Sabor Ilonggo

Meke, bihon or miswa?

The famous La Paz batchoy is a concoction of noodles, pork, liver and innards in broth topped with chicharon, garlic and chives. Among the popular batchoyans in town is Ted's Oldtimer who is credited to be the innovator of La Paz batchoy as it is known today throughout the country. Among the innovations they introduced are batchoys using different kinds of noodles which one can decide upon ordering in their stores.

The original and default order is made with these yellow egg noodles known as meke. With a hint of saltiness, these noodles have been chosen as the original maybe it is among the least expensive during those days. Also the noodles compliment the taste and the color of the other ingredients making it pleasing to the eyes. And usually this noodles makes the perfect presentation of the batchoy as it holds firmly the other ingredients that makes the signature mound on a batchoy bowl. Sad to say that the new deep bowls being used now in some branches makes it impossible to have a good visual presentation of La paz batchoy.

The next one I've tried is the miswa version. When my order came, I though I was served with a bowl of caldo (broth) for I can only see the broth. Later when I dipped my spoon and scooped what was hidden underneath, then I saw everything. Same amount of ingredients and toppings just lost in the broth because the miswa cannot hold it and it becomes soggy after sometime. It sort of like eating a soup with meat as one barely gets to "bite" the miswa.

And my latest is their bihon batchoy, which is a cross between the previous two. Mild in taste that it enhances the flavour more but like miswa the batchoy is "lost in presentation". It came in a deep bowl plus the noodles sink to the bottom bringing the others so it was a deja vu of the caldo mixed up before. But still the same as they serve with the same amount of ingredients and no chance of short changing any order.

I have yet to try is the one made with sotanghon and now I expect it to be slippery both literally and figuratively as this noodle is the last one I will be able to try. So what's your La Paz batchoy made with?

Mang Inasal

About six years ago, two gentlemen from the South dared to take their chances in the metropolis called Manila.

Before the launch of their first branch in Metro Manila, Edgar “Injap” Sia , the man behind Iloilo’s famous Mang Inasal, was understandably cautious. Sure, their existing branches were a big hit in the Visayas, as fellow Ilonggos could not seem to get enough of their scrumptiously moist and juicy, tender and tasty barbecued chicken, meats and seafood. But would the ever-evolving palates of Manila folks accept Mang Inasal as well?

To Sia’s pleasant surprise, Mang Inasal was eagerly embraced by Manila foodies. And today, Mang Inasal has become a culinary force to reckon with. Both by word of mouth and aggressive marketing communications efforts, the Visayan favorite is now a Metro Manila hotspot too.
Sia says, “We have 160 branches to date. The first in Manila at the Mall of Asia was actually the 18th branch of Mang Inasal. We’re going six years this coming December 12. For this year, we hope to have a total of 200 branches and another 100 next year. In the next five years, we are aiming for 100 branches a year nationwide.”

Sia believes that this success can be attributed to many factors which come together to make a totality—affordability, a distinct Filipino flavor, the unlimited rice offerings, the strategic location of branches and the dynamic brand build up that creates favorable awareness for Mang Inasal.

At just about the same time that Sia was preparing for Mang Inasal’s Manila debut, one young man was gearing up for his own conquest of the nation’s capital. Mark Bautista grew up in Cagayan de Oro with his father Darni, mother Susan, three other brothers and a sister. Bautista recalls how even at an early age, he and his siblings were taught the value of hard work. Their parents never spoiled them and made sure that they understood responsibility by dutifully performing household chores. It was also from his father that he learned humility and grace. The older Bautista always had a ready smile, even for strangers.

When his father was unable to continue working as a seaman due to health reasons, Bautista decided to join a singing contest to help with the family’s financial obligations. His second prize win at the show Star for a Night catapulted him to greater heights in the entertainment industry. Today, he is a popular show biz personality, a mainstay of the star studded Sunday noontime program ASAP, with a string of musical hits to his name, and a blooming film career

Never in his entire life did Bautista dream of such a success. All he wanted was to help his family. He remarks, “Today, I am overflowing with blessings. I recognize how valuable these opportunities are and I am making the most of them. I also acknowledge that the fruits of my work are gifts from God and I am thankful and glad to enjoy them.”

