Despite nearly 3,000 posts over 6+ years I have maintained this blog, I realize that I have just scratched the surface of the range of Filipino dishes. I have written about or even featured recipes for a majority of readers “Top 100” Pinoy dishes and many of the “Top 30 desserts” or so, but I haven’t explored enough of the regional dishes that don’t make it to Manila, or are reliant on locally abundant ingredients. So here is my question for you. What is your home province and what top 2 or 3 LOCAL dishes would you consider to be iconic to that province? If I were ever to finally get my act together and compile recipes for a book, I would want to include many dishes that aren’t only nationally recognized, but also regional dishes that simply blow your socks of… They need not be fancy dishes, but they must be outstanding in taste and flavor, feature unique and all-natural ingredients, and appeal to a wide audience. Don’t worry if more than one reader responds for the same province, I would like to compare all of the answers and hopefully in the months ahead get to try and cook some of the standout dishes described. Many thanks for your comments and input! :)
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that would be chicken inasal and kansi for me. as for the less popular dish but bursting with flavor, i highly recommend the ginataang papaya with smoke fish. they cook it by putting few rocks of burning charcoal into the grated coconut before extracting the cream. this resulted in a smokey cream that complements perfectly with the tinapa giving a distinctive smokey taste to the simple papaya dish. another unique dish from my bicolana’s neighbor is the ginataang santol. it’s been more than a decade since i last tasted those but i can still make up the flavor in my mind. that’s how unforgetable they tasted.
Sto. Domingo, Albay: urabang a.k.a Bicol Express, pinangat shrimp or pork wrapped in whole gabi leaves simmered in coconut milk -somewhat like laing but in parcels, and cocido a simple soured fish with ripe tomatoes and calamansi.
coming from the pasig-pateros-taguig area which used to be in rizal province, where the region is known for it’s balut industry and duck raising was the livelihood of many residents, we are proud of our apritadang balut, bibingkang bugok and itlog na maalat. We also have the “lutong itik” and “itik sa pickles”. My dad used to rave about a dish called “lutong palos” where the star of the dish is the kanduli from the laguna lake and uses the luyang dilaw. I would also say that the “day-old chick-mekekekwek” might have it’s origins from this areas.
I miss the bibingkang bugok – the main ingredient is the itlog na bugok and cooked torta style and very yummy with ice-cold sarsaparilla. Old folks used to say that eating the bibingka makes the mind sharper. whether this claim is true or not once you’ve tasted this dish you will not forget it.
I remember the dips my dad and my genuine Ilocana lola used to make from soy sauce, garlic, chiles, shallots, vinegar used for any seafoods or drizzled onto poached/steamed greens such as aubergine, talbos ng kamote, bulakalak ng calabaza, and esp. seaweeds (ar-arosep) .
Bacolod: chicken Inasal, kbl (kadyos, baboy, langka), and kansi. The last one is debatable and could be replaced with laswa, pancit molo, ginat-an na monggo and langka.
Bacolod City/Negros – Inasal / kansi/ Pata/ and batchoy!
Camarines Sur!
1. Pinangat – coconut meat and talangka meat wrapped in gabi parcels, stewed in coconut milk
2. Laing – flavored with balao, no gabi stems and not soupy please!
3. Sinapot – halved saba slices on sticks coated in batter, deep fried in oil!
Offtopic: Hey MM, your blog is featured in Spot.ph
https://www.spot.ph/featured/47749/10-food-blogs-to-follow
Bacolod City: Chicken Inasal, KBL – Kadyos Baboy Langka and Batchoy. One more… laswa… yum.
from calatagan, batangas…i always request my lola to cook yellow fin tuna or tulingan that was cooked in dried kamias or sampalok for several hours to have this salty-sour taste. the fish was prepared with banana leaf. “pangat” is our word for it. after that, several pcs of okra and sliced eggplant will be put on top and it will be cooked again with coconut cream until the cream turns oily. its really delicious but i don’t know the name of the dish. by the way, it is cooked in my lolas palayok using charcoal or wood.
we also love, adobong pugita (young octupus) in calatagan, batangas.
I’m from Iloilo, that would be KBL (kadios, baboy, langka), batchoy, pancit molo, and laswa for me.
I have no province…but have been to almost all of the provinces (my family loves to travel a lot) here in our homeland….we’ve tasted different cuisines, different provincial specialties…here’s my top three….
1. Chicharon Camiling – Camiling, Tarlac
2. Tatoy’s Manok and KBL- Villa Beach, Iloilo
3. Polpog – Ilocos Region
tubong Pasig.
1. Lao-ya – nilagang baka basically, but the broth is thickened with fried ‘saba’ and ‘kamote’. with cabbage, string beans, and colored with ‘achuete’. eaten with either of 2 side dishes: (1) grilled eggplant mashed with vinegar, sprinkle of sugar, shallots,, garlic; or (2) simple lettuce salad with tomatoes, onions, sliced hard-boiled eggs in a vinaigrette.
2. Laksa’t puto – laksa being a mishmash of various veggies sauteed ala’ pinakbet style (but to the point of slight ‘mushiness’). partnered with a sweet, ‘maja’-style pudding made with coco cream and cornstarch.
3. Sinigang na hito sa pakwan – the watermelons are small, ‘bubot’ type, slightly sweet, but lending its own unique ‘sour’ falvor.
(one more, if you don’t mind)
4. Ginisang alimasag sa bayabas – foul-smelling (to my childhood nose) when it was being cooked, but sweetish and flavorful once eaten. hayyyyy, memories!
Kudos, marketman!
-Mon Y.
albay – pinangat, laing, bicol express, ginataang santol, kinunot(malunggay and other green vegies with stingray or shark meat),ginataang kamias, tinutungan papaya with chicken/tinapa as me was referring to.
My mom’s from Tarlac, and I always remember eating these stuff when we go home:
– pinakbet (which I don’t eat)
– fried fish with burong isda (yummy condiment!)
– sisig, the wet kind, not the crunchy one found often in Filipino restaurants :)
My mom also likes eating random food stuff from her childhood like batute or stuffed frogs, tapang kalabaw and inadobong crickets.
My dad’s from Lucban, Quezon and the stuff I remember eating there regularly when my lola was still alive:
– puto na brown like really dark brown with the color of raw muscovado sugar which I just refer to as Lucban Puto (which I can’t find anymore!!!)
– hardinera (or jardinera)
– and lucban longganisa!
I also like their pancit habhab (pancit Lucban), embutido, pako salad (with pako growing somewhere there), and a handful of kalabaw dishes they have. :) I also learned from there the dinuguang manok that had chicken innards and potatoes in it :D
From Batangas here.. i would recommend the real Bulalo. madami na kasi ako natikman na bulalo sa manila and other parts of the country but none can match the unique taste of bulalo. and lomi, popular as merienda.our lomi is just plain noodles with very sticky broth, liver other stuff.. and my fave, sinaing na tulingan, with taba ng baboy…
i miss home #_#
Tayum, Abra – Dinengdeng
Nueva Ecija:
1. Sinampalukang Manok (one with young tamarind leaves)
2. Sinigang na bangus sa bayabas – with kamote tops
3. burong isda as dipping sauce for grilled fish and vegetables (may be steamed)
angeles, pampanga: sisig (spicy with lots of onions and not crunchy or drowning in mayonnaise), biringhe (local take on paella), tidtad (kapampangan style dinuguan but with pork lungs and liver and not a lot of blood) tied with fried hito with buro (i personally dont eat buro but i have non-kapampangan friends who rave about it)
my dad would probably say stuffed frog or batute and crickets but im not a fear factor kind of diner haha.
I am from the Rizal province. Ang alam ko, mahilig ang mga tao (lalo na sa Eastern Rizal) sa
1. Sinigang (sa sampalok o bayabas—mapa-baka, baboy, o isda man);
2. Pinaksiw na isda (kahit anong isda galing sa Laguna lake) saka may sahog na talong, ampalaya, at siling berde;
3. Nilaga (baka, baboy, o manok); at may pahabol ako—
BALAW-BALAW!!! Aywan kung maituturing na ulam itong huli, pero iyan ay ulam na noon para sa matatanda.
