Recipes From Central Luzon – Region III

Central Luzon comprises of six provinces: Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales, in central Luzon island. In terms of cuisine, it would appear from the list above that Pampanga has the edge in having its savory delights advertised and enjoyed not only locally but globally wherever a perceptible presence of Filipinos can be felt. Even Daly City in Northern California boasts of its own Pampango cuisine restaurant and other uniquely Pampango food products lining the shelves of ethnic grocery stores.


PAKSIW NA PATA WITH BEER

1 large pork pata, sliced
1 cup beer
½ cup dried banana blossoms, cleaned and soaked
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 small laurel leaf
Oregano leaves
½ cup vinegar
Salt, soy sauce and pepper to taste
6 pieces saba banana, fried
Brown sugar to taste

Clean pata and place in deep saucepan. Add beer and enough water to cover and cook until tender. Add the rest of the ingredients except bananas and continue cooking. Add bananas and simmer for 5 minutes more. Six servings.


PANCIT GUISADO PAMPANGO

¼ cup cooking oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
3 pieces tokwa, cut into cubes
¼ kilo pork, lean, cut into cubes
¼ kilo shrimps, shelled
½ cup shrimp juice
½ cup atsuwete extract
Patis, salt and pepper for seasoning
¼ kilo cabbage, cut finely
Kintsay
¼ kilo bihon, soaked briskly in water
1 teaspoon, minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced garlic
Green onions
½ cup finely cut kamias
2 hard-cooked eggs, sliced

Heat oil, sauté 1 teaspoon garlic. Add fried tokwa & pork, shrimp and shrimp juice. Season with patis, salt and pepper. Cover and allow to boil. Add cabbage and kintsay and cook for 1 minute. Add bihon and cook until done. Remove from fire. In another skillet sauté the rest of the minced garlic in a little oil until brown, add green onions and kamias. Sprinkle over cooked pansit. Garnish with hard-cooked eggs. Six Servings.


KAMANIANG

2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
1 tablespoon sliced onion
½ cup sliced tomatoes
½ cup shrimps, shelled
1-1/2cups shrimp juice
1-1/2teaspoons salt
Dash of pepper
2 cups cut squash fruit
1 cup cut kamaniang (sitaw) (2” lengths)

Sauté garlic, onion, tomatoes and shrimps. Cook 2 minutes and add shrimp juice. Season with salt and pepper. Let boil. Add squash fruit and sitaw. Cook 10 minutes. Six servings.


BINAGIS

2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
2 tablespoons sliced onion
1 cup sliced boiled pork
1 cup cubed pork liver
¾ cup sliced boiled pork heart
¼ cup sliced oiled pork kidney
1 cup broth
1/3 cup vinegar
1-1/2teaspoons salt
½ cup red sweet pepper strips

Sauté garlic, onion, pork, liver, heart and kidney. Cover and cook 5 minutes. Add broth, vinegar and salt. Boil and add sweet pepper. Cook 5 minutes longer. Serve hot. Six servings.


PINATISAN

½ cup sliced cleaned & cooked small intestines (2” lengths)
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
6 slices lean pork
½ cup sliced pork liver
¼ cup vinegar
2 tablespoons patis
½ cup meat broth

Turn small intestines inside out and rub with salt. Rinse well with water. Boil 2 cups water and add small intestines. Cook over low heat for one hour until tender. Heat cooking oil and brown garlic. Mix in small intestines, pork and liver. Add vinegar, patis and ½ cup meat broth. Cover and bring to a boil. Simmer over low heat for 30 minutes. Serve hot. Six servings.


TALANGKA SOUP

30 pieces talangka
3 cups water
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 tablespoon sliced onion
¼ cup sliced tomatoes
Patis to taste
2 pieces kamias
¼ kilo fresh miki
Green onions and kintsay for garnishing

Wash talangka very well. Extract aligi and set aside. Pound talangka shells until fine. Add water. Strain. Boil stock & set aside. Sauté onion, tomatoes and aligi; season with patis and add to the soup stock. Add kamias and cook until tender. Take out kamias and mash with a little stock. Strain and add to the soup stock. Boil. Add miki and cook 3 minutes. Before serving, sprinkle with green onion and kintsay. Serve hot. Six servings.


