kalalaki nga alukon, "male" alukon

Dinengdeng a kalalaki nga alukon with patani, kardis and pallang.

Not many folks, even those so-called patneng nga Ilokanos (true-blue Ilokanos) know or are aware that the fruit (or is it flower?) of the kalalaki nga alukon (male alukon [allaeanthus glaber, himbabao] tree) is edible or as sumptous as the commonly consumed slender and longish flowerette sabong ti alukon. Maybe because kalalaki nga alukon trees are rare. In fact, I only know of it because we have once a kalalaki tree right in our backyard in Mabasa, Dupax del Norte, Nueva Vizcaya, my native place. As a child, we used to climb up the tree and gather (or cut branches with) flower/fruit and shoots of this unique alukon and my mother make it into a delectable dinengdeng with patani, kardis, or young utong pods/beans and with pallang or parda, sometimes with paria fruit and occassionally with ubog ti barit (bud/heartof a wild smaller variety of rattan). I relished it as a child and until my bachelorhood. When I came to Cagayan, I didn't see any tree, much more of it being sold in the local tiendaans.

And imagine my amazement and joy when I saw these beautiful kalalaki nga alukon "balls" (yes, it resembles the human male testicle, complete with hairs--of which I presume is one reason why it was called "lalaki") sold by an old woman in the merkado publiko in Gonzaga, Cagayan--I immediately bought two liter-fulls, while my companions at that time keep on exclaiming wonder and utter disbelief ("nah, masida gayam ti kasta?" "diak man ammo a mabalin a sidaen dayta, nagadu kasta 'diay ayanmi!" "ania ngay ramanna daytan, kasla met ukel-ukel, ne, adda pay urmotna, wahaha!"):

A close up of the miniature "balls" (click on the photos for a larger view):

I eagerly, and painstakingly, prepared my first kalalaki nga alukon dinengdeng in Cagayan. I was in luck that day because I also chanced upon some gorgeous ubog ti way ( rattan bud/heart) in the same market, which is a perfect pair to alukon (paria, especially the "native" ones is also good; I prefer bitter veggies for my alukon dinengdengs). I also bought some patani:

And here's it, my dinengdeng a kalalaki nga alukon with ubog ti way and patani, with dried shrimps (kuros, aramang)--it overloaded my carbo intake that day, because I consumed a lot of rice with it:

The next day, I cooked the remaining balls with patani, kardis and pallang, and with kuros, of course, my way of reminiscing and re-living and relieving my childhood in Nueva Vizcaya, and an act of giving kudos to the dinengdeng expertise of my mother, her basic cooking skills (mostly on dinengdengs and barely with meats [on rare occassions when we have tinola a manok for dinner, or a pinapaitan for lunch in rare occourences where some carabaos are butchered to be mauraga or loaned in exchange for palay when harvest comes], because that was our life then in the barrio, a farming community. living simply and contented with our own backyard produce) which I terribly miss, and of which I shamelessly claim to have "inherited":

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buridibod, buribod, baradibod: camote with alukon and marunggay stew

Buridibod is a typical Ilokano dish. And it's truly a unique Ilokano specialty of concocting what's sweet and sweetish and pulpy to go with a variety of leafy green veggies, or with some vegetable blossoms and fruits, for that beloved dinengdeng or inabraw. Ilokanos love their vegetable soup somewhat sweet or sweety, the magnificent blending of sweetness and the saltiness of the blessed bugguong. A sweety, pulpy soup so bugguongy fragrant and that distinct leafy raw scent that's so perfect for igup (soup to consume exclusively through spoonfuls or usually sipped through the rim of the bowl), and labay (soup to go with rice) as well, to please a not so finicky but just characteristic Ilokano palate.

Any edible root will do with this delicacy. Camote or sweet potato is popular. And so with marunggay leaves, petchay, paria (bitter melon) leaves and tops, kalunay or kuantong (spinach and amaranth), and camote tops itself, and other leafy greens. But it also is known, buridibod still, with other root crops like aba (yam), tugi, buga, kamangeg, ube, balinghoy or kamoteng kahoy (cassava, yuca, or manioc) and others.

