Our next lesson post topic is food. So let's talk about Ilokano food culture for a bit. Filipino's are fond of gatherings around food and if you are going to be around for the parties, you'll need to know what you are eating, right? So here are our top 10 Ilokano dishes.
1. Bagnet - The King of all lechons. Bagnet is a slap of Pork belly literally deep fried in its own fat, over and over to crispy perfected meaty chicharron. Then it is cut into manageable bite size pieces before taking its final dip into the boiler oil bath. They are served with spicy vinegar. It is artery clogging awesome!
2. Pinakbet - Veggie Delight of the North. It is a combination of vegetables cooked in bagoong (fish sauce). Bagnet is a perfect addition to this dish but some prefer to put shrimp. I used to wonder why my mom always has bittermelon, eggplant, okra, kabocha squash, and long beans in her garden. I just thought it was the basic Asian garden selection. Later on, I realized those are all the veggies to cook pinakbet! Now I get it!
3. Poki-Poki/ Poqui-Poqui - Grilled Eggplant Salad. Much like Tortang Talong except it has eggs and onions. Eggplants are grilled until the skin puff out then the toasty skin is removed. Then the mashed eggplants are pan-fried with scrambled eggs, onions and diced tomatoes. Eat dipped in soy sauce or fish sauce.
4. Dinardaraan - Chocolate Meat Pudding. Oh yum! that sounds good, it has chocolate and meat you say? Well, this delicious meat dish is basically sauteed pork meat cooked pork blood with vinegar added to it. The consistency and color after cooking look like chocolate, hence the name. For the most part, this dish is actually pretty good and no shouldn't have any surprise flavors.
5. Dinakdakan - Ilokano Version of Sisig. Another Pork Goodness! So you boil a head of a pig and harvest everything except the bones from it. That includes the nose, ears, cheeks, and don't forget the brains. Some add pork belly, torched thinly sliced pork skin to the mix. Sometimes thrown into the grill for some crispiness. And sometimes, it's simply marinated in vinegar and calamansi and seasoned with onions, garlic, and salt. Either way, it's a totally awesome dish. Not convince? Well, it's the ultimate beer food. Maybe that will entice you to try. There's also beef and goat dinakdakan.
6. Pinapaitan - Bitter but Famous. Pinapaitan stems from the word "Pait," which means bitter. That doesn't sound appetizing at all. Have you heard of Mexican Menudo? Yup, it's pretty much the same soup dish. The difference is in the seasoning. Pinapaitan is an Ilokano soup dish that is mostly made with cow or goat innards and seasoned in its bile extract. First time trying it, go for the beef pinapaitan before you attempt the goat one unless you like goat meat.
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| Photo Courtesy of Roy Varagan of MAKAN |
7. Pinikpikan - Igorot Delicacy. This is a chicken soup dish that is best made with "native" chicken or a mountain/wild chicken. The native chicken has long since been domesticated but still, it just tastes different. They have a darker meat and gamier taste. The feathers of the chicken are roasted off over open fire leaving the skin a bit torched but flavorful. It's cook for a long time to tenderize the meat and seasoned with ginger and fish sauce. Some add papaya or pepper leaves to have a bit of veggie option.
8. Igado - Just another innards dish. Igado is a popular Ilokano dish that mostly made of liver, meat strips and sometimes other organ parts. The name comes from the Spanish word "Higado," which translate to "liver." Hence the part where it has to have liver in the ingredients. It's cooked with bell pepper, peas, and carrots.
9. Dinengdeng - Refreshing Bean Soup dish. This soup is made with variety of green veggies cook with bagoong (fish sauce) and serve with grilled or fried fish like galunggong (roundscad), tilapia or bangus (milkfish)
10. Ilocos Empanada - Not your normal empanada. These empanadas are orange! They mix achuete/annatto powder into their batter flour for flavor and color. The filling consist of shredded papaya or beans sprout with eggs and sometimes longganisa sausage. They are deep fried and dipped in spicy vinegar. Aside from it being deep-fried, it's totally healthy.
So there you go. I hope I made you hungry because I'm feeling hungry now that I'm done with this post.
Mapannak pay agbirok iti lutuik. (I'm going to go look for something to cook)
Inton maminsan manen ( Until Next Time)
SIAK NI GIGI
So how much of that did you understand? Well, check yourself.
Jacobo: Nangankan? Did you eat yet?
Mark: Saan pay. Not yet.
Jacobo: Umayka ditoy, mangan ka pay. Come here and eat.
Mark: Ania ti sidain? What is the side dish?
Jacobo: Pinakbet, innapoy, ken sisig. Pinakbet, Rice, and Sisig
Mark: Kayat ko ti sisig. I want Sisig.
Mark: Naimas. Sino ti nagluto? Yummy. Who cooked?
Jacobo: Kasinsin ko nga ni Demy. My cousin Demy
Mark: Naimas ti sidain.The side dish is yummy
Mark: Nabusugakon.I'm full.