Tabagwang or small snails collected from rice fields were on offer by one vendor at the Legazpi market. I understand these are enjoyed in the same manner as kuhol, but I have personally never tried these.
A glistening pile of fresh pili nuts, washed by the relentless rains that day (this section of the market was on the rooftop with makeshift stalls).
An impressive selection of dried fish in a covered section of the market… now I know why so many gata dishes include dried fish or balao, two common ingredients found in the area…
A plastic planggana filled with salted black beans or tausi…
And in the meat section, two shots of a guy chopping up a cow’s tail in seconds… hmmm, will never think of buntot in the same way again. When we lived in Jakarta, my favorite soup was called Sop Buntot, a fabulously aromatic, gelatinous, vein-clogging and heart-stopping delicacy…yum!
And I realize some of you may not like this last photo, but that is literally a beef shank, with a little hide and the hoof…
26 Responses
I miss those pilipits in coconut milk!
dear MM, shots like that last one make me seriusly consider becoming a vegetarian immediately. if you managed to watch ‘meet your meat’ in PETA’s website, you would think so, too.
but — oh, my, bulalo!!!
I remember my mom, she likes to cook the “tabagwang” with coconut milk with luya. Sarap non’.
I can see nilaga in your last picture…mmmmm…. hook it up with patis-calamansi..heaven..hehehe
I like those small snails in coconut milk with laing…yum yum…Why the Pili looks different?
Oh man, love those small nails, we call them “susò”, cooked in coconut milk with “pakò” or edible fern. I try to get ’em evertime I go back to Tayabas, Quezon. Try Kamayan sa Palaisdaan, yummmmmmy
In Cebu and Leyte,the snails in your photo is what we call”suso” although there is another specie called “Dawo-dawo” that is bigger and more conical. These snails are plentiful during the rainy season. We usually store it for a day or so, called in the vernacular as “laming” (that’s the Cebuano term) so the snails expel the grit and sand. The sharp pointed end is cut off before cooking so the meat can be easily extracted when sucked.
This is how we prepare it: After cutting off the pointed ends, wash very well under running water or until the washing water becomes clear. Boil the snails in coconut milk (2nd extraction), add the spices,diced onions, sliced tomatoes, tangad and ginger. Simmer to cook the snails. Test one by sucking on it to draw the meat out. If you have not tried one, the texture is somewhat like soft tendon. Cut up gabi (rootcrop), add to the mixture and simmer until soft. Add the gabi stalks and leaves. Continue cooking until the vegetable is soft. Season to taste (salt & msg., if using)then pour 1st extraction of coco-milk. Allow to boil once, check seasonings then garnish with chopped green onions. Serve hot!
Although some people might be turned off by the greenish color of the meat once drawn out, there is no aftertaste at all. Do try it, it is very good!
My mom infected me with her love for “suso” which was cooked in gata. When I got older, I asked the market how to cook it. I followed her instructions with a bit of tweaking.
First, the tip of the shell was chopped off (I used garden shears) to remove the part where the poop comes out of. The shells are then rinsed in a basin until water runs clear.
Sautee garlic, a bit of onion and sliced ginger in a bit of oil. Add sliced finger chili and sliced siling labuyo for heat. Add “pangalawang gata” and bring to a boil. Add shells and bring back up to a boil. Turn down heat to medium and let cook for 5 mins or until “pangalawang gata” reduces by half. Add “unang gata” and let boil. Once it boils, season withsay, it was pretty good for a first time – the snail just done (a bit chewy, tasting of tahong), the gata thick and creamy (and a bit spicy) and the pechay crisp (I forgot to buy kangkong, haha).
My mom infected me with her love for “suso” which was cooked in gata. When I got older, I asked the market how to cook it. I followed her instructions with a bit of tweaking.
First, the tip of the shell was chopped off (I used garden shears) to remove the part where the poop comes out of. The shells are then rinsed in a basin until water runs clear.
Sautee garlic, a bit of onion and sliced ginger in a bit of oil. Add patis and saute until the oil comes out. Add sliced finger chili and sliced siling labuyo for heat. Add “pangalawang gata” and bring to a boil. Add shells and bring back up to a boil. Turn down heat to medium and let cook for 5 mins or until “pangalawang gata” reduces by half. Add “unang gata” and let boil. Once it boils, add sliced pechat and season with cracked black pepper.