Masbate.
Bulalo and tinola with kansi..
From Nueva Ecija:
Tinumis-dried dinuguan soured with young sampalok leaves
Burong dalag- fermented rice with dalag fish; sauteed in lots of garlic and onions used as dipping sauce for nilagang talong (the round one), ampalaya (the small, native one) okra, sitao, inihaw na hito.
Sinigang na bangus sa bayabas- with puso ng saging
Sinigang na pata, pork and beef sa bayabas with sitao
Pinatisan/Pinatigasan- pork sauteed in patis
Langgonisang batute- two variants: sweetish or salty with lots of garlic
vigan:
1.pipian – a chicken dish that looks like kare kare but sour. they say it’s roots trace to a mexican mole. kamias is used as the souring agent but what makes a true pipian is the addition of this leaf called “pasotes” – the thing is, you can’t buy this ingredient anywhere in manila…
2.vigan empanada – i personally prefer vigan’s empanada than other towns’ version of it. the crust is thinner and crispier, the filling less complicated.
3.pansit miki – soup-y kind of pansit. and they use flat noodles not the fresh miki types you find in manila groceries
im from san jose city nueva ecija and im proud to say that we have a very unique food in there that is a huge hit to everybody. its cheap and taste pretty good. its called PANCIT KANIN. simple to prepare and the toppings depends on your choice of ulam. heres how it goes, plain white rice, top with sahog less/gulay less pancit, then top it with dishes such as adobo, dinuguan, menudo, kilawin, sigsig or giniling na baboy. this comes with soup from bones broth and taste really well with patis, calamansi and sili for the spice.
cheers!
Pangasinan: tortang dulong or small fish used for alamang, pinakbet with the Pangasinan bagoong isda, Inihaw na bangus with papaya (i think it is called bulanglang). Inihaw na bangus, Kilawing talaba….
ay kadamo di taga-Bacolod :)
Aside from the usual suspects chicken inasal and KBL, i should add:
1. takway nga adobo
2. laswa, a vegetable soup made with some of the lyrics of Bahay Kubo.
3. KBL: Kadyos, Baboy, Langka
4. Chicken Inasal
5. Pinamalhan nga isda. lawayan, guma-a, aloy, bunog, and all other little friends of Neptune
from nueva ecija- tinumis!
– made from spareribs, porkblood and tamarind leave sprouts! soured by green tamarind and less watery,,,its the nueva ecijanons verison of dinuguan, only better!
in pasig i remember paros ( a type of shell): an old fat lady used to sell in the early morning,
seasoned with patis, calamansi and chilies!
Pangasinan (my province):
1. pising – vegetable stew cooked in water and bagoong (similar to laswa)
2. igado – pork liver, lungs and pork bits (similar to bopis)
3. inutukan – bits and pieces of ulo ng lechon cooked with calamansi, vinegar, shallots, luya and sili, and made creamy with mashed utak (this is chilled until it forms a bit of jelly; dont know if this is a Pangasinense dish or just prepared at my lola’s house)
Silay (husband’s hometown): kansi, batchoy, laswa, pancit molo, inasal
hi mm, i’m from iloilo city. my picks are kadios, baboy, langka (kbl) and batchoy.
from down south (sulu)
payangang, pastil, satti, tula itum.
Romblon – Luret, and sarsa. Luret is made of shreded green papaya while Sarsa is made of young coconunt with small shrimps, pound together, put in a suman sa ibos like wrapping and steamed.
Iloilo: KBL (kadyos, baboy, langka), laswa, batchoy :D
Hello mm, I grew up both in Manila and Laguna but my father was from Nagcarlan, Laguna.
I always look forward to Menudong Tagalog for the main dish. This consists of sayote, green beans, potatoes, carrots,tripe, some peanut butter and a liittle cream. The meat and veggies are all diced and sauteed. YUM! As for dessert, nilupak and butse ( made from kamote), and espasol are the great sweets.
My father is from Navotas & I remember a lot of good food our lola used to cook(when she was still alive)during reunions. But the three that I cannot forget are: pancit malabon-nothing like the original thing, stuffed with fresh shrimp, squid & oysters. The other two are sort of desserts: ube halaya & sweet garbanzos to be eaten with suman. The halaya is so smooth & milky. The garbanzos is soft to perfection. But the best creation is the “biko” made with sticky rice & “green monggo” topped with latik which I haven’t seen anywhere else. The green monggo is the killer. I haven’t eaten this for a looong time now. The Navotas area now is a mess but the food there is something to crave for(in my opinion). Well-cooked, cheap & ingredients are fresh.
leyte:puso(hanging rice) and budbud moron.
I’m from Tabaco, Albay.
Definitely kinunot, tilmok, and although not an “ulam” but a snack … hinagom.
From Bulacan:
Pinalundag na Bulig- live bulig cooked with vinegar, garlic, pepper then deep fried and served with the green sampalok juice and bagoong or patis or burong isda
Sirkele – similar in ingredients to dinuguan without the blood and using beef internal organs.
Dampalit – an atchara made using a certain type of grass found among the the fishponds
Appetiser: Palapa
Main dish :Maranao Spicy Randang
Rice: Yellow Rice
Dessert: Dudol
Area:Lanao del Sur
i’m half and half: my mother’s from La Union so our iconic dish would be Pinakbet and my mother’s favorite Padas; my father’s from Talisay, Negros Occidental, so that would be Inasal and KadyosBaboyLangka with the famous Fresh Lumpia. Thanks MM for letting us share!
from Iloilo:
Pancit Molo,
Original La Paz Batchoy from La Paz
Stew of Native Chicken with Ubad sang Saging and Kadyos.
Dad is from Santa Rita, Pampanga:
1. Asado
2. Tidtad
3. Humba
Mom is from General Santos City, Mindanao:
1. Kinilaw
2. Grilled panga (tuna collar)
3. Tuna sisig
Nice question/topic!
From my Bicol roots:
( Obvious) Bikol Express – captures the spicy character of Bikolano dishes for me.
Lantahon – pili pulp (not the nut) softened with lukewarm water, eaten with sawsawan of calamansi, onions and kuyog ( a kind of bagoong or fish paste made from larger fingerlings of fish, also known as padas in Iloilo) and A LOT of rice. This dish is not really known among non-Bicolanos – but Bicolanos have a unique love for this dish.
From my Davao roots:
Kinilaw na Bariles – I don’t know if kinilaw originated from Davao, but it’s one of the dishes I fondly remember from my childhood.
from sulu: piyanggang! aka black chicken. i don’t know how to explain it but the sauce has burnt coconut in it or something… delicious and very different from things you find up north!
I’m from Cavite City (ex-home of the defunct Sangley Base, one of the ports of the Spanish Galleon trade).
Our signature dishes are spanish-oriented cuisine:
1. Mechado
2. Luto sa Atay (Beef Stew with tomato sauce thickened with ground liver)
3. Sarciado
4. Menudo
5. Adobong Pusit
6. Pancit Luglug
Our desserts would be:
1. Garbanzos (candied)
2. Ube halaya
3. Minatamis na saging
I forgot the names of two of our city’s specialties: a pancit that is slightly sour (made with bihon and soured slices of banana heart) and a chewy fried hopia with a sweet sauce (made out of coconut cream) poured over it.
Humba and Inun-unan from Cagayan de oro.
I spent my childhood in Capas, Tarlac, and these are dishes off the top of my head that seem iconic:
1. burong isda (might not fall under the “outstanding in taste and flavor” and “appeal to a wide audience” categories though)
2. tibok-tibok
From Pateros, abnoy!