Fortune smiled at these two unassuming gentlemen who, by sheer hard work and a humble attitude, attained their goals and dreams. And as if serendipity sought out two like-minded individuals to complement each other, Mang Inasal has partnered with Mark Bautista to take the message of good food and family celebrations to more and more Filipinos nationwide.

Sia observes, “I think we have some similarities. Mark also started in 2004, the same with Mang Inasal. Like Mang Inasal, Mark is very unassuming but he has stayed in the entertainment world for quite some time already and he’s doing well. And we feel that Mark, like Mang Inasal, has a very big potential, coming into the next few years as they slowly unfold.”

For his part, Bautista says, “Mang Inasal is very hard working, they give it their all, they are persistent and aggressive. They want to succeed in the industry. And that is also what I see in myself. “

Today after six years, the two gentlemen from the South are more inspired than ever. All their efforts are paying off, giving credence to the principle that hard work, patience, honesty and faith in God make the best formula for success. And when at times the road may seem so rough and long, just keep walking and working and who knows, the dream may be closer to fulfillment than you think.

Article courtesy of The Manila Times
Photos courtesy of MangInasal (2nd) and Skyscrapercity forum (last)

Nang Palang's buko pies

Looks goods, tastes even better. A cliche indeed, but Nang Palang's buko pie now really looks good. Thanks to it's new packaging that give's it a much better and more recognizable identity. It is just fitting that one of the best buko pies in the country should embark on this thrust before it can be swallowed up by "hyped" competitors.

Nang Palang's also creates other favorites like cassava cakes, bibingka, chicken pie, egg pie and other fruit pies like mango pie, ube pie and pineapple pie among others. But it is their buko pie that made them famous.

So they also made other variants like buko-pandan and buko pinya pies which are equally as good, to capitalize on the fame.

But despite this, Nang Palang's still puts quality above as you don't see strips of buko in the pie but slices for they say one buko pie contains coconut meat from four fresh coconuts. And to see is to believe. But don't just be contented looking at it, do get your own Nang Palang's Buko Pie.

Nang Palang's Buko Pie is located in Brgy. Trapiche in Oton. Just around a kilometer past the main gate of Anhawan Beach Club going all the way to Tigbauan. They can be contacted through telephone number 033-336-0954.

Afrique's

The name Afrique’s is well-known to epicureans in Iloilo. If you’re a guest and would want to leave this city with great memories of pizza and pasta, Afrique’s can give you all that.

Miguel Cordova, Iloilo’s most popular young chef, takes us back to history. “Hughes Street used to be a strip where big business establishments were built. There are still many beautiful structures you can see around but only a few of them have been maintained.

Somewhere at the end of this long street was where the casino used to be.” The once lonely old house now known as Afrique’s is a fresh face among old structures in the district. The Cordovas did all they could to maintain the original façade of the house.

It was built sometime in the 1930s and was owned by VirgilioFerraris. Salustiano Mirasol and Mrs. Consuelo Segovia later bought the house and became the ancestral house of the Mirasols. The Mirasols are only one of the many illustrious families in Iloilo. In the very house where Afrique’s is now was where Mrs. Esperanza Mirasol Macavinta and her siblings grew up. The is likened to a huge precious chest full of wonderful memories.

The Cordova’s eye for beauty enabled them to transform the almost dilapidated house into a Mediterrenean style bistro. Jaws of visitors would often drop at the first sight of Afrique’s. Aside from the luscious food, Afrique’s is also known for its unique ambiance that is homey yet elegant. Rafael Cordova, one of the siblings, says, “In Afriques, you don’t need to dress up. It has a very relaxed ambiance and a homey feel to it.” Just like what they say about history repeating itself (and in a very good way), the Cordova siblings are now taking care of the beautiful place and has given it prestige by making it the home of Afrique’s. Read More

Article courtesy of The News Today
Afrique’s… Remaking history and adding up a modern twist to the palate
Text & photos by Jinki Beldia

Butterscotch

Pasalubong from Iloilo City nowadays isn't just limited to those "old world" biscuits and baked goodies the city is famous for. Biscocho, barquillos, galletas, barquiron, piaya and a whole lot more used to be a staple in pasalubong boxes coming from Iloilo.

