Taste of the Philippines

A simple blog about food in the Philippines. J. Tamayo

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Illocano empanada’s are the best! I first tried this at some victory bus stop, I bought 1 and went back to my seat. After 1 bite I knew I had to go back and get some more, which I did and got 2 more. When I went up to Santa Maria in Illocos, this one the first thing I looked for. Even here in Manila, the moment I found a vendor selling Illocano empanada’s, it was always an instant buy for me. Even here In gapo, I use to buy illocano empanadas at a vendor near a local hospital but sadly they closed and got replaced by  an angels burger joint...

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Everyone always says Jollibee is the best, but I beg to differ. Mang inasal is clearly the best, for they have sisig on their menu. Do I see sisig on jollibee’s menu? NOPE. 

Mang Inasal > Jollibee

( Not sponsored by Mang Inasal) 

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This is “ginataang langka” but my mom used ground beef instead of dannggit. 

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This is another picture from a couple days ago. It doesn’t look presentable because we were almost half-way done eating it haha. But anyways here is another Filipino dish called “Tinolang manok” which is just okay for me, not as great as dinakdakan or sisig but my brother really enjoys this meal. Even during the rainy season, I’d much rather eat dinakdakan or sisig. 

Basically this is just chicken, garlic, onion, ginger, and malunggay simmers together at low heat ( almost boiling). This way the flavors get extracted and at the same time it can help make the meat tender. Chicken cubes can be added too. After about 40-60 minutes the meal is ready.

Like I said I think Tinola is okay, I don’t think much of it, not really a huge fan either but my brother might say a lot more about this dish than me.

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This Ilocano dish is called “dinakdakan” and I first tried it in Baguio and I can’t get enough of it! It is similar to sisig but it is more creamy because of the pig’s brain puree and sisig chopped more finely than dinakdakan. I personally like the taste of dinakdakan more than sisig.

 Basically the ingredients used to cook dinakdakan is:

- 1/4 kilo of pig’s brain

-1 kilo of pig ears

- 1 kilo of pig face

- 4-5 table spoons of vinegar

- as much salt as you want

- as much pepper as you want

- as much green chili peppers sliced as you want

- 1 medium sized onion sliced

Annndddd here is how to cook it:

1.) Add 7-8 cups of water to a pot and boil it. Then add as much salt and pepper you desire. Next add the pig ears/face and set the heat to low and allow it to boil for about an hour or until the meat is tender. Strain the water and set the food aside.

2.)  Step 2 is to boil the pig’s brains with a strainer in order to prevent the pigs brain from disintegrating. Just cook it for about 10 minutes or so until you see the brain turn white and remove the cook brains and set it aside.

3.) The next Step is to heat a grill and cook the ears and face on each side until it turns crispy. Be careful not to burn it.

4.) Remove the grilled meat from the grill to let it cool. Chop it into small pieces.

5.) Mix the pig brain and vinegar in a bowl and season it with salt and pepper. Add onion, chill, pepper, and the chopped meat.

6.) Transfer the finished product to a serving plate and enjoy!

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I almost forgot to take a picture of lunch the other day but anyways here's  one of my favorite meals to eat. It is called “galunggong” or in English it is known as “blue mackerel scad”, “round scad”, or “ shortfin scad”. This dish is really quick to make by simply frying and serving it with rice and chopped tomatoes with a side of toyomansi ( toyomansi is just soy sauce and calamansi mixed together.), and with a nice cold drink of coca cola or even ice cold water. I also like to eat galunggong with fried or boiled eggs.

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