Tuguegarao, Cagayan:
1. batil-patung: stir fried noodles topped with fried egg cooked sunny side up (patung) and served with egg drop noodle (batil) on the side. You season it with soy sauce, onions and vinegar.
2. Sinanta: noodle soup made of sotanghon and miki, mixed with clams, chicken and pork. Seasoned with patis.
3. Pinakufu: similar to cariocca
alimango stuffed with coconut meat
Mr. MM,
1. Humba of the Visayans
2. Pochero and the benignit of Cebuanos
3. kansi and inasal manok of Ilonggos
and there’s this one dish that we used to buy as our viand back in high school and college…and we refer to it as betseulas…it’s white beans in tomato sauce with pork and ripe saba bananas in it….i don’t know it’s exact origin….it’s a little sweet and very savorful…
Mr. MM,
1. Humba of the visayans
2. Benignit of Cebu
3. Kansi of the Ilonggos
and there’s this one dish we used to buy for 5 pesos as our viand for lunch back in high school and college… it’s white beans with pork in a sauce (tomato sauce but not so thick) added with ribe saba bananas…it’s a bit sweet and full of flavor…we call it betsuelas but i don’t know it’s origin…and i can’t seem to find it in other place…only in dumsville…
Hi MM, from Cavite City – aside from the standard tagalog and seafood base, we had seasonal chavacano food that I am very fond of.
Bacalao – shredded Cod with pimiento, potatoes and garbanzos with annatto seeds in olive oil for the lenten season or selected weekends
Pipian – Chicken pieces with pechay, cooked in peanut sauce with matching bagoong, very similar to kare-kare, weekend lunch fare
Tamales – made out of toasted ground rice and peanuts with pieces of pork, chicken, ham and chorizo de bilbao, holiday fare
Nilaga – kanchi with cabbage, potatoes in beef broth with matching eggplant, squash( can be replaced by kamote), and garlic mashed together to make a sauce, for weekend lunch
Orion, Bataan
1. Talibubu – Usually uses samaral or kitang cooked like sarciado but with alagaw.
2. Adobong Paros – White Shellfish with long tail that’s difficult to find now.
3. Alimango sa Misua
Binan, Laguna – The only dish I associate with Binan is Pospas. It’s distinctly different from arroz caldo because it is yellow.
MM,
From Iloilo/ Negros Area:
1. Manok with ubad and kadyos
2. Tiil sang baboy with langka and kadyos
3. Batchoy
4. Pancit molo
5. Kansi
6. Ginat-an nga Tambo (Labong) with tugabang (saluyot) and okra and pasayan/kasag
7. Chicken binakol
8. laswa
9. Ginat-an nga sili (eel)
10. of course, chicken inasal
Ay, MM kadamo gid katama I can’t remember all ofthem but for sure you had tried some of them while you were in your Negros trip. Try doing the Iloilo circuit and check out it out.
nothing quite like Cebu’s lechon baboy (roast pig), danggit, ngohiong and puso (hanging rice) ! :)
Paoay, Ilocos Norte
1. Adobong siling haba (green finger chilis) – great with fried or grilled fish!
2. Puke-puke – grilled eggplant sauteed in tomatoes, onions and eggs
3. Pinakbet (Ilocano style) – with lots of bataw, patani, native eggplant and lots of tomatoes!
Iloilo- Town of Calinog
1. Native na manok nga nilabugan
2. KBL (Kadios, Baboy, Langka) with batuan
3. Kansi
4. Laswa (saluyot, kalabasa, sitaw, okra, etc)
5. Kalabasa and malugay with coconut milk
6. Puso ng saging salad (luya, coconut milk, tomatoes, onions a little bit of vinegar salt..
7. Native chicken with Ubad
Super marami MM…
Cagayan de Oro:
1. humba
2. sutukil – fish served 3 ways: SUgba-grilled, TUla- with soup, KILaw-ceviche
From Rizal
Ampalaya w/peanut butter.. just saute garlic, onion, tomatoes, add shrimp or pork, then salt and pepper and peanut butter..
“Linagpang nga manok” always comes to mind when I think of dishes from Negros. It’s a spicy soup made with grilled chicken (preferably a young native rooster). Surprisingly, the broth tastes somewhat like the stock used for batchoy.
Bulacan:
Main dish – kalderetang bibe with gata, manok pinaupo sa asin, bangus paksiw sa tuba. Dessert – candied dayap, candied kundol, minatamis tubo ng sasa (nipa palm).
From Calumpit, Bulacan… ang ipinagmamalaking sarap at linamnam ng “Sinigang na Ulang sa Kamias”. Ulang are fresh water lobster that measures up to a foot long.
San Isidro, Nueva Ecija – Sinampalukang manok ( using native chicken and tamarind pod/usbong)
– Pininyahang Manok (Using Chicken Leghorn)
– Fried Day old chicken
Binalonan, Pangasinan (Ilocano) – Paddy field Frog (Sinigang sa Kamias or Adobo)
– Igado
– Tinolang Manok ( using ampalaya leaves and bagoong isda)
Tanauan City, Batangas:
1. sinaing na tulingan at tambacol
2. kilawing baboy partnered with binitad na biya
3. tamales (Batangas style)
4. kulawo
hi. I submitted the Tanauan City dishes. I am a resident of Quezon City, not China.
MM, reading your blog is now a nightly routine for me esp after your Morocco series. very useful for our own trip there some months ago. Have been a lurker here for quite sometime but this topic about regional food is very very interesting. Brought back happy memories of growing up in Cagayan de Oro/Bukidnon. The popular fiesta dishes there were humba, chicharon with laman preserved in its own lard and torta for dessert. I also remember my mom cooking this Binisaya dry dinuguan with pork meat which I have tried many times to replicate but could not seem to do right! My husband’s family is from Quezon and their iconic foods are Lucban longganisa, pancit habhab and jardinera.
Malunggay, kalabasa, langka, sitaw or any other suitable vegetable cooked in coconut cream and milk with prawns or crabs.
Bicol express with lots of diced pork belly and pineapple and chillies.
‘Piccadillo’ or whole fish cooked in coconut cream and milk; the fish being lapu-lapu or tilapia but most memorably, something called ‘sulay bagyo?’ which I definitely remember to have sandpaper-like skin!
Me and my brothers’ and sisters’ formative years were spent with lots of coconut and chillies in our food! At my grandmother’s house in Albay when my parents first travelled to the United Kingdom for work. Although we still eat the same foods quite often here in London, somehow they just don’t seem to taste the same.
From Quezon City
hot dog and fried eggs
that’s what I had every doggone morning in college, prepared by my household help.
Singapore is famous for Chilli Crab and Raw Fish Salad which is a popular dish during Chinese New Year
Binangonan Rizal:
Sinigang na kanduli sa miso, pinangat na ayungin at tsaka piniritong dalag or plapla… yummm
all these freshwater fish species are native to Laguna Lake, Save the Lake!!! Consumption of food within a few radius where they came from, truly organic! Now most fish we eat are flown by plane from the source to our table…tragic!
From Leyte,
1. Pakdol/Pakdul – Similar to bulalo but we often use carabao meat instead of beef.
2. Kinilaw – kilawing isda with gata.
3. Lechon
Mabalacat, Pampanga
Sisig –> made with pork ears and pork cheeks with lots of onions and kalamansi juice with chicken livers for added flavor.
Burong kanin or balo-balo –> i don’t eat it but my sisters love it.
Adobong cricket –> had it the first time last december and they weren’t bad tasting.
Ginisang taba nang talangka –> eaten mixed with rice and paired with either fried or grilled fish. YUMMY!
and for dessert–> tibok-tibok! made with carabao milk!
lived in Manila all my life but I have relatives from north to south :)
From Laoag, Ilocos Norte:
Dinakdakan – ilocano version of the sisig
longganisa
Igado
From Marilao, Bulacan
Pancit Marilao – looks like pansit palabok but dry
Puto at Kutchinta
From Malabon
Pichi pichi
From Marikina
Everlasting
From Aklan
Biko made from black rice
My “hometown” is Tondo, Manila so there’s no real iconic dish from there that I can think of. My dad, however, comes from Mindoro and there’s this one dish that may be considered iconic:
Adobong Kulalapnit (+1 food geek point to anyone who knows exactly what this is).