Now a relatively modern baked goodie has overtaken the title as the most sought after pasalubong from Iloilo. And it's not an entirely native product nor had it “roots” from Iloilo. It’s actually an imported product given a distinct, local feel and is now among the best selling Iloilo pasalubong items.

Butterscotch - a type of confectionery made by boiling sugar, butter, cream, and vanilla. In many ways the ingredients for butterscotch are similar to toffee; the major difference is that the sugar is boiled to the soft crack stage for butterscotch and the hard crack stage for toffee, (from Wikipedia) is now synonymous with Iloilo pasalubong. Boxes of goodies from Iloilo surely would contain packs of these moist and chewy confection commonly wrapped colored cellophane.

The most popular and best selling brand is Biscocho Haus. To quote from MyFoodieNotebook "Notably, nothing in that ingredients list mentions anything about flour or eggs. Biscocho Haus' butterscotch, however, does. As per the package, Biscocho Haus' butterscotch is made of flour, butter, sugar, eggs, and milk. Strictly speaking therefore, I think Biscocho Haus' butterscotch is more like a butterscotch brownie."

Because of it's popularity, other pasalubong shops and bakeries have joined in the butterscotch bandwagon and came up with their own butterscotch recipe to compete and hopefully make a niche of it's own. So the next time you're in Iloilo, don't forget to bring home some of these goodies and mind you, you will soon feel you didn't buy enough butterscotch from Iloilo.

Note: I have reviewed more than a dozen brands and made my Iloilo butterscotch guide in my other blog - Flavours of Iloilo.

Balbi's Snack House

Food memories during our childhood certainly have a special place in our hearts (and tastebuds too.) Given the chance revisiting these places would mean reliving these taste memories that form a good part of our childhood. And Balbi's Snackshop along Valeria Street is certainly among these food places that our hearts would certainly long for.

But in my case Balbi's, was just a recent discovery. If not for my blog, I wouldn't have discovered it , even if it was just along one of the streets I frequent passing by. There' s a so called "trinity" of the great eats at Balbi's and I've tried them all since then.

First and foremost if their Pancit Palabok. A tasty concoction of shrimp sauce over pancit bihon and topped with chicharon and tinapa. Many swear it's the best in town and with la ittle reservation, I agree. A plate costs around PhP70, quite pricey for Iloilo standards for a pancit but you certainly won't regret it.

Then there's their dinugu-an. Balbi's makes use of lean pork and no innards plus the blood s filtered and cured before cooking to ensure utmost quality. Thus explains the price of a single small serving is also around PhP70. But it's more than worth it especially if paired with puto manapla.

And lastly, their two best selling breads, ensaymada and cheeseroll. These treats are both very much affordable and certainly worth more than it's price. Very soft bread with butter and sugar toppings with the cheese roll having a slice of cheese at the certain. You'll certainly want more after finishing these two. Good thing both cost less than 15 pesos each.

Balbi's also served other dishes like binagoongan and bistek tagalog - to namae a few of their best sellers. And they also have other breads and baked goodies cheese pimiento sandwich, biscocho, siopao, chicken pie and burgers. What interest me more is their toasted ensaymada and cheeseroll.

Anyway here' a good feature about Balbi's that narrates how it began and how it's coping up with the future.

Revisiting Balbis
By Marie Katherine Villalon
Friday, November 24, 2006

According to its manager, Ador Apuan, Balbis officially opened its store in 1960 but as early as 1958, they were already cooking for people. "It was not palabok at first. They were serving dishes like Arroz Valenciana, Chicken Galantina, ensaymada and cheese roll. That's when they decided to open the store," Apuan said.