Alukon or alokon (allaeanthus glaber) is also a popular ingredient. Either blossoms (flowerettes) or young leaves. But the flower is preferred. The young fruit of the singkamas (or 'kamas, as some folks fondly call) plant (jicama) is also a perfect ingredient, as well as the young fruit of the marunggay tree. I even sagpaw (add in) tarong (eggplant) especially the smaller and younger fruits (called marabusel ones). Or even young parda pods and kardis young/green beans. It's up to your Ilokano instinct/ingenuity to add a variety of available vegetables.

My buridibod here is typically camote, marunggay and alukon. It's alukon season when I made this dish. Instead of the usual alukon and sauteed pinablad a balatong (boiled mung beans) combination, or alukon in a pinakbet, I decided on a buridibod when i spotted these lovely white and purple sweet potatoes and these freshly picked marunggay stalks.

I just love alukon blossoms. These are the kababai (female) blossoms. There are two alukons that I know. The kababai and the kalalaki (male), just like papayas. and mind you, I like the kalalaki nga alukon more. Its flowers (or is its fruit?) are roundish and aptly resembles the human male testicles, complete with pubic hair-like, well, hairs that grew out of the flower/fruit's pores. For me, it's more edible than the kabaian alukon flower. But you can't find male alukon flowers sold in markets, only the kabaian ones. I wonder why. We used to have a kabaian and kalakian alukon trees in our place in Nueva Vizcaya. But the kalakian tree is already cut down for sungrod (firewood).

Anyway, here's how I came with my own version of buridibod: I boiled some water in a pot for the bugguong. I peeled the camotes and cut them into cubes. washed the alukon, and rinsed and segregated the marunggay leaves. After the bugguong is boiled for some time, I put in the camote cubes first and let it cook. Here, you can prefer your buridibod somewhat drier or soft and pulpy. If you want a pulpy buridibod, boil the camotes some more or you can mash it by using a ladle. But mash it not too mushy so that enough broth remain. You have to retain some broth for your souping purposes. When the camotes are cooked, I put in the alukon blossoms, I let it cook for some time and then, just before serving, I put in the marunggay leaves. Do not overcook the marunggay.

Here's the result:

A closeup:

What a heavenly viand to go with your steamed rice!

(Originally posted December 13, 2008)

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inabraw nga alukon/alukon leaves stew

Alukon or alokon (allaeanthus glaber; also called bungon and baeg [in Pangasinan]) is more known for its flowers or flowerettes as a popular "mix" in some vegetable dishes, notably buridibod or in the simple dinengdeng, and in the quintessential pinakbet.

But besides its more popular flower, the leaves of the alukon tree is also edible and is equally great for that perfect dinengdeng of leafy veggie medley, or as a solo inabraw nga alukon (I used "inabraw" here because, usually, it is the term used when the dinengdeng is comprised mostly, or wholly, of leaves). I have yet to see alukon leaves being sold in the market, though. Maybe because some folks are not used to it or don't know that the leaves are edible and palatable as well. The leaves, of course, is abundant even when the tree is not in flowering/blooming season. As the tree is usually have its branches cut to gather the flowers, after a few days, fresh sprouts will bud that promise beautiful tender leaves for alukon lovers to consume. A small alukon tree grown in your backyard can supply you bountiful leaves all year round. Just cut the branches when all its leaves are matured to enable new branches to bud. Needless to say, I might swear I even love the leaves more than the flowers because it represent a true green leafy veggie for a truly hearty dinengdeng or inabraw. I just love the alukonness of it, the sweet sabeng or pas-eng--that distinct aroma that veggie lovers adore, and the unique tartness of it that caters to a genuinely Ilokano fondness for leafy green vegetable stews.