I remember my Uncles/Aunts bringing small jars of this to Manila and they only get to eat these on occassions that the Kulalapnits are available (which is very rarely).
Laguna:
Adobong manok sa gata (my grandma’s recipe): chicken, vinegar, patis, ginger, garlic, unripe papaya (no soy sauce)
Sinaing na tulingan (Batangas): fresh or dried kalamyas/kamias, pork fat and tulingan…delicious if simmered until bones and all are soft. Also great when fried.
Dinuguang kalabaw (carabao). Carabeef is more flavorful than beef cattle, but is not easy to find.
Kulawo (Quezon): Boiled banana heart with sauce made with vinegar and uncooked gata (made from sapal that is slightly burnt/toasted with glowing charcoal)
Ensaladang pako
Dessert:
Buko pie (Lety’s of Los Banos is the best!)
Puto Binan (from the town of Binan)
Leche flan made with duck eggs (Batangas)
Cabanatuan Longanissa, Burong Isda,
Sad as I am to say this, but I don’t think Zambales has any iconic dish. A lot of Ilocano, Pangasinan and Kapampangan food are available and regularly cooked there, since many of the residents are also of those roots. I could be wrong though.
However, I do love the pastillias that’s made with carabao’s milk. Unlike the ones from Bulacan, it doesn’t have any sugar coating. It’s just the milk, some sugar then cooked until it can be cut into small bars. Delicious.
My grandmother i think invented this dish that we call mole. No it is not the mexican mole with that unique chocolate-chili sauce. It’s beef shank cooked until really falling off the bones tender. Garlic and onions are sauteed in a little oil, then atswete “juice is added” and finally the cubed meat. You put the meat mixture back in the broth and then add ground rice until the broth is thick and smooth. We put in lots of pechay. Our mole is eaten with bagoong. It sorta looks like kare-kare. I’ve never seen or eaten it in other homes or in restaurants. I googled it but all I got was the mexican version.
My mom’s nilagpang of linagpang is not made of chicken or pork. It is inihaw na bangus, half-cooked over coals, and then flaked. Then you make a simple broth by cooking chopped onions and tomatoes in some water, and adding chopped hardboiled eggs, patis and a little salt and pepper. Then you add the flaked fish to the hot broth where it will finish cooking. Linagpang is surprisingly good, good for you and real comfort food.
I’m from Abra and I believe the following are the iconic dishes of our province:
1. Dinaldalem – the Abra version of the Ilocos higado (each Abra town has its own version)
2. Sinigang nga pasga or bulidaw – A simple sinigang (kamatis or pias {kamias}, native sibuyas, salt) of either or a combination of these fishes native to Abra River and available only at the onset of the rainy season. However, these fishes are now very rare and command so high a price that only the rich and politicians can afford to buy them
From Eastern Samar:
(1) Humba (similar to pata tim with peanuts and more soy sauce).
(2) Bakintol/moron – steamed ground rice mixed with cocoa cooked in coconut milk.
(3) Crabs (or snails) in coconut milk;
(4) Sagmani – palawan (root crop) stuffed with ground palawan mixed with young coconut and sugar. yuuummmm!!!!
cagayan de oro (mom) – kinilaw na isda and humba
bicol (dad) -pinangat …love this dish with lots of calamansi!
chicharon(bagnet) with kamatis and bagoong
Our family of Cooks originated from Bulacan I grew up with:
Guinataang Alimango sa Bayabas
Sinampalukang Manok, Baka, Baboy or Bangus
Sinigang sa Kamias
Embutido
Binagoongang Baboy my Lolas Bagoong is to die for squeeze calamansi and eat with talong
Ensaladang Mustasa to go with fried or grilled fish and Pork
Kalamay Hirin for Dessert
Carioca ( crunchy and chewy )
Haleyang Ube ( Makunat )
Pangasinan
– Pinapaitan
– Saluyot at labong (some might not like the slippery saluyot)
– Inihaw na bangus
dessert/snacks
– patupat
– tupig
-bucaio
balaw balaw…yum, rizalenio
Angono, Rizal — many of my relatives is fond of the balaw-balaw (fermented shrimp), they say it’s delicious specially if paired with fried fish or sinigang. Personally, I don’t eat this because it smells funny…
Cebu: lechon, Puso (hanging rice), kinilaw, mandate bibingka
no province but i’ve tasted TINAGAKTAK from Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte. It’s like fannel cake but very thin (like crispy deep fried sotanghon) best eaten with ice cream.
all my best wishes for Marketman’s diet.
Iloilo:
1. Ubad with chicken and kadyos
2. Tambo with gata and tugabang ( bamboo shoots with saluyot and coconutmilk)
3. Pangat ( Salted fish and pork wrapped in whole gabi leaves with coconut milk, but not spicy unlike laing)
4. Pancit Molo
5. Batchoy
from Orani, BATAAN:
1. Adobong Alimango / Alimasag / Talangka
2. Sinigang / Halabos na Sugpo / Suahe Hipon
3. Kinilaw na Talaba
4. Tinapang Tilapia / Boneless bangus
5. Buro (in pink color … hahaha)
I’m from Laguna and these are foods that I have not eaten elsewhere – guinataang hipon yapyap (small fresh water shrimps from laguna lake) cooked with kamias and paired with paksiw na gulay (talong, ampalaya, kamatis, luya cooked in vinegar and slightly sweetish, AND tapa na tigite(kanduli) fish is butterflied, cooked inihaw and then added to a thick broth of gata and mashed and strained bayahas with sitaw, talong and talbos ng kamote.
Ifugao: Pinikpikan manok- killing me softly chicken
Sagada: etag -preserved salted-smoked pork
Dubai: Chiken Biryani, Shawarma, Mutton masala with rotti
Naga City/Bicol Region
1) Bicol Express
2) Gulay na Natong (laing)
3) Pinangat (grated young coconut mixed with minced freshwater shrimps wrapped in gabi leaves and boiled in thick coconut milk)
4) Loglog (local mami)
5) Sinanglay/Picadillo (Fresh water fish usually tilapia stuffed with tomatoes, ginger, garlic and onions, then wrapped in pechay and stewed in thick coconut milk)
6) cocido (soupy fish/seafood dish made sour with tomatoes)
7) ginaga (boiled) pork ribs/pigue made sour with lubas
8) tinumtuman (thinly sliced bamboo shoots and clams boiled in coconut milk)
9) dinuguan (cooked with coconut milk)
10) kinunot (stingray or shark meat cooked in coconut milk)
11) dinailan (local fermented shrimp paste, also cooked with coconut milk or added to “gulay” or vegetable dishes cooked in coconut milk
Many dishes are cooked with coconut milk of course! hahahahaha… :)
I’m from Iloilo and my picks are:
1. Tinolang Manok (native) with either green papaya and dahon ng sili or kadyos and ubad
2. Batchoy
3. Pancit Molo
4. Ginataang Pantat (African Hito)
5. Inasal nga Manok from Tatoy’s
Hi, MM! Sorry, I got carried away… gave 11 dishes. hehehehehe… jumped on the chance to comment even before reading the whole thing. :)
Was born and raised in the city, but mom’s from Legaspi/Tabaco Albay.
Here’s my top 3.
Kinunot – made with stingray (?) which is hard to come by nowadays because of its “endangered” label.
Laing & Dinuguang Manok sa gata, my personal favorite.
My parents are from Camiling, Tarlac…Seseron from Camiling is well-liked..