Its first location was in the St. Elizabeth Bowling Alley, behind the residence of Monsignore Cuenco, in front of St. Paul's Hospital in Gen. Luna Street. After the bishop's palace was bought by the Rosaleses, the bowling alley was moved to St. Elizabeth Center in Valeria Street, where Balbis is now located.

It is owned by Balbina Zaldarriaga, whose photo with Apuan is presently hung at the restaurant. Apuan is married to Marisa Montelibano, grand daughter of Zaldarriaga. Apuan has vast experience in the food business, making him the likely candidate in managing Balbis when he went home from the United States two years ago. "I was the manager of Almon Marina, a specialty shop in Manila that was converted into a sandwich bar. When I went to the United States and worked as a paralegal there, I wanted to go back to the food business. So I enrolled in a culinary school, the Orange County School of Culinary Arts. It took me almost two years to finish there. I was going to school in the evenings," he said.

A year after he went home to the Philippines, Apuan decided to manage Balbis. "Earlier than that, I planned to open a restaurant. I studied the market here and realized that many restaurants opened but closed after several years. So, I said, 'why start with something that has no name?' Balbis has a name already," he said.

Under Apuan's management, Balbis has expanded its food offerings. The palabok, dinuguan, ensaymada and cheese rolls are still the best-sellers. "Our dinuguan makes use of lean pork and we don't use organ meat. We also use quality blood, which we filter and cure before cooking."Balbis's cheese roll and ensaymada make use of butter and sugar. "They have the same consistency though the cheese roll is softer and smaller. We also have butter toast, garlic toast, which is a good match to palabok, cheese pimiento sandwich, biscocho, siopao, chicken pie and puto.

Balbis is now air-conditioned and the dining area is wider after it underwent renovation in August this year. Its peak hours are from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and at 4 p.m. until closing time, 6 p.m.

Apuan revealed that Balbis will soon have another branch in an area that is accessible to more people, especially to students. When asked if he plans to open more branches like any other food chain, he said, "I just want maybe another one. My idea is that the people that know Balbis, one by one, have gone abroad. The younger generation does not know about us because we are no visible from the street. It's about time that we should be seen. I don't have any intention to open many branches. One or two would be enough." Read more at SunsStar Iloilo

More Balbi's on Flavours of Iloilo.

Laswa

Laswa is among the most popular Ilonggo vegetable dish and has so many variations despite it' simplicity. Mostly dependent on the the availability of vegetables, usually it has kalabasa, talong, okra, hantak (sitaw), tagabang (saluyot), patola and a host of other vegetables. For this recipe puso ng saging (banana heart) was added not only as "extender" but to add some texture.

Cooking laswa is simple - just stew the vegetables and subak (usually fresh seafoods like shrimps, crabs, or even snails locals call bango-ngon) then season with salt or use broth cubes. Others prefer to use dried and salted seafoods like pinakas for it adds more flavour to the dish at the same time makes this vegetable dish more appetizing.

Or at times this is solely a vegetable dish (no subak whatsoever) and is perfect partnered with fried or grilled meat and fish. No matter how you cook it or what you partner it with, laswa can stand out on its own as it has become an Ilonggo favorite vegetable dish.

Roberto's House Restaurant

If a list of iconic restaurants in Iloilo City is made, chances are Roberto’s Restaurant along JM Basa Street in the heritage district of Downtown Iloilo City would be among listed. This snack shop has retained the old world charm of Iloilo City as little has changed over the years in the way the restaurant looks and operates.

It has managed to survive with little or no competition all these years, but when competitors decided to challenge Roberto’s, it didn’t even budge. Big league competitors in the likes of Jollibee and Mang Inasal have stores a few steps away yet Roberto’s always almost full no matter what time of the day.

So what made this restaurant strong enough to co exist with really big competitors despite its feeble appearance?

It’s neither the ambiance nor the service, for in this category Roberto’s, flops. Many shared their not so good experiences about buying over the counter, eating inside the restaurant and even suppliers have complaints or two. Most of the time people just order to go and enjoy good ol’ Roberto’s food in the comfort of the homes and offices. Roberto’s may have improved their fixtures but the ambiance of the whole restaurant stays the same, a chaotic blend of the old and the new.

