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I had this sudden craving for Bihon Guisado so I googled left and right for recipes for “Rice Sticks with Veggies” (aka Bihon Guisado). Almost all of the recipes were simple to make but had too many ingredients. So I modified the ingredients and experimented a bit.
I did not use our traditional sotanghon/bihon because for the life of me I couldn’t find it here in East Village. So I made do with I think the Vietnamese version of Rice sticks.
So here goes my Bihon Guisado Experiment
1. Rice Sticks
2. Coleslaw pack from Dole
3. Cut Chicken Breasts
4. Chicken Boullion cubes
5. Onion, Garlic, Ginger
6. Salt, Pepper, Calamansi Powder (yes we don’t have the real calamansi here in New York)
So.. turn on your TV or listen to your radio and then
1. Preparation
a) Put the Rice Sticks in water so soften it.
b) Put a bit of salt, pepper, calamansi powder to your cut chicken.
2. In a pan, saute galic, onion and ginger. Add the cut chicken breasts. Add a dash of garlic and calamansi powder.
3. In a cup of hot water, dissolve your chicken cubes. Add the water to the pan.
4. Add your coleslaw (carrots and other veggies are optional).
5. Add your rice sticks.
6. Mix. If you want your dish to be dry you can let the water dry up. If you want your dish to have a little bit of sauce, you can add more water.
This is a simple adobo recipe I use for pork, chicken or octopus.
For this recipe, I will put pork. Pork is good especially if some of the pork skin and fat are still there.
1. Boil water.
2. Put in your 1/2 kilo meat in the boiling water until turns a bit opaque. Remove meat and set aside.
3. In a saucepan, put oil and heat a little.
4. Slice 2 pieces of ginger into small horizontal strips, around 1 inch in length.
5. Sautee ginger in oil.
6. Immediately put in the meat in the saucepan. Cook for a few minutes.
7. Add vinegar and dark soy sauce to taste. Preferably Datu Puti Vinegar and Siver Swan Soy Sauce.
Tada! Super basic. It’s the ginger that gives the distinct taste.
My grandparents lived in Mindanao before moving to Cebu . They have a house in Lanao del Norte. Before, we used to visit our house and farm there. But now, it has gotten a bit dangerous. I still remember our boat ride from Cebu going to Cagayan and then our bus ride going to Maranding. And I still remeber delicacies we enjoyed in MIndanao.
Davao’s Durian Camiguin’s Pastel Iligan’s Peanuts
I went to Davao for a conference way back in high school. And in Davao one can buy durian in any form, shape or size. I love those thick durian candy bars. Next on my list is the Pastel buns from Camiguin. The bread is soft with the sweet and chewy yema (milk and butter) filling inside. Yema Yummy! And when talking about greaseless peanuts, Cheding’s peanuts from Iligan takes the number one spot for me. My Dad loves these peanuts.
Jamon de Cagayan General Santos’ Tuna Zamboanga’s Spanish Sardines
Mindanao is well-known for its fresh fruits, fish and good quality meat. There are big pineapple plantations in Cagayan with products are exported worldwide. Aside from pineapple, Cagayan is also known for its Jamon de Cagayan.
General Santos City is the Tuna Capital of the Philippines. I remember my Tito (we call any older family friend as tito (men) and tita (women)) bringing tuna from GenSan. We grilled it. And it was BY FAR, the best, freshest tuna I have ever tasted. There are three ways of preparing it SUTUKIL. SUgba (grill) TUla (broth) or KILaw (cooked in vinegar). Zamboanga’s Spanish sardines are also very good. I like the Montano’s brand. And one can have the sardines in different flavors (sweet and spicy) and different marinade (corn oil, tomato sauce, to name a few).
There you go - different specialties from different regions. There are others that I haven’t included because I do not know what place it originated form or what place considers it its speciality. This list includes puto, bibingka, suman, sapinsapin, cuchinta and other kakanin.
Compared to other countries, the Philippines might be small. But we have one of the most plentiful, varied, unique and delicious delicacies in the world.
What can I say.. we love food!
Photos researched from the Internet.
I am from the Visayas. I was born in Cebu and raised by my uber Bisaya grandparents in Bulacao Talisay Cebu. I have family and friends in the Visayas so I have sampled several delicacies from the Visayas islands.
Cebu favorites: Rosquillos, nghohiong with puso, ampao
Cebu’s dried mangoes, danggit and lechon are a given so I will write about other Cebu delicacies. Cebu’s Liloan Rosquillos are my favorite sweet biscuits. It is perfect with coffee. We have other snack items such as otap and barquillos. The best ones are found in tiny stores in Northern Cebu. In Cebu city, you can order ngohiong. It is chinese lumpia with hot sauce. Have some puso (hanging rice) and RC Cola with it, and you are snacking.. the Cebuano way! My favorite is the small store called “Chinese Ngohiong” across the University of San Carlos where I studied before. Going to Southern Cebu, one passes by Carcar. Carcar is famous for its ampaw which are sweet rice crispies with peanuts and when in Carcar, one must try the highly calorific Chicharon Carcar – deep fried pork rind dipped in vinegar (preferably Sukang Pinakurat).
Bohol favorites: budbod kabog, kalamay and peanut kisses
Bohol is Cebu’s nearby province . In Bohol, my favorite is the budbod kabog. Budbod is called “Suman” in Tagalog. It is made of millet and comes in different flavors. I also love their kalamay. I eat the gooey brown sugar by itself or pair it with bread. Bohol’s Peanut Kisses (egg white cookies )are are exported worldwide.