Some of the unknown favorites are…
– Binubudan –
-Inuruban -freshly made and when cooked with coconut cream
Calatagan, Batangas
Gelatin- in Calatagan the gelatin is very common dessert in almost all the occasion especially weddings and fiestas. This is not the type of gelatin that comes in a bar forms that is common in most supermarkets. Most people in our town will go to the sea when it is low tide and hunt for those dark green curly type of a seaweed that kind a look like a dark green moss. They will then wash them several times, bleach them by putting on it in between heavy transparent plastic under the sun for several days. When they turn white, they will then wash it again and put it back under the sun until it is well dry. They will store this dry gelatin for many months or years.
To make dessert out of it is a long process but it is very delicious and there is no comparison to any other gelatin dessert you’ll ever find.
This takes few hours of boiling with a bit of vinegar till it is all melted, strain them and let it sit till it is harden enough to cut in squares, soak the squares in tap water overnight. The ff morning, put the gelatin in a big pot till the gelatin squares are all melted then add the engrdients.
The engredients consists of fresh coconut milk, condensed milk, sugar, vanilla. For variation add some fruit of your choice.
I’ve been to different countries and tasted their gelatin, but there’s nothing like Calatagn gelatin! I have some dried gelatin here in the state my sister brought to me when she came to visit me 3 years ago. Miss you all guys in Pinas.
Bacolodnon Ako
laswa – with alugbati, saluyot, okra, beans, shrimp
kansi
kbl
Inasal – how i miss it!!
binuro (but I don’t know what kind if fish is it) and binuro na bilongbilong
kinilaw nga tangigue – i’ve always associated it with after boating out to sea and catching a few tangigue by rod and reel
guinamos from silay
piaya
kalamay hati
Catbalogan Samar: tamalos, humba, queseo (white cheese), escabeche. The tamalos is unlike any Ive ever encountered. I would be so happy to send you a sample if you are interested (I dont cook nor sell it, I will just order it too). It is pork mixed with peanut sauce wrapped in banana leaves, I believe it truly is our iconic dish! MM, send me a message if you want to taste it please :) We can have it sent here in Manila frozen. Our humba is with peanuts, and the fish escabeche is color yellow with turmeric, ginger and vinegar. The queseo is superb!! I sincerely hope you dont forget our often forgotten province :)
From Silay
1. Tambo with kasag, takway, mais, and gata
2. Gabi na may gata and bagunggon
3. Laswa
4. Adobo na takway
5. Sinugba na diwal (seasonal)
6. Sisi dipped in sinamak
7. Pangat with pinakas
@ Doddie Householder… those couple of unidentified ones from Cavite City are – pancit puso and Aling Ika’s Bibingkoy.
Balayan, Batangas
1-Adobo -eaten with banana/roasted eggplant relish -now i don’t know if the relish is native of that region. I’m basing this on when had guests from Manila who would always comment they have never had adobo with this relish.
2-Tortang Alimasag
3-Pastilyas na Kamote and Coconut-my Lola put 7 kids through school selling these
I have only 3 dishes in mind right now:
1) SINUGLAW – sinugbang baboy (liempo) cubed mixed in kinilaw na bariles/malasugue.
2) ADOBONG DEEP-FRIED BUNTOT NG BARILES (yellow fin) -deep fried bariles tail and then braised.
3) DURIAN CONFECTIONERIES – yema, pastillas, etc…
Wow Davao! ^_^
Here in Dagupan, Pangasinan the local dishes popular here are
1. Pigar-Pigar- Basically its a Pangasinan street food version of Beefsteak tagalog. Its a mixture of Carabeef strips, onion rings, vinegar & optional baguio vegetables.
2. Baguisen – A delicious savory Beef variant of Dinuguan
3. Dinakdakan – Pangasinan more exotic version of sisig- Grilled pork face & Pork Brain and assorted spices.
4. Tupig – A popular dessert – its basically a coconut flavor suman wrapped in banana leaves and grilled for a light toasty flavor
if happen to visit my place, let me show you around for some pangasinan food tasting.
Pampanga:
Biringhe..Chicken Paella
Sisig
Kamaru..Sauteed Mole Crickets
for Dessert…Tibok tibok
Mom is from Mauban Quezon Province.. and they have this kind of “spider looking crab” kalled “kuray” that thrives on muddy swamp. They c ooked it in grated coconut, added to the coconut milk with lots of luya and sili. It is soooooo good. My aunt who is also from Quezon Province but in another town said she does not know this crab and does not know this dish… so I think this “crab” is only know in Mauban.
And just got to add this – again from Quezon – its called “Balaw”. Its grated Santol – added to bagoong and coconut milk. (and some spices). Parang “potted-meat” and end product. We eat it as accompaniment to almost anything. And also batchoy with sotanghon; and miswa with patola.
From my husband’s province Vigan:
1) Miki (noodles in nuclear orange soup with bagnet and kuchay)
2) Sinanglao (beef innards, skin, bile, and kamias soup)
3) Pipian (epazote-flavored nuclear orange rice porridge)
4) Pakbet/Dinengdeng
From my province San Fernando, La Union:
1) Paksiw na isda
2) Marinated bangus
3) Igado
4) Pakbet/Dinengdeng
Foods I see served at parties from both provinces:
1) Tilapia (grilled/fried)
2) Siling mahaba (grilled/adobo)
3) Pokpoklo/Ar-arosep with tomato
4) Kilawen kambing
5) Pinapaitan
6) Afritada kambing
Lesser known dishes mostly served/shared with family or close friends:
1) Jumping salad (fresh shrimp/prawn in calamansi)
2) Kilawen baka (thinly sliced raw beef and bile)
3) Bukel utong with parya (black eyed peas with ampalaya leaves soup)
tubong Cuenca, Batangas
Lomi is king for lunch or mirienda. Make sure you get the special kind so it has itlog na pugo and chicharron. This soup is no joke- its the kind that sticks to your ribs. It is thick, savory, and meaty- a pinoy working man/woman soup. Can’t get this soup anywhere else as good as you can in Batangas. Have a heaping cup of kapeng Barako (another local pride) after this big meal to keep you awake and energized for the rest of the day.
reads like a Philippine beauty pageant of food… “from the land of Kadyos, Baboy and Langka, Bacolod…. Citeyyyyyyyyyy!!!”
and the winner is …………….
Hubad na lumpia :) ….sorry can’t help it!
@Clarissa – Do we share the same parents? Small world. I know everything you were talking about.
Anyway, to add to the pot, I came across this dish in Bicol called Nilatik. It resembles sisig and almost tastes like sisig, but is made rich by coconut oil. It tastes very creamy although there aren’t any remnants of coconut cream so I really can’t figure out how it’s cookd.
I’m also more of a dessert person, so it’s safe to say that the varieties of rice cakes would be as varied as the number of longganisa we have all over the islands. Bicol was memorable because in it, I came across a steamed puto filled with macapuno and a marcazote (if memory serves me right) that’s the tallest puto I have ever seen, almost a foot high! Imagine!
our family favorites from my mother’s hometown (pateros) are: morcon, lutong itik with pickles, batchoy (soup with fresh pig’s blood cut into squares and liver) and ube halaya cooked in coconut milk until coconut oil comes out and the mixture gets very thick …so thick that it can be shaped into a mound (usually formed into fish shape (not sure why but this is traditional) with white royal icing and served at fiesta time). this halaya is so thick that it can be sliced into squares.
in our hometown of marikina, where my family has lived for the past 45 years, the well known traditional dishes are: waknatoy (like menudo but with pickles) and everlasting (meatloaf like embutido but cooked in a llanera ~ oval shaped aluminum pan used also for leche flan). these traditional marikina dishes are served at pan de amerikana restaurant with branches in marikina & white plains (in case you’re curious about them and would like to try)…thanks for all the info from the other followers!
from Nagcarlan, Laguna:
we have what we call the (1) Menudong Tagalog, (2) Kulawo, (3) ginisang puso ng saging with sotanghon :)
MM I came from Biliran Island and my first time to comment. Balanghoy (cassava) is common in our place. Nanay prepares “kuping” as her business before. kinukudkod ung balanghoy tpos ilapat sa dahon ng saging as thin as you can, ilulubog sa boiling water para maluto, sun dried and fried and top with latik (syrup) is made of kalamay sa bao, water and kalamansi juice. labor intensive but totally yummy.
