kilawen a kalding (goat "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's 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 better), chili if you prefer it really spicy, and pour in some bile or pespes and thoroughly mix the whole lot:

More...

• Pinapaitan a silsilet ti kalding
• Pinapaitan, the really bitter original innards stew

~~~~~

pata, pork hind legs & knuckles

Oh, I sure love pork, and I'm particularly fascinated with its pata, tendon-y and fat-y and flesh-y pork's hind legs and knuckles, which magically turns into a delicious and insanely crackling crispy pata, or into a hearty and oh-so-tasty paksiw na pata ng baboy, hmmm, and into a heavenly adobong pata, too, so much so with my mission/ambition to get rid of fatty and cholesterol-laden foodstuffs, I just wanna indulge sometimes because I'm just a mere mortal, a human, so prone to sin!

Paksiw na Pata. Photo credit: Mga Luto ni Lola

Crispy Pata. Photo credit: Sweet Nothings

Braised pork knuckles. Photo credit: The Peach Kitchen

Pata Tim. Photo credit: Skip to Malou!

Lets have a try on these pork delights!

• Pata tim recipe from Skip to Malou!
• Crispy Pata recipe from Sweet Nothings
• Braised Pata recipe from The Peach Kitchen
• Paksiw na Pata recipe from Mga Luto ni Lola

...

longanisa

Who doesn't love sausages or chorizos? Pinoys love it, and they have their own longanisa (longganisa, langgonisa, longaniza). Pork sausage, that's it. Perfect for breakfast, or in any meal time for that matter as it could serve as an appetizer to your main dishes. It can also be grilled or barbecued on stick and consumed as a snack. And it serves as a hearty delectable filling for empanadas like those ones in Vigan and Batac in the Ilocos. There's a lot of longanisas in the Philippines, almost every town or province has their own variation of this ground pork and garlic mix foodie. And here are some four of the most popular....

Vigan Longanisa. Photo credit: nomorewhitecoats.blogspot.com 

Batac Longanisa on stick. Photo credit: Leilanie Adriano

 Lucban Longanisa. Photo credit: pagkaing-filipino.blogspot.com

Ybanag (Tuguegarao) Longanisa. Photo credit: skiptomalou.net

Tuguegarao longanisa is not as popular as that of Vigan's or Batac's, but it has it's own distinct flavor and texture that's uniquely delicious. I want to try making it, join me, the Ybanag Longanisa recipe at the Skip To Malou! blog is worth a try!

:::::

pancit batil-patung

Pancit (flour/rice noodles) is ever popular in the Philippines and almost every region (ethnographic group of provinces) has its own brand of pancit unique to their own taste and cooking procedure, from the making of the miki (noodle) to the choice of toppings. Tuguegarao City and the southern towns of the province of Cagayan has its own pancit called pancit batil-patung (or patong). Aside from the locally made miki, batil-patung has as main ingredients carabeef (carabao or water buffalo meat) and egg, and other toppings. It is served with diced fresh onions, calamansi slices, and lots of toyo (soy sauce), and vinegar-fermented chili. This pancit variation is normally cooked the same as the popular pancit canton or pancit guisado, but what makes it stand out and alone is the egg put atop it and the corresponding egg soup that accompany it.

Photo credit: pinakbetrepublic.blogspot.com

Photo credit: pinakbetrepublic.blogspot.com

In Tuguegarao, there are no similar batil-patung preparations, taste, or even texture and presentation as each panciteria (noodle house) has their own recipes and "styles." I always wanted to mimic my favorite panciterias' secret concoctions but I always fail. Ugh. I have yet to perfect my own formula and patent it soon as a closely-guarded trade secret. Heheh!

Now here's a pancit batil-patung recipe from the Skip To Malou foodblog, if you fancy a try.

And here's my own amateur cellphone video of various pancits in the city, and of course, a video of one of my pancit escapade one rainy day in the city.

And for my Ilokano readers, here's an essay I wrote some years ago, about pancit batil-patung, Tuguegarao City's pride.



:::::

balut adobo

Pinoys usually eat balut (also balot, boiled fertilized duck--or chicken--egg) as is: you crack the still warm egg's top shell open, taking care not to spill the really oh-so-tasty "juice" for a pleasant sip, sprinkle some salt in it (others even "dress" it with vinegar and chili), and eat the whole thing, embryo and the remaining egg yolk matter, discarding the hardened white... Oh, well, but this is not for the squeamish, though. Balut is even included in some "most bizarre food" or "yucky food" lists elsewhere. But then, balut can be prepared and presented in a variety of well, "presentable" ways. Such as being cooked as adobo.