It really is the food and the familiarity of the Ilonggos that made Roberto’s survived. Hamburgers made this snack shop famous and they still served them now. Then there’s their pancit line up – bihon, sotanghon and canton, revered by many.

Their assorted meat menu is also among their best sellers – meatballs, camaron relleno, morcon and fried lumpia to name a few. They also have combo meals combining the above menu with some vegetables or snack items for one big plate of good eats.

And then there’s Roberto’s Queen sio pao. This sio pao has bacon and Chinese sausage on top of the chicken and pork adobo and hardboiled egg. The King has ham instead of bacon. What makes the Queen a gastronomic novelty is that it is available for only 3 days a month. (and for special orders.)

So in the contest between ambiance and taste, convincingly the latter triumphed but it’s not yet too late for Roberto’s to change the feel of their restaurant and even expand with more branches. With these plus an improvement on the quality of service on top the good food they serve, Roberto's will surely survive and claim it's place in Iloilo gastronomic history.

Roberto’s House Inc.
61 JM Basa Street, Iloilo City
Tel No. 335-0484 / 337-1595

Kadyos baboy langka

Kadyos, baboy & langka popularly known as KBL is no doubt among the top and well loved cuisine of the Ilonggos. As the name suggests, the three basic ingredients are kadyos (cow peas/black eyed beans), baboy (pork) and langka (jackfruit-the unripe one). The fourth one, batwan gives the dish a distinct soury soup base.

Kadyos. A common sight in local markets when in season, kadyos gives this dish a unique subtle flavour. When boiled, it gives the broth a light purplish hue and enhances the taste of soup.

Baboy. The most commonly used cut is pata (hinds) especially the lean-fat-cartilage/tendon combo. However, even left over lechon or adobo-cut pork can also be used. Broiling the pork first gives the soup a distinct taste.

Langka. Usually cut into large cubes and boiled until cooked before adding the souring ingredient. Doing otherwise (i.e. adding batwan, etc before it is cooked) would affect

Bat-wan. This tiny green fruit grows abundantly and is endemic to the region and mainly used as souring ingredients in soups and fish dishes.

Sinamak

Every region in the Philippines has it's own version of a spiced vinegar and a name for it. In most parts of Western Visayas especially in Iloilo, it is known as sinamak. One can find it almost anywhere for it is a staple dip in almost every household and native restaurants. Be it chicken inasal or grilled pork chop to seafoods especially talaba, sinamak is the perfect dip to further one's appetite.

The recipe varies from each household and the percentage of the "ingredients" too but always present are siling labuyo (green and red for color variation and makes it more visually appetizing), ginger and garlic. Usually the vinegar used comes from coconuts but other varieites do as well. Just make one that suits your own taste and let dip set fire on your every meal.

Linidgid nga mais

Followers of Flavours of Iloilo on Facebook shared this interesting delicacy from this north central town of Iloilo. Called linidgid na mais, this native treat from Lambunao is a mixture of corn, coconuts and sugar.

Made using the pilit variety of corn "shredded" the old fashioned (tin cans with nail-punched holes) then combined with young coconuts and sugar to taste. The mixture is then wrapped in banana leaves then tied at the top like a pouch and steamed for around two hours.

The effort made in making this delicacy s greatly rewarded with a delicious native treat.

Thank you to Marilyn Manzanida for the photos and the related info.

Biscocho Haus

Pasalubong from Iloilo is almost synonymous with Biscocho Haus, the iconic bakeshop named after one of the city's most popular treats - biscocho. Despite it's numerous branches around the city, a trip to it's original branch near Jaro Plaza completes one's pasalubong experience.

There, one can choose pasalubong items displayed in old plateras ranging from their famous butterscotch and biscocho to even dried squid and danggit. Next door is their snackshop that serves short orders like dinuguan and pancit molo.

Indeed this Biscocho Haus has come a long way from a small family run bakeshop to an Iloilo icon it is today. So when in Iloilo, don't go home without.

Topmost photo courtesy of ANGELKIRK89of SSC forum