Another snack is “nilubid” made of cassava flour drench with water and shape as nilubid and then fried and coated with syrup.
for ulam its paksiw na binalot ng dahon ng saging or dahon ng cacao. yummy too.
ginataang “kurot” – like a mushroom but grows on dead trees.
weird na food but masarap for us who hails from a small barrio.
thank you and God Bless you more
In Magalang, Pamapanga:
Tidtad (dinuguan): its either made with the pork “batok” nape/neck meat or the innards. this dinuguan dish in my personal opinion is superior than its contemporaries.
Quilayin (similar to bopis): its made with some pork meat/some fat, liver and lungs. sauteed in onions and garlic with vinegar and peppercorns. This dish is really good and goes well with breakfast, lunch or dinner. Keeps for a long time too!
Guisadong Camaru: sauteed mole crickets in garlic, onions and tomatoes. Its delicious and not really the fear factor hype. The crickets’ legs are removed together and wings and heads are cleaned. Tastes like crunchy, savory chicharon bits with a twist!
While these 3 dishes represent Capampangan cuisine, our hometown in Magalang has this version of sinigang which I think is endemic to that town only. The Sabo Camatis is sinigang but your souring agent is ripe tomatoes. It is good with pork, beef and bulig (young mudfish).The vegetables used for that dish are cabbage and pechay; what you’d normally use for nilaga. The slight acidity and the subtle sweetness of the tomatoes give this dish a new dimension in flavor.
Thank you MM! It makes me happy to talk about the dishes that I grew up with. I don’t get to eat them at all so I just dream about them.
To me, the signature dishes of Quezon, my mother’s province, are hinalo and tikoy. I don’t quite know how to describe them but I would say they are Quezon’s equivalent to kalamay. Hinalo is extremely labour intensive and reserved for special occasions. The main ingredient is glutinous rice flour (galapong), it is mixed with water and then the mixture is turned into dough balls that are about a pound each. The dough balls are cooked in a big vat or cauldron of caramel made from coconut milk, brown sugar, a pinch of salt, vanilla, pandan leaves and margarine. When the dough balls rise to the surface of the caramel, they are broken into smaller pieces and stirred (thus the name, hinalo) with paddles until they turn into a smooth paste-like consistency (like kalamay) and then it is flavoured with crushed roasted peanuts or peanut butter. It takes about 2 1/2 to 3 hours to make and requires constant stirring. Tikoy has similar ingredients, the glutinous rice and caramel are mixed together to form a batter then it is steamed until it’s cooked.
From Bicol, where my father is from I think their signature dishes are kinunot, sinantolan, pinangat and laing. Yum! The secret ingredient that makes these dishes really amazing is the outrageously stinky dinailan (similar to the Malaysian belachan). It stinks to the high heavens but it makes the food so delicious.
P.S. I think it will be really awesome if you write a book!
Hello! Long time lurker here, but a frequent visitor. From the land of the howling winds – Catanduanes:
Palup-ag – Tulingan cooked in coconut cream with vinegar as souring agent and usually with unripe langka
Pinangat – gabi leaves cooked in coconut cream and seasoned with shrimps, alimasag.
Kandingga – Our very own bopis version but dry and with kangkong stalks.
I’m from Ilocos Sur
1. Bagnet
2. Longanisa
3 Pinakbet
4 Burudibud – dinengdeng thickened with mashed sweet Kamote.
5. Pipian
6. Sinanglaw
7. Guinisar nga Tokak (sauteed frogs with kamias and achuete)
8. Pinakbet nga Saluyot
9. Bibingka
10. empanada
11. tinubong
12. Dudol- made of ground rice and sugarcane juice cooked until thick
grew up in manila but i’m not sure what original to the area except maybe for max’s fried chicken or the bisteck tagalog. my mom’s from pamapanga and tamales is great and pochero too and many many more that i just don’t know the name of. my dad’s from nueva ecija, just from reading here i realized that tinumis is from there! this is really enlightening. i don’t know if this will qualify though, filipino-american’s at least in the los angeles area all agree on these: chicken adobo (preferred over the pork version), lumpia (shanghai version) and pancit (the drier version with glass noodles) and halo halo. and, oh yeah, more recently ube cupcakes…jonathan gold from the l.a. weekly loves the ube cake from red ribbon.
anyway, i’m disappointed i don’t see more pampanga food posting in the comment section here and very much intrigued with the food from the mindanao area (would you feature them sometime? i’m afraid i’m not very familiar with it at all.)
Hi MM, im also from Cavite City.
@Mikee – you’ve given what’s exactly in my mind (all 3!!!) I just decided to read all comments first before sharing mine. I’d like to use your comments and add details on how we cook it as we have different ways of cooking it as you know. Originally, it’s cooked really salty but to some, not.
Bacalao – dried Cod (soaked, shredded and fried) with pimiento, potatoes, garbanzos, and sliced cabbage with annatto seeds in olive oil for the lenten season or selected weekends. Can be eaten with rice or “palaman sa hot pandesal”.
Tamales – made out of toasted ground rice and peanuts with pieces of pork, chicken, ham, chorizo de bilbao, and boiled egg, holiday fare
@Doddie Householder: the usual food they sell in some stores in our place, right? This is also what I wanted to share. The pansit you were referring to is “Pancit Puso” or “Pancit sa Puso”. The usual bihon is cooked with pork and shrimps but with less veggies–we use little cabbage, habituelas, and carrots, and atsuete just to add color; topped with banana heart slices boiled in vinegar, dash of salt and pepper. And, for the a chewy fried hopia with a sweet sauce (made out of coconut cream) poured over it –You must be referring to what we call “Bibingkoy”? It’s actually bibingka made of glutinous rice with monggo filling, and it’s top is a bit burned caramel and poured over it is coconut cream with corn and langka. Whew….my tummy is now grumbling!
When I was little, I used to buy “presas”. It’s simply crushed ice with strawberry and grape flavors (similar to iskrambol but without milk and chocolate syrup).
If I may add MM, in Cavite City (esp. in our household), when cooking “sinigang sa miso” [we use “pickled” mustasa] or “sinigang na bangus sa bayabas”, fish is divided into 2 ways of cooking — others included with the broth, and some are fried.
Funny that Bicolanos relate to Bicol express as native to Bicol. Wasn’t that invented by Tita Fely of Grove? She named it after the train when it passed by after inventing it in Manila.
For Bacolod and Iloilo: Kadios with Ubad and manok, adobong takway, blong bilong, pinamalhan, Chicken Binakol,Valencia and of course chicken inasal basted with achuete oil, never star margarine
Hi marketman! I’m from Isabela :)
iconic dishes in my province are
1. Batil Patong- it’s a kind of noodle soup with a raw egg topping
2. Pancit Cabagan – it’s unique noodle dish from Cabagan and Tuguegarao
:)
Zamboanga City: Curacha
Hi MM, Have you ever heard of this dish? Or tried it? It’s a seafood dish. The curacha is a crustacean that looks like a cross between a crab and a lobster. It’s very meaty and delish. :D
Bacolod:
Batchoy from bar 21
Inasal from Quartermoon, Golden Fields
Kansi in Shopping area
KBL
Pinamalhan with iba
Any of the above I can eat everyday for breakfast, lunch or dinner for a week or more and never get sick of it.
Having grown up in Metro Manila, I refuse to be disenfranchised. Here is my list from the halcyon days of yore.
1-tulya
2-talangka
3-malunggay pods
desserts – sago, taho, halo-halo
Thank you for being such a diligent blogger. For some homebound souls, this might be the only semblance of friendly chitchat they have each day.