So, I cooked my inabraw nga alukon just as simply as boiling it in bugguong. I just took care of it not to overcook the tender leaves. And few moments before it is done, I placed atop the boiling stew a grilled paltat (catfish) as a sagpaw (add-on). Let the steam engulf the sagpaw for some more moments and then put off the fire and serve the inabraw immediately.

What comes next is a lovely sight and a heavenly scent is wafting--the yellow soup (the leaves turn the broth yellowish as is with other vegetable leaves like utong [sitaw, cowpea] leaves) tantalizing your palate.

It's so good with your steamed rice, the broth makes a perfect labay that turns your rice like a java rice!

Ahh, the simplicity of Ilokano gastronomy!


(Originally blogged January 30, 2010)

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kardis, alukon, sabong-karabasa, kalunay

Mangantayo manen! Come, let's eat, once all over again, share with me this another dinengdeng, this bugguong-flavored quartet of usual but exquisite Ilokano vegetables.

This is a pretty of veggies in that it has legumes (kardis), blossoms (alukon and karabasa), and green leaves (kalunay), stewed in fine bugguong essence and graced with dried shrimps (kuros):

So delicious, so Ilokano!

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More dinengdeng stories!

• Dinengdeng, glorious dinengdeng!

• Dinengdeng a bunga ti singkamas, jicama fruit stew

• Dinengdeng a rabong ken saluyot, bamboo shoot and saluyot stew

• Dinengdeng a sabunganay, banana blossom stew

• Dinengdeng a marunggay with kaggo, marunggay leaves and clam soup

• Fresh veggies for dinengdeng in Casantolan

• Dinengdeng nga uong-mais ken uggot-marunggay, wild mushrooms and marunggay leaves

• Dinengdeng a lalaki nga alukon, "male" alukon stew

• Dinengdeng a nalabbaga a katuday, purple katuday stew

• Dinengdeng/buridibod nga ube, purple yam stew with veggies

• Dinengdeng/buridibod nga ube (puraw), white yam stew with veggies and fried fish

• Dinengdeng with tinapa (smoked mackerel)

• Dinengdeng a katuday

• Dinengdeng a bunga, sabong ken uggot ti kabatiti, kabatiti tops, flower and fruit dinengdeng

• Solo a dinengdeng a marunggay

• Dinengdeng a kardis

• Dinengdeng a daludal, sagibsib, taro shoots/suckers

• Dinengdeng a saluyot ken tarong

• Dinengdeng a saba! banana/plantain stew

• Dinengdeng nga aba, stewed taro leaves/stems/roots

• Dinengdeng once more, because one can live in dinengdeng alone

• Baradibud a tugi, lesser yam vegetable stew

• Dinengdeng a saluyot and rabong variation--with bulong-sili, kalunay and utong

• Buridibod yet again: camote, petchay and alukon

• Dinengdeng/inabraw, more, once more

• Inabraw nga alukon/alukon leaves stew

• Buridibod, buribod, baradibod: camote with alukon and marunggay stew

• Dinengdeng a karabasa ken utong, squash goodies and string beans stew

• Dinengdeng nga uong ken lantong-utong, wild mushroom with young bean stalks/shoots

• Dinengdeng a paltong ti utong, utong tops stew/soup with dried shrimps

• Dinengdeng a langka ken pallang, jackfruit and winged bean stew

• Dinengdeng a patani ken sabong-karabasa, lima beans and squash flowers stew

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alukon and sweet potato tuber: a perfect baradibud

Gotta get back to more dinengdeng, more veggies ngarud as is my wont. And now, it's alukon season, and the first that came into mind when I got an alukon is to pair it with bagas ti kamotig--into a baradibud:

I made it with tarong and some kalunay, and with some bits of tinapa (smoked galunggong):

So sweet, so starchy, terrific!

