I have fish and other seafood dishes like this, in lieu of meat, either as sinigang, paksiw, grilled or fried:

Inalseman iti kamatis a yellow fin tuna with marunggay leaves.

Fried tilapia.

And this, I wish this is my viand, soured bukto soup with its roe:

Bukto nga inalseman iti pias. Photo by James Felipe.

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tapa a nuang, carabeef jerky

Tapa a nuang of Tuguegarao City.

Tapa a nuang. Carabao meat (okey, carabeef) jerky (also called tapang damulag by the Capampangans and Tagalogs). It's one of the so-called specialties here in Cagayan notably in these southern parts of the province (Alcala, Amulung, Iguig, Tuguegarao, Peñablanca, Enrile, Solana, Tuao, etc.) where herds of carabao are primarily grown not for being a farmer's beast of burden but for milk and meat. So much so that there's the famous Alcala Carabao Milk Candy. And yes, the now equally famous Tuguegarao "chicha-rabao," a chicharon (deep fried skin/rind) made from carabao skin. And the fact that carabaos are normally slaughtered here daily for their prized meat for sinanglaw/pinapaitan, lauya and of course, as a unique ground meat toppings for pancit batil patung.

Tapa a nuang is readily available in select meat stores in Tuguegarao City, like this one where I got mine. 

The frozen carabeef tapa is just so perfectly marinated, cured that when I thawed it, it retained its redness, succulence and texture expected of a (cara)beef jerky. It wafts a distinct, peculiar carabeefy smell you cannot expect with beef, a kind of blunt and wicked odor (well, angdod, that's it) that's prized by carabao meat lovers. And this lovely "odor" is further enhanced and made sweetly aromatic by its garlicky and peppery and vinegary scent.

I put in some thinly sliced meat jerky pieces in pan, put in some olive oil...

... And I let it cook in high heat. Now, the smell becomes overpoweringly delicious and overwhelmingly captivating that makes me even hungrier...

After about 3-5 minutes of turning the meat pieces on to cook evenly, it is done. With this thin, do not overcook your tapa so it remains tender and succulent.

And this it, perfectly done! Tapa a nuang at its very best--cooked just right, so tender, so mildly sweet and sour, so pleasantly and delightfully fragrant you can't resist to take a bite of it at once!

And here, it goes so well with newly steamed rice... What a chewy experience!

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saluyot a napakbet iti lubeg, lubeg-soured saluyot stew

Pinakbet a saluyot soured with lubeg fruit.

The ubiquitous saluyot, besides being a staple ingredient in a dinengdeng, is also preferred by pinakbet-crazy Ilokanos as a pinakbet a saluyot solo--pinakebbet as in stewed dry with bugguong juice and soured with either suka ti basi (sugarcane vinegar) or with any souring agents like green mango, pias, salamagi and others. Also called tinimtim (tinimtiman a saluyot), this saluyot dish is great with steamed rice or as an appetizer to go with fried fish or grilled meat and oily meat dishes like adobo.

I tried souring my pinakbet a saluyot with lubeg (Syzygium Lineatum), a very sour fruit similar to lomboy (duhat), a plum or a cherry the variety of which is said to be indigenous in Cagayan especially in the town of Lallo (Lal-lo) where it was even processed/made into a wine, Lubeg Wine.

Lubeg fruit.

When I cook tinimtiman a saluyot, I want it dry or with only a hint of thickened broth. It can last for days or even weeks if you put it in a refrigerator, like all true pinakebbets, and its taste and texture, its saltiness is more enhanced and pronounced and it becomes more palatable as it lasts longer. Dry, and perfectly soured, that is. This time, I'll use lubeg fruit. I was lucky to have this fruit when I went to Lallo, but the truth is that I bought it from a roadside talipapa along the national highway in Nassiping in Gattaran town.

This is the first time that I cooked pinakbet a saluyot with lubeg. I did it with naata a mangga, pias, naata a salamagi, vinegar, even with perres (kalamansi, dalayap, lemon).

I put in some chopped onions, crushed garlic and ginger in a pot, the lubeg fruit, and the saluyot leaves. Then I poured in pure bugguong juice (I used bottled bugguong, sinegseg a bugguong with fermented fish in it would be great but it's not available at cooking time). I didn't add any water. The saluyot leaves' unrinsed water will be enough, I let just the bugguong to cook it dry.

Cook the saluyot slowly, decrease fire. You won't worry of overcooking it as while it cooks the longer, the souring agent will blend more, the saluyot will be just as tender because of its slippery properties. Just be careful not to burn your pinakbet when its liquid is diminishing. Put off fire when there's only little broth underneath, to act as a kind of "sauce" into the pinakbet.

Pinakbet a saluyot cooking, almost done. See the lubeg fruit fused beautifully with the saluyot? 

The sourness is great, the lubeg pickled the saluyot perfectly and it has considerable amount of sweet-and-sour goodness. 

That's it! I paired my lubeg-soured saluyot pinakbet with fried tilapia. Boy, was I so filled!

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Technology Has Made The World Fat

(from Tech Crunch)

by GREGORY FERENSTEIN

Dinengdeng nga uggot ken sabong ti kabatiti, uggot ti paria, nalaokan iti narnar (nagasagas a tukmem).