I grew up in Manila but my mom’s from Pampanga.
1 – Kare-Kareng ox tail, twalya, bituka ng baka
2 – Sisig
3- Pindang – Tocino
4- Tidtad – Dinuguan
5- Pulutok – Bopis w/ chopped puso ng saging
6 – Brighe – Valenciana /Paella
7- Betute- Stuffed Frogs
8- Adobong Kamaro – Crickets
9- Burong Isda/ Hipon – Fermented Rice w/ hito or Tilapia or hipon
10- Burong Talangka
11- Adobong Palaka
12-Tibuktibuk – Carabaos Milk Maja
13- Inihaw/Crispy Fried Hito and sawsawan na boiled tamarind puree and many more
i am from pampanga as well. i like satomi’s list. may i just add
bringhe, pindang made from carabao’s meat, paku salad,
menudo with liver, sansrival, pastillas made from carabao’s milk,
tidtad, sweet longanisa, papaya achara. oh, gosh, i could go on
and on. it’s making me hungry….
@ doddie householder – sir, i think you are referring to pancit puso – a favorite of mine..whenever i go to cavite city, i brought that home as pasalubong. once, during a family get together, i offered it to guests, and my balikbayan uncle liked it, together with some special tamales.
from Pampanga:
sisig, asadong manok, and bulanglang(sinigang sa bayabas)
Leyte – hinatukan nga manok. free-range, of course, coconut cream made by squeezing grated coconut meat w/ a little water and the freshly-slaughtered chicken’s blood, slowly stewed until the livers have turned into mush and are fully incorporated into the sauce, then flavored with sangig (the local basil). easy, aromatic, calorific yumminess :)
law-uy with malunggay for the “Bisaya” in Dvo. City.
iconic dishes from bohol, for me, would be the humble ‘tinuwa’ made with the freshest fish, with or without pechay; ‘kalamay’ in a coconut shell which is totally different from any other kalamay in the country, with or without nuts; ‘kinampay’ or ube jam made from real purple yams, no coloring added. I have asked my mom for her dishes and we’ll compare notes.
@ laura – we have the same background and I did not know that the menudo with pickles has a name :)
mom is from marikina: pickles na menudo, llanera (also called everlasting), leche flan made from duck eggs by my mom’s aunt (They call her Ite. I think it means a second Ate, not sure though.)
dad is from pateros: balut can be cooked as anything (caldereta, afritada, etc), Abnoy is an acquired taste but if made properly, other than the slight smell, you would not even know it’s made from bugok na balut. itlog na maalat are always freshly cooked. great for palaman lalo na sa warm pandesal. then there is batchoy, similar to sinuwam but with cubed blood. (can be bought in the market, just say “yung dugo para sa batchoy” :)
From Iloilo:
1. Everything Tatoy’s serve: manok, litson sauce, boneless bangus, even the rice is legendary! my lola would order rice for take out. ganun katindi!
2. KBL: kadyos, baboy, langka
3. Native chicken with kadyos, ubad
4. Laswa: plain, with gata, and all other variations
5. Batchoy
6. Pancit Molo
7. Butterscotch
8. Galletas
9. Biscocho
10. Barquillos: made with goat’s milk
11. Bahi-bahi
From Camiling, Tarlac:
1. Chicharon Camiling
2. Longanisang Camiling – grouns pork, garlic, salt , pepper at atsuete for coloring – no salitre
or curing salt
3. Guinisang Buro
4. Birabid – fresh water shellfish, shelled and salted
5.ararawan- crickets
6. Native frogs – cooked tinola style
for desserts:
inuruban/ nilubyan
binubudan
tupig – using ballatinaw variety of malagkit
patupat
Kinalti nga kamoteng kahoy
Zamboanga City:
Yummy food with Muslim influence
Satti
Tiulang Itum
Tamal
Kulma
:)
Hello MM, Kudos to you for the outstanding response everyone is giving in this blog! I have been noticing very interesting similarities with the dishes mentioned, like pipian with kamias by grace encarnacion, and tamalos by Dee, which I suspect is like the tamales that I know. Let me also say my greetings to Everyone here including fellow Cavitenos…Doddie Householder, Garlicky, Andrea, FestiveRebel, :D! Here’s some more…
Pancit Pusit – this starts out like adobong pusit and with bihon added, it takes on the color of pusit ‘ink’ , kind of grayish really. You can have shallots sprinkled on, top it with slices of red/white raw onion, and sliced lightly pickled cucumber or fresh cubed cucumber, before serving. One time, Mom added some shrimp and quartered squidballs with the topping and substituted bihon with sotanghon and it looked/tasted even better, and that version is what I have adopted. This will have the same color appeal of dinuguan except it’s a seafood dish.
Kanchi in fideos noodle soup – this begins by Beef kanchi boiled to extract the broth until tender and the fat removed. On another pot, elementary essentials are sauteed then the kanchi and broth added on, fideos noodles added in the last phase. I was surprised to find this masquerading as ‘beef mami’ on the menu at a place inside a Filipino market in West Covina, when I returned for more later, they closed up shop :(
I have to say, I am thoroughly enjoying this blog!
wow…this may have been the loooooooooooooooooooooooongest thread ever :D
from my Kapampangan Apung Helen’s kitchen…
1. Batsui
2. Tidtad
3. Sisig Pusong Saging a Maslam
4. Sinampalukang Manok (hers using the flower buds instead of the fruit and saluyot which grows abundantly on her backyard during the rainy season..and of course native chicken)
5. Sangleng Biyang ilug qing Kamias.
6. Adobong Bulig
7. Ningnang a Bangus ampong Ginisang Tagilo
8. Burong Talangka
9. Kalderetang Kambing
10. Kare-Kare
forgot to include these…
Bulanglang na Bangus (Sour broth soup using ripe native guava fruit)
I’m from Isabela. It would be kalderetang kambing, kilawing kambing and papaitan.
Great question and posts! Never heard of half of these foods but reading the ingredients and recipes got me salivating while other recipes were just a bit too way out there for me. Funny how I say I’d never eat a certain ingredient just to find out here that dinakdakan which I didn’t know the name of before today had tongue in it !!!! Anyway, I scanned through the posts and didn’t see batso nga tabungao (had to google this to make sure of the name) which my mom always cooked for us growing up.
Having been born and raised in Pampanga, it would have to be BRINGHE for me. I now live in the San Francisco Bay Area and fortunately for me, there’s actually a restaurant here (ISLA in San Bruno) where I get to eat my favorite “local” treat. The chef and owner, Melvin Pare, is naturally a Kabalen.
Palawan = lumabeng! should add, its iconic to cuyonos only :)
Though I am from Manila, I would like to have a say and mention some dishes I believe typical of our old city: galantina, cocido, pesang dalag with miso, arroz a la cubana, lengua, relyenong talong, tocino del cielo, turron Manila.
I’m from Pandi, Bulacan and we have SEKAN, a plant variety which i believe is endemic to Bulacan. Sekan grows in the ‘pilapil’ during summer. My nanay and lola would saute it in onion, garlic and tomato and add minced pork.
It is slightly bitter in taste but really good with steamed rice.
Hi Tess of Camiling. I am #100 I was writing down the food that I know we liked but something happened and I was editing my piece but I did not make the 10 mins. mark. Anyway you listed what I was gonna list so thank you.