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More baradibud/baradibod dishes:

• Baradibud a tugi, lesser yam vegetable stew

• Baradibud a kamangeg, samsamping, parda ken kabatiti; wild yam with blue pea, hyacinth bean and sponge gourd

• Buridibod nga ube (puraw), white yam stew with veggies and fried fish

• Yet another buridibod, with marunggay pods, shucked clam meat and grilled malaga

• Buridibod, buribod, baradibod: camote with alukon and marunggay stew

• Buridibod yet again: camote, petchay and alukon

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dinengdeng a bunga ken uggot ti karabasa, squash fruit and shoots stew

As a kid and a farm boy, one of the vegetables I love that much is karabasa (squash) mainly because my mother used to tell us her children that squash fruit is actually an "itlog ti nuang" or a carabao's egg, so nutritious and full of vitamins and minerals and whatever healthy stuff growing barrio kids need, aside from the "fact" that it really is good for the eye, for it to see more clearly, so my mother said so. We always have a squash plant with its vine freely creeping on and/or climbing up at our backyard vegetable garden, or in corners of the farm where rotting rice straws are kept (rice straw compost is an excellent organic fertilizer so you can imagine how lush and thriving the squash planted in it).

Karabasa is so versatile a vegetable in that its main parts are all edible and great for dinengdeng. Besides the fruit, its blossoms are prized as well as its shoots. And what I love most of it is that the three parts can become a very delicious dinengdeng combination, all in one or with other leafy greens.

Going home in Casantolan, my place of birth and boyhood, I foraged the vegetable patches in our yard and came upon karabasa crawlers amongst sweet potato vines and in between saluyot shrubs. No full grown blossoms yet at the time so I just picked one young fruit and succulent shoots, and gathered some saluyot, too, and some alukon shoots growing from an alukon stump amidst the shrubberies. I salivated at the idea how gorgeous my dinengdeng would be!

See how lovely are these squash shoots? How so inviting is the young fruit? It's young as in young, still developing, immature, not yet ripe, which is just what's actually best and perfect for dinengdeng, you know!

Now, the veggies are ready, naimurianen! No, sir, I didn't peel the skin off the young karabasa. At this stage of development, the skin is yet that soft and so very much edible, and palatable, I promise you! It will all goes well with the greens.

See how stunning the prepared veggies are?

This karabasa is one of the variety which is nakilnet (thick or somewhat glutinous) and not nagares (mushy or soggy) so even at this level of maturity, it manifests its being nakilnet, and so even at its raw stage, at a glance, surely, you'll find it kind of irresistible,!

And now the panagdengdeng, the panagbugguong process... Let's skip the details here, yet again, because this is just plain and simple dinengdeng as was usual. But one thing, put the karabasa fruit in first and boil for some time before the saluyot, alukon, and the karabasa shoots. The fruit cooks longer than the leaves, we dont' want an overcooked dinengdeng here especially of overdone greens. See to it that the karabasa shoots are done kind of crispy but succulent. I added onion and few slices of tomato for some aroma and flavor.

And here it is! See how arresting, how captivating this dinengdeng is?

A closer look, you can see the karabasa skin intact and it's delicious:

One more look and you're hungrier, I guess:

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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
• Dinengdeng a kudet (kuditdit) ken paria, bracket fungus with bittermelon

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buridibod yet again: camote, petchay and alukon

This is yet another buridibod variation.We have previously featured our buribod with alukon floweretters and marunggay leaves and buridibod with marunggay pods. Here's one with alukon still and with "baby" petchays (young and small petchay). The basic ingredient here is the camote root. Buridibod is buridibod as long as it has the main ingredient, which is root crop, be it camote, or other root crops like taro, yam, and other starchy edible root.

As with the others, my buridibod this time is cooked with the camotes at the base of the lot, it is put in first after the bugguong is diluted in the boiling water, simmered sometime to cook it (the camote), and then the alukon and the petchay.

Do not overcook the alukon and the petchay. Put off fire and serve immediately while crisp and green, with the sweet starchy broth steaming.

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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:

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See another delicious dinengdeng/inabraw a bulong ti alukon!

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