Ate Vilma, the tindera, also recommends using kangkong rather than pechay.
Sorry about the incomplete post up there, MM.
Wow MM, all those pics remind me of going to the wet market in Naga City with my grandma when I was still a kid. I remember that it was referred to as the largest wet market in south east Asia. Dunno if this is still true today though.
The tabagwang is a classic! My mommyla used to cook it with gata then you get to suck out the stuff from a very small opening. I remember one time when I thought I would burst a blood vessel from trying so hard to get the stuff out!
Fresh pili was also something she’d get me to eat sometimes, though I personally prefer the nut. She would boil the fresh pili fruit then give me a variety of sawsawan for em. I thought it was strange that she gave me soy sauce for it but it was ok.
Now that I’m all grown up and married my mommyla still sends me all these things from Naga all the way to Manila: dried fish and balao wrapped in layers of newspaper, the pili nut rendered in all variations and sometimes coco jam that she made herself. Yeah, she loves me. =)
I was just thinking of tabagwang the other day. I haven’t had it for 30 years, since I came here in the States. In my mother’s hometown, they cook it with gata but in the Ilocos, they cook it with water, ginger and tanglad, if it is available.
Dried fish selection is amazing. I’m impressed with our butcher’s skills to parcel out the beef with what they could get their hands into – stable cutting board and sharp knife! No electrical meat cutting tools involved. Talking about resourcefulness and excellent cutting skills – boy they got it!
Bice post, MM. Reminds me of my childhood spent in Legazpi.Did you try “pinangat”?
This post also reminds me of my childhood–because of the Selecta container. ;-)
The tabagwang TASTES MUCH BETTER than Kohol, in my opinion!
I have not seen those small snails since I was a child. I used to eat a lot of those when I was young, then they just disappeared…. Sigh….
So now I settle for Tita Cely’s Kuhol everytime I am in Manila.
wow, wish i was here and imma cook myself a party meal! wohoo!
to Mandaragat:
yes same here. my aunt in the philippines cooks it the same! it’s one of my favourite dishes
hi everyone, i need help…. where can i find or buy snails in manila…… pilipit or not…. need it urgent
rachiel
i’m thrilled to see fresh tabagwang in the pics posted here. as mentioned by others, this is a local delicacy in bicol. it’s cooked with gata. masarap but it’s a bit of a hassle to prepare. kelangang i-cut yung dulo ng snail during preparation so when you finally get to eat it (by sucking)you could get the “meat” inside the shell.
on rare occasions, i see this type of snail available in pasig palengke (together with other exotic food such as native chicken, duck, catfish, and the like). but i’m wary buying it coz i don’t trust if it’s sourced from a clean place.
to nina: the pili fruit looks like that: it’s plum and oval. the pulp is blanched til soft. then, the meat is dipped in a mixture of soy sauce and calamansi. the pulp has been proven to be very nutricious and is said to be the reason Sorsogon (where pili vegetation is densest) has a very low malnutrition rate despite pervasive poverty there.
pili nut, btw, is said to be the “best-tasting nut in the world” according to foreign research. this local exotic nut, which has been exported to several eastern and western countries even before WWII, is said to be superior to walnuts and even to macadamia, which is considered the number one nut in the world at the moment. sadly, we have never really exploited the commercial potential of pili nut, our very own. what we have in the market are merely the old stuff: sugar-glazed, marzipan, pastillas, and the like.
i hope some of us will invest in pili development soon.
hi marketman,
the tabagwang is way better than kuhol (as said to me, cause i haven’t eaten kuhol yet), we call it susong-palipit and they’re collected mostly from rice paddies and streams during rainy season. sarap yan, ginataan with a little luya and malunggay leaves.
rey
Hello, alam nyo po ba ang scientific name ng tabagwang?
HMMMM, Can’t wait to eat these good stuff.
guys!! may iba pa ba kaung feature na exotic foods and their recipes and procedures? i nid it kasi.. gumagawa kc kmi ng feasibility study d2 sa legazpi. it’s an exotic food restaurant. who can help me poh??? tnx…
Ay buray! Tabagwang… Masiramun iyan pag ibinagit sa kalunggay na may natok ki niyog.
erratum : *ibinangot sa kalunggay…