The world has paid for the luxury of Angry Birds with its health and looks: a new report finds a strong link between technological advancement and expanding waistlines. According to economic think tank, The Milken Institute, a country the size of America will add 4.2 million Spanx-wearing citizens for a 10% growth in Information and Communication Technology (ICT). “The main culprit is the knowledge-based society,” states the report, “more processed foods, a greater amount of ‘screen’ time (watching TV, using computers, playing video games, etc.), decreased energy expenditure, and/or higher consumption of snack foods have all played a role.”

Around the world, obesity rates have shot up higher than the population’s blood sugar. China’s has more than doubled (2.5 to 5.7) in 6 years; India’s has almost tripled (0.7 in 1998 to 1.9 in 2008). But, that doesn’t hold a bacon-flavored candle to American exceptionalism: the U.S. is the Burger King of global obesity at a whopping 33.8% of the population.

The economic and human toll is astronomical. 2.8 million adults die each year from Obesity and weight-related diseases. It accounted for $147 billion in medical costs (or 10% of total spending).

The impact of technological advancement, however, is an average effect. The slender French are only mildly affected by iPhones and Xbox’s because they eat much smaller portions (even though they eat a higher proportion of fats).

Over the past 15 years, consumption has been supersized by 150-250 calories a day, and 300 calories in the U.S. Calorie consumption was dramatically more predictive of obesity than information technology investment. Controlling for calories, exercise, and type of consumption (booze, fat, veggies), Milken estimates about a 1.4 percent increase in obesity for every 10 percent increase in the share of the economy invested in ICT.

Exercise as simple as walking can make a big difference in reducing obesity. But, why stop there? Be ambitious. Go for a six-pack and have your whole business join a CrossFit gym. Or, you can just always order the growing line of mainstream Spanx-wear from the comfort of your well-worn chair.

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Avoid obesity, eat more vegetables the Ilokano way!

Dinengdeng a saluyot, uggot ken sabong ti kabatiti, nalaokan iti narnar ken gamet.

Ensalada nga uggot ti kamote.

Kinilaw a pako.

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pancit chronicles, episode 1: batil patung @ triangle's panciteria, tuguegarao city

Pancit batil patung a.k.a Pancit Tuguegarao (Triangle Panciteria version)

Pancit batil-patung is Tuguegarao City's most loved food and arguably Cagayan's most famous delicacy and the province's (and yes, Cagayan Ibanag's/Itawes') own noodle pride in the list of famed Philippine pancits (like pancit malabon, pancit habhab, pancit molo, pancit lucban, etc.). So much so that pancit batil patung is also called "Pancit Tuguegarao" or even "Pancit Cagayan" and "Pancit Ibanag" (although of course, the equally famous and sumptous Pancit Cabagan of Cabagan, Isabela is also an Ibanag pancit, for that matter).

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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. 

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ilocos empanadas: double double the gastronomic fun!

Empanada is simply a pride of the Ilocos. Be it in Ilocos Norte or Ilocos Sur. And be it Vigan and Laoag, and Batac, all Ilocos cities, for that matter. It's as if it defines what a truly Ilocos popular delicacy or merienda (snack) is all about. Besides even sinanglaw or paksiw or miki.

Empanada-Batac at Glory's Empanada, Batac City, Ilocos Norte.

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kabatiti tops, flower and fruit dinengdeng

Just like karabasa, the fruit, leaves (tops, shoots) and flowers of kabatiti can be made, three-in-one, into a sumptuous dinengdeng. This is new to some, even to some self-confessed Ilokano dinengdeng connoisseurs. So it's really worth a try, to prove that it's really edible and palatable.

Kabatiti fruit, tops and flowers.

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balikutsa, an ilokano candy

Balikutsa from Ilocos Sur.

Balikutsa (balicutsa) is uniquely Ilokano, an ultra sweet candy-like invention made from cooked, molten and sticky sugarcane mollasses stretched white and "curled." It's different from the more usual tagapulot which is brown (hardened muscovado molded in coconut shells) or the sticky palatipot (pulutipot). Sugar products all, which also shows and tells the sweet side of the Ilokanos which are known to be but lovers of pait (bitterness) what with their fondness of pinapaitan, paria, papait, etc.

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paltat ken paria, native catfish and bitter melon leaves

Native paltat (catfish), the black ones (the other ones being "African" and/or "Taiwan" which now grows abundantly in fish caged or as "free range" in rivers), is great for the usual paksiw (stewed dry with vinegar or any preferred souring agent), sigang or inalseman (sour soup, with either kamatis, pias, salamagi, mangga, etc.), tinuno (grilled), or prito (fried). Native paltat is now kind of rare and so it's becoming a delicacy of sort.

Fried catfish and bitter melon leaves soup.

Here one palatable way to cook native a paltat, a recipe by my brother Gomer, a patneng nga Ilokano ("native" Ilokano) who's living in a Tagalog territory (Lemery, Batangas):

Native paltat, washed and ready to be cooked. 

Fry the paltat in oil until crisp. Remove fried paltat. Then put in crushed garlic and sliced onions into the frying pan with the excess oil. Sauté the garlic and onions until brown. Then add in sliced tomatoes and sauté it. Put back the fried paltat in the pan and add some water. Season with bugguong juice and simmer.

Just before putting off fire and serving, put in the paria leaves and blanch with the broth. Do not overcook the leaves.

So yummy and tasty with your rice!

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