Photo credit: thepeachkitchen.com

I really wanna try my next balut into a delicious adobo. Join me in my balut craving, there are nice balut adobo recipes at The Peach Kitchen and at Casa Veneracion, and also at the Pinoy Recipe site.



:::::

isaw

Isaw, chicken intestines, grilled/barbecued, is a popular street food in the Philippines. Marinated in vinegar, ketchup (banana) and other condiments and then skewered with bamboo stick and grilled right on live coals and then dipped into a vinegar with chili and onions or into a mixture of thick, sweet and spicy sauce. Not every body, even some self-professed gourmands or culinary aficionados may have the intestines, errr, guts, to try this Pinoy street delicacy. But aren't these ohotographs sweet and wicked temptation enough? Come on!

Photo credit: philboxing.com

Photo credit: pinoyphotography.org

Photo credit: tumblrrmokong.tumblr.com

I prefer to make isaw at home, though, when ever I can, as I am wary I may ingest those dreaded street germs causing some unpleasant and unnecessary ailments. Have your isaw only on your trusted isaw vendor to make sure it's prepared clean, at least.

There's a simple recipe at the Food Recap waiting, let's give it a try!






:::::

frog adobo

I really, really miss this! It's been eons ago since my last consumption of this amphibian delicacy, that was tinola a tukak (its Ilokano name; palaka in Tagalog), froggie soup with tender chili leaves. Frog, the edible ones, is a regular fare throughout Asia, "frog legs are a delicacy in China, France, Indonesia, the Philippines, the north of Greece and in many parts of the American South, especially Louisiana," according to Wikipedia.  For some, it takes a lot of guts, will & determination, to convince them to even taste it, so much so that this food has become kind of exotic.

This is frog adobo, Ilokano version, and I'm dying, green, with envy, what with those bugi (roe) so beautifully intact!

Photo credit: blauearth.com

I want this ASAP!

Come on, we'll try the recipe at the popular Blau Earth blog!


:::::

kangkong stir-fry

Kangkong it is. Called water spinach and morning glory, but yes, it's called "kangkong" in most East Asian countries, not only in the Philippines, but in Malaysia, Indonesia and elsewhere where this is a common, even staple, vegetable. And while Pinoys like it blanched as a salad dressed with patis or bugguong or with  sautéed shrimp paste, or sautéed/stir-fried as an adobong kangkong with lots of garlic and soy sauce or oyster sauce; our Malay brothers stir-fry it with their beloved sambal belacan, which is but spicy shrimp paste full of chili. And I want to try it soon as I saw the other day an "imported" bottled sambal belacan in one of the supermarkets in Tuguegarao City. Mmmm, delicious!

Photo credit: highoverhappy.blogspot.com

I'll do it with this perfect recipe over at High Over Happy!

Join me!


:::::

beef jerky

This is tapa as it's popularly known in the Philippines, be it beef, pork, lamb, carabeef (carabao, water buffalo), or python jerky. Dried meat, sun-dried or smoked. This is one of the delicacies that I long to make but I always fail to do, so when I came upon this on a wonderful food blog, Forks Knives & Spades, I literally salivated and promised myself to make my own beef or pork jerky ASAP!

Photo credit: forksknivesandspades.blogspot.com.

And it's not only one, but Forks Knives & Spades has three beef jerky recipes! See it for yourself here.

Let's do it and enjoy a delicious chew!


:::::

salsa

(from Simple Recipes and Our Best Bites)

Actually, Pinoys have their own fresh salsa, sliced tomatoes (kamatis) with grated green mango and sliced onions dressed with patis (fish sauce) or salted shrimp paste (bagoong alamang). The Ilokanos especially has it with bugguong (salted/fermented fish) and they fondly call it as KBL (kamatis, bugguong, lasona; not to mistake as the old political party of the late Apo Marcos).

Photo credit: ourbestbites.com

Photo credit: simplyrecipes.com

But I want the real Mexican fresh salsa there is, I'll note it on my recipes-to-do list, and maybe dress it with bugguong juice instead of just simply salt to taste.

Here is a simple fresh salsa recipe from Simple Recipes and from Our Best Bites.




:::::

giant freshwater prawns in coconut milk/cream

(From EatingAsia)

This totally floored me, giant prawns! I can only fantasize I was that one lucky fellow who's about to feast on that big shrimp cooked in gata (coconut milk)!

And yes, that's real as there's an actual recipe of it for the non-believer and/or envious to try. You can substitute with midget, errr, smaller prawns if you can not find those jumbo ones.

Go ahead to the EatingAsia food haven and give it a try, at least!


:::::