MIKI WITH MUNGGO SPROUTS

2 tablespoons cooking oil
2 segments garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon sliced onion
1 cup sliced boiled pork
1 cup munggo sprouts, sorted and washed
½ cup sliced tokwa
½ cup sliced petsay
½ cup sliced cabbage
½ kilo fresh miki
Soy Sauce to taste

Heat cooking oil. Sauté garlic, onion and pork. Add munggo sprouts, simmer, then ad tokwa. Season with soy sauce. Cook for 5 minutes. Add petsay and cabbage. Cook for 2 minutes. Add miki. Cook 3 minutes more. Serve hot. Six servings

A Photo Essay: Cagayan de Oro From Atop

Above the irritating din of both human and vehicular traffic, and the dank air at ground level cooked by a blistering sun, one can view a familiar city differently. Where the relative ages of building structures are clearly brought out by rusted GI sheets, and also their liberal use of timber materials as compared with the more modern use of concrete, steel structures, and more storeys.

Recipes From Cagayan – Region II

The Cagayan Valley region is composed of 5 provinces, namely, Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, and Quirino. Quite an odd combination to form a region but one of its exquisite gourmet prides is a dish delicacy which comes principally from fish which is seasonally found in Cagayan (Ludong). Another exotic dish is one garnished with Himbabao flowers.

But here goes for your feastful delight.

NILANEG WITH FISH AND LIVER

6 pieces fresh fish, cleaned
½ cup cubed pork liver
1-1/2teaspoons salt
3 cups water
2 tablespoons bagoong sauce
1 cup cubed squash
2 cups cut string beans (2” lengths)
1 cup cut eggplant, (slice diagonally)

Salt fish and liver; broil, and set aside. Boil water and bagoong in a saucepan. Add squash, broiled fish and liver. Cook 3 minutes. Add stringbeans, eggplant and cook 5 minutes longer. Serve hot. Six servings.


LININTA

2 cups fresh dulong
2 teaspoons finely chopped ginger
2 tablespoons sliced onion
1 tablespoon salt
2 cups water
Banana leaves about 7” x 12”
6 pieces kalamansi

Mix first 4 ingredients together. Place ¼ cup of the mixture on two layers of banana leaf. Wrap in the form of a square and tie with a piece of string. Put wrapped fish in pan and add 2 cups of water. Cover and boil 30 minutes over moderate heat. Serve with kalamansi juice. Six servings.


BEEF STEW

1/3 kilo beef chunks
¼ cup flour
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons cooking oil
3 pieces medium-sized onion, quartered
5 medium-sized potatoes, quartered
3 medium-sized carrots, quartered
½ cup water
¼ cup tomato sauce
½ cup sweet peas
½ cup celery, sliced.

Coat meat with mixture of flour, salt and pepper. Slowly brown in cooking oil in a large skillet, about 20 minutes. Add water and tomato sauce. Cover. Simmer until almost soft for about 1 hour. Add water, bring to a boil and add all the vegetables. Cover and cook 15 minutes longer until tender. Six servings.


SINIGANG NGA LUDONG (FISH)

4 pieces tamarind
6 cups rice washing
1 small onion, sliced
½ cup sliced tomatoes
6 pieces fresh ludong, cleaned
2 medium eggplants. Sliced
1 cups sliced stringbeans
1 tablespoon salt
3 cups kamote tops

Boil tamarind in 1 cup rice washing. When soft, mash fruit. Strain and add juice to the remaining rice washing. Cover and bring to a boil. Add onion, tomatoes and fish. Cover and cook 3 minutes. Add eggplant, stringbeans and cook for another 3 minutes. Season with salt. Add kamote tops and cook 4 minutes longer. Serve hot. Six servings.


OVED (BANANA HEART) WITH FISH

6 pieces fresh fish, cleaned
1-1/2teaspoons salt
2 cups water
2 cups sliced banana heart
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
½ teaspoons chopped ginger
2 teaspoons sliced onion
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2cups fish and vegetable broth
½ cup sliced tomatoes
Banana leaves, cut 1” wide

Parboil fish with salt in 2 cups water to facilitate flaking. Boil banana blossom in the fish broth for 2 minutes. Drain and chop finely. Reserve broth for cooking fish balls. In a bowl, mix together flaked fish, banana blossoms, garlic, ginger, onion and salt. Form into balls 2” in diameter. Tie with banana leaves. Boil broth and tomatoes in a saucepan. Add fish balls and cook 15 minutes. Serve hot. Six servings.