Iligan City – halang-halang and lechon (something to rival that of Cebu)
i’m very lucky coz even if im from QC, my grandparents are from pampanga and bulacan
from pampanga, almost all the thing ive been eating has been written down, i would just like to add a dessert that is only available in one store in pampanga, the moche, it is a malagkit dessert with what seems like mongo filling with a gata based sauced. id love to say where you can get it but im kinda related to the owners of the store so i won’t mention it nalang.
in bulacan naman, we come from the town of bulakan, in bulacan. its actually a very small coastal town. in bulakan, our adobo is very different from tipical adobos, its dry with no sauce, and its actually one of my favorite dishes. its different coz its only made of meat, bawang, suka, pepper, and laurel boiled over very low fire til it dries up.
now i wanna make adobo nanaman tomorow
Bulacan: Ensaymada and Inipit
Yes! Thanks Dino .. I would love to add Moche..Kapampangan better version of Japanese Mochi..Dino,I’m hoping.. you are talking about SUSIE or SUZY? at Nepomart its been a while!! Yummmm:) i dont know why, we kapampangan forget about Moche ..they are hard to make, mongo,coconut,brown sugar wrapped in mochi,steamed under banana leaves..then baked with sugared coconut milk ..with brown crust on top..can’t wait to go home on our vac….
I remember my grandma used to make bulanlang na kadios with green papaya, tomatoes, greenonions and topped with broiled dried anchovies (dilis), fried fish and rice!
IT’LL ALWAYS BE “BURO” FOR ME IN MANILA:
“BURONG HIPON”
“BURONG ISDA”
“BURONG LIEMPO”
“BURONG TALANGKA”
Calo calo bihon from Iloilo
Nilabugan nga manok from Iloilo
Daing na isda sa Victorias, Negros Occidental
Tapang Kalabaw
in davao
1.)crispy paksiw na tuna buntot, greaseless fried chicken & imbao (yellow fin restaurant)
2.)durian cake & pancit luglug (cecil’s bakeshoppe)
3.)grilled tuna (marina tuna)
4.)kare-kare(maxcey’s buffet/ayang’s/nanay bebeng’s)
5.)mini pork bbq(leandro’s/bee ling of dvo christian canteen)
6.)chinese lumpia, spanish empanada and chinese empanada (rose cua)
7.)chicken bbq(penong’s)
8.)kinilaw na bariles and embutido(my mom)
9.)sotanghon guisado(my mother-in-law)
10.)humba with pao(grand menseng/aleng’s)
I have been raised eating all sorts of food cooked with gata..my mom hailed from bicol..when i was younger I always smiled whenever served something with gata… I don’t know if it was acquired taste or what but I never really liked the tagalog’s way of cooking dinuguan.. I prefer dinuguan the bicolandia-way, with gata and sukang sasa ( and syempre pa spicier than usual!)…tinuktok is also a favorite (pounded shrimp and young coconut meat wrapped in gabi leaves then simmered in gata)…oh and also palupsi (glutinous rice cooked in gata but this time with salt instead of sugar, hence the difference from the usual biko or suman)..oh, i wished Mama or Lola is still here to cooked those dishes for the whole family.
We’re from Isabela, and the dishes of my childhood are:
1. Inabraw – Various vegetables in a bagoong-isda based broth
2. Dinakdakan – Sisig Ilocano-style: grilled pork cheeks and ears + mayo + chilis + onions + salt and pepper
3. Ensaladang Binnik – Small freshwater clams, rinsed in hot water then tossed with diced shallots and seasoned with calamansi and salt
4. Igado – Creamy liver and pork meat stew with bell pepper and green peas. Though I must say there are a lot of versions for this. No igado I”ve seen/tasted comes close to the one made by my family. :D
5. KBL – Kamatis, Bagoong, Lasona
6. P&M – Patis and mantika mixed with rice for a wonderful base for fried dishes. Cardiac delight!
I have to include papaitan too! And for dessert:
1. Binallay – glutinous rice wrapped in banana leaves. Served with a sauce of cooked panocha and coconut milk. This is usually served in the Lenten season.
2.Bibingka – Rice-based bibingka with a latik-ish topping
3. Dudul/Dodol – It’s a creamy dessert with a rich taste and a firm but gelatin-ish consistency. Cooked by patient stirring until the coconut cream becomes really really thick. Topped with latik.
1. dulce gatas…. nothing like this in the whole philippines…only in bacolod
2. bas-uy…. truly an ilonggo dish!
3. sate-babe…. only in bacolod where everyone is knowledgeable of this indonesian-cum-negrense dish (many restaurants serving it… felicia’s, bob’s, pamilya grill, pendy’s, etc.)
It’s been a long time since I’ve had them and probably due to so many changes from when I was young, they may not be available anymore:
Come from Bonfal, Nueva Vizcaya: Dad was from Tarlac, Mom was from Ilocos (Abra?)
Favorite that I can’t get anymore is this green jelly platelets (some kind of algae) that comes from the rice fields and they were washed in hot water, tossed together with bagoong, lasona and kamatis. Over kil-laban… Yum.
There was another water plant that we used to eat. I can’t tell you what they were called. (I forgot! It’s at the tip of my brain, but I can’t remember right now!) They were long and green and we used to see them in the muddy fishponds where we’d catch gur-gurami and paltat to grill and eat. Prepared the same way those green algae platelets were.
And this creamy dessert called dudul. The closest I can describe it is the Hawaiian Haupia. Creamy coconut dessert that’s not the same as the maja blanca.
Ah! I know that weed now! We called it bal-laiba!!!
waknatoy – marikina
I’m am a native of Sulu… I grew up in Zamboanga City and now lives here in Cebu City and the most distinctive dishes in my home town are:
1. Tiyola Itum – (beef)
2. Pyalam – (Fish)
3. Siyuwansuwan – (Fish)
4. Sabaw Maimuh – (sweet soup)
5. Sambal – (Shrimp)
6. Piyanggang – (chicken)
I grew up in Cotabato City… my fave dishes are:
1. Inihaw na Pigek
2. Pastil
3.Tinagtag
4.Sininang Kambing
From Naga City, Cam Sur, Bicol:
1) Dinailan / Dinilan – fermented shrimp pate cooked with pork belly cutlets; cooked in thick coconut milk; soured with iba (kamias) and spiced with siling labuyo. this appetizer pales away the bicol express which is famous for non-bicolanos
2) nilagang baka or kusido (soured fish soup) with young gabi leaves (knotted)
3) sinanglay na tilapia – pechay-wrapped tilapia stuffed with garlic, onion, ginger and tomatoes and cooked in gata; soured with aged tuba vinegar
4) kinunot na pating or lumba-lumba (dolphin, sadly)
5) caldereta – with peanut butter and liver pate; sweet-sour version of the spanish dish
6) dinuguan – cooked with gata
7) natong (laing) – needs no description
8) Gulay na Puso ng Saging or Cassava Shoots – very healthful!
9) Igado – cooked with tomato sauce
10) Adobadong Pato (Manok) sa Gata – cooked with thick coconut milk, green papaya and dahol sili
My roots came from Cabiao nueva ecija
Tinumis- our version of dinuguan but instead of vinegar, we use green mango
Pesang Dalag- ginger, onions in a broth with petchay leaves paired with deep fried hito dipped in tomato chunks sauteed in garlic, onion and egg
Inihaw na dalag dipped in the ff:
Burong dalag
Boiled ripe tamarind with bagoong alamang
Burong pehe (talangka)
Inatayang manok- native chicken marinated in dayap/soy sauce, fried then sauteed in garlic, onions, lotsa tomatoes, fresh chicken hearts and liver, laurel leaves.. Simmered til tender oily!
I am a native of the City Of Vigan, Ilocos Sur. Here are some of my favorite things/food that are embedded in my palate, Classic Pork Vigan Longaniza, Crunchy delicious ,
empanada, Pork Bagnet, Pancit Molo or Miki, Pinakbet, Sinanglao na baka, Kilawen kambing, Chicken Pipian with pasotes, Royal Bibingka, etc.
Proud Batangueña here.
1. Sinaing na Tulingan or Tambakol that uses fresh or dried camias.
2. Gotong Batangas
3. Gulay na Bulanglang
This site is awesome. A MinViLuz OFWAL [OFW And Locals ] Food Plaza has long been overdue. Many OFWs and Locals in MetroManila do miss provincial food. It is high time we Pinoys get our acts together to enjoy local, traditional and indigenous food to keep our intestines connected as a race.