BLACK-EYED BEANS WITH PORK & HIMBABAO FLOWERS

4 cups water
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons sliced onion
½ cup sliced tomatoes
1 cup sliced pork
1 cup dried black-eyed beans, cooked
1 tablespoon salt
2 cups himbabao

Heat water. As soon as it boils, add beans and cook 2 minutes. Set aside for 1 hour. Sauté garlic, onion, tomatoes and pork. Add beans including broth. Boil, then simmer until almost soft. Season with salt, cook 4 minutes. Bring to a boil once more and add himbabao flowers. Cook 7 minutes longer. Serve hot. Six servings.


SINABALO (SUMAN)

2 cups malagkit rice
1-1/4cups thick coconut milk
2 teaspoons salt
2 pieces green bamboo tube, fresh
Banana leaves, wilted

Soak malagkit rice overnight. Wash and drain. Add coconut milk and salt and cook until malagkit is half done, stirring the mixture to avoid sticking at the bottom of the container. Divide the mixture into two and wrap each portion in banana leaves. Insert inside a freshly cut bamboo tube. Broil bamboo tube over hot charcoal, rotating it slowly until bamboo tube gets burned. Eight servings.

Recipes From Ilocos – Region I

Responding to a moderately sustained interest as shown by hits to this blog, we are continuing our round-up of food recipes categorized according to the different regions of the country, clearly delineating clear diversity not only in customs, mores, and yes, dialects, but also in cuisine.

But first a formal attribution to the recipes highlighted as representatives of the respective regions.

The Food and Nutrition Research Institute of he National Science Development Board has been continually developing menus and recipes for over 30 years. It is the country’s leading scientific center on basic and applied researches on food and nutrition. It has provided the springboard of present–day actively sustained community nutrition programs.

Region 1 is comprised of the following provinces Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, and Pangasinan, all clustered and cradled in the northernmost tip of the big island of Luzon. This bloc popularly would be the land of the Ilokanos and their most distinctive and uniquely identifiable cuisine.


KILAWEN NGA KALDING

2 tablespoons cooking fat
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
1 tablespoon sliced onion
1 teaspoon narrow ginger strips
½ cup cut goat’s intestines (crosswise ½ “ lengths)
½ cup sliced goat’s tripe
¼ cup sliced goat’s heart
¼ cup sliced lapay
¼ cup vinegar
6 cups water
3 teaspoons salt
Dash of pepper
¼ cup sliced liver
1 teaspoon bile juice

Saute garlic, onion and ginger. Add intestines and cook 3 minutes to extract a little fat. Add tripe, heart and lapay. Continue cooking 2 minutes longer. Add vinegar and bring to a boil before adding water. Simmer until tender. Season with salt and pepper. Add liver and bile juice and cook 15 minutes longer. Six servings.

PINAKBET WITH SITSARON

1 cup sliced pork liempo
1 large ampalaya, sliced
4 small eggplants
5 pieces okra, sliced
1 teaspoon sliced ginger
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
½ cup sliced tomatoes
¼ cup sliced onion
3 tablespoons bagoong isda, strained
1 cup water


Cook pork in ½ cup water, uncovered, until all water has evaporated. Continue cooking, stir constantly until pork pieces turn golden brown, (sitsaron).

Arrange vegetables in a saucepan, add bagoong, water and simmer until vegetables are just crisp-tender.


PANCIT GUISADO ILOCANO

6 medium-sized dried pusit, sliced
½ cup cooking oil
1 head garlic, minced
1 medium-sized onion, sliced
1 cup sliced boiled pork
1 cup sliced sausage
½ cup sliced sayote
1 medium-sized sweet pepper, thinly sliced
1 cup sliced celery
1 cup sliced Baguio petsay
4 cups meat broth
1 cup atsuete extract
1 kilo bihon
Salt to taste

Soak dried pusit in water to soften and slice thinly. Set aside. Fry minced garlic until golden brown; set aside half the amount for garnishing. To the remaining garlic saute onion, pusit, boiled pork and petsay Baguio. Add meat broth, atsuete extract and bihon. Season, with salt. Garnish with fried garlic and serve with kalamansi.


DINALDALEM

½ cup cut leaf lard (small pieces)
¼ cup water
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
½ cup sliced lean pork
½ cup sliced pork heart
¼ cup water
½ cup chopped boiled pork lungs
1 cup cubed pork liver soaked in ¼ cup vinegar
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
¼ cup green sweet pepper strips
¼ cup red sweet pepper strips

Heat leaf lard and water in a frying pan and cook until fat is extracted. Brown garlic in fat. Add lean pork and pork heart. Saute 5 mintues. Add water. Cover and cook 15 minutes over low heat. Add lungs and pork liver and cook 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add green and red pepper and cook 5 minutes longer. Six servings.


SINANGLAW

6 cups rice washing
1 tablespoon sliced ginger
1/3 kilo goat’s spareribs
1 tablespoon salt
½ cup sliced goat’s liver
4 pieces okra, sliced
3 cups eggplant, sliced
2 cups sitaw tops

Boil rice washing with ginger. Add spareribs, and season with salt. Cook until meat is tender. Add okra and eggplant and cook 2 minutes. Put in sitaw tops and let boil for another 5 minutes. Serve hot.


PATA WITH CARDIS

2 cups half-cooked kadyos
1 medium-sized pata, sliced
3 tomatoes, sliced
1 onion, sliced
2 tablespoons bagoong
Peppercorn
Salt to taste

Simmer pata and kadyos, add boiling water if necessary and cook until tender. Add tomatoes, onion and bagoong. Cook for a few minutes. Season with bagoong, salt and pepper.


TAMALES NGA IPON

2 cups fresh ipon (small fish found in North)
2 teaspoons ginger, finely chopped
2 tablespoons sliced onion
3 teaspoons salt
2 cups water
Banana leaves about 7”x12”
6 pieces kalamansi

Mix first 4 ingredients together. Place ¼ cup of the mixture on two layers of banana leaf. Wrap in the form of a square and tie with a piece of string. Put wrapped tamales in pan and add 2 cups water. Cover and boil 30 minutes over moderate heat. Serve with kalamansi juice.

FICCO Still On The Go

Fifty-three years later and it is still logging record-breaking figures in its outreach and operations.

As a long-time member, one cannot help but proudly extol the sacred virtues and sterling accomplishments of this open-type credit cooperative that was started quite inauspiciously by a Jesuit priest way back in 1954 as one way out for its cash-strapped employees and faculty. But as gleaned from a cursory interview with a couple of its motivated officers, it ended the last year with out of the roof figures in total membership (now totaling 108,000), total loans granted, and even in assets registering over 2 billion pesos as of last reckoning.

I am speaking of the First Community Cooperative based here in Cagayan de Oro, Misamis Oriental, Philippines, which first saw light inside the campus of the then fledging Ateneo de Cagayan. Pioneered by the late Fr. William Masterson,SJ, who earlier had been the primary architect in purchasing the Loyola Heights campus and bringing the prestigious Ateneo de Manila within its huge but then distant and rural environs. Fr. Masterson also blessed Cagayan de Oro with his forward-looking establishment of the Ateneo de Cagayan College of Agriculture, in the predominantly agricultural island of Mindanao, long envisioned and projected as the land of promise. The Manresa area in Lumbia which has now been partially converted into premier subdivisions, school site, and commercial center anchored by SM, was to be the fertile ground on which to plant to seeds of agricultural development. He also gave us global Searsolin.

As gleaned from the cover of its latest general assembly report, we get a pretty good idea of the reach and penetration of this now gigantic agent of empowerment and economic change in the otherwise blighted areas of Mindanao. From the bustling urbanized center that Cagayan de Oro is now, to the fabled farmlands of General Santos. To the rarely visited but quite always in the news communities in Ipil, in Zamboanga. To the even less known San Francisco area, tucked in close to the shores of the Pacific in wind-tossed Surigao.

Here’s a quote from Chairman Proculo T. Sarmen:

Cooperatives have proven to be highly effective in improving the quality of life of people all over the world. FICCO is an outstanding example.

FICCO has never been an overnight sensation. Neither was it built nor created by just one individual. It is a collective accumulation of cycles of transition, discovery, hard work and more importantly, collective effort. Great leaders, committed volunteers, diligent staff and supportive members comprise the FICCO Team in striving to reach out and attain its vision and mission.

The journey to success is long and arduous. But the forerunners of this cooperative kept their minds toward achieving the dream of SERVICE, EMPOWERMENT, and UPLIFTMENT.

No truer words spoken.