Bacolod’s Piaya Iloilo’s Pinasugbo or Consilva Dumaguete’s Silvanas
My friend brings paiya from Bacolod. They are the best. The brown sugar with sesame seed filling is thick and is just sweet enough. Pinagsubo from Iloilo is good as a dessert after a meal of lechon. Pinasugbo is made of slices of banana dipped in brown sugar. The best pinagsubo is just soft and chewy. My favorite pasalubong from my friend from Dumaguete are several boxes of San Rival Bakeshop silvanas. So far, these are the best silvanas I have tasted. Best refrigerated.
So there they are — Visayan delicacies. Next: Mindanao.
Photos researched from the Internet.
I love food. I love Filipino delicacies. That is why I have decided to make a 3 series write-up on the different delicacies from different Philippine provinces.
A delicacy is defined as something considered choice to eat. And here in this 7000+ island archipelago, we have many many choices.
My friend has just made me realized that I have traveled to different places in the Philippines albeit several years ago and I have sampled different Filipino delicies. Moreover, I have friends and family from different parts of the archipelago who bring pasalubong evertime they visit. So even if I haven’t gone to these places, at least I get to sample their food!
I’ll start of with Luzon. Right now, I am a Makati resident. Makati has no Makati delicacy to speak of. So I have to remember the time when I visited my uncle in Laguna, the many Manila-Bicol bus trips I had 5 years ago and the Baguio trip I had some years ago.
Quezon’s Pancit Lucban Bicol’s Pili Nut Candy Laguna’s Buko Pie
I used to take the bus to Naga twice a month several years ago. We always have stopovers in Quezon Province. I like those stopvers because I get to eat their Pancit Lucban. I pair it with their homemade Lucban biscuits. And when I arrive in Bicol, it’s pili – pili nut candies of all sizes and shape.
My lola from my mom’s side lived in Laguna. I remember visting her and my tito, again several years ago. Every morning at 6am while we wait for our bus to take us to Manila, we always stop by small stores selling the famous Laguna pies. My favorite is the Buko pie, a close second is the ube pie. I love that they use fresh young buko shreds and that the pie crust is freshly baked.
Pampanga’s Halohalo Baguio’s Delicacies Ilocos’ Royal Bibingka
I haven’t been to Pampanga. But I have been to Razon’s. Razon’s is a restaurant in Greenbelt 1 that has the most delicious halohalo I have ever tasted. Its halohalo has slices of leche flan. Unlike other halo halo where you can taste just the slivers of ice, Razon’s halohalo tastes like creamy caramel without needing to vigorously mix the halohalo ingredients.
Baguio. I have been there a couple of time and my roommate before was a Baguio native. I always love it when she brings Lengua de Gato back. It is a light, thin butter cookie. Baguios has the jams (strawberry being the most famous), but Lengua de Gato is still my favorite. My officemate Frank has been to Vigan and he said that their Royal Bibingka is a must try!
There is still so many. Pampanga’s tocino, Quezon’s longganisa, Laguna’s puto bumbong.. I can go on and on. But I have to stop because there are still more delicacies in.. The Visayas!
Photos are researched from the Internet.
I have discovered the joy of food experiments!
I have been going to Salcedo Saturday Market for several Saturdays this year and I have been a fan their ready-to-eat samosa, freshly prepared pita bread and crostinis and so, so sweet langka from Batangas. I have also discovered Gourmet Kitchen. Gourmet Kitchen has bottled Pesto that I believe is more flavorful and fresher than Marks and Spencer’s pricier version.
I have also discovered Terry Selection, a Gourmet Store in the Podium (although they have a Makati branch). They have fresh olives and cheese. Not the bottled ones, mind you, but the fresh ones in some sort of a marinade.
And yes, meat and fish from Rustans. They have boneless sole, chicken fillet and meat of different cuts.
Well, because of these discoveries(that deserve their own posts), I have tried experimenting with the different ingredients. Just a caveat, I do not have any “Cooking background”. I do not watch cooking shows on a regular basis and I do not have cookbooks. So these are really just experiments.
Experiment 1 – Pork with Almonds Baked in Red Wine and Pesto Linguini
I got the spinach linguini from SM. I just cooked the pasta then added the Pesto from Gourmet Kitchen. I sprinkled parmesan cheese and topped it off with fresh sun-dried tomatoes (from Terry). That’s it!
I got the pork steak cut from Rustans. I marinated it with olive oil, salt, garlic and cracked black pepper for 2 hours. I boiled it for 10 minutes. Then I spread butter on my baking pan, baked the pork in Red Wine from Ralph’s for 20 minutes at 70 degrees Celsius. I topped it with slivers of almonds (from Terry).
I added Pastel for dessert. Pastel is a delicious bun filled with yema. It is Camiguin’s delicacy. This was Frank’s pasalubong to us.
Result:
Pasta: The pasta was not so al dente. The sun-dried tomatoes were so good but it did not complement the flavor of the pesto linquini.
Pork: I should have marinated the pork overnight for that extra flavor. I needed to add more salt to my marinade. Baking in red wine really made a difference. The wine flavor seeped into the meat. After the boiling and baking, the meat was tender. The almonds complemented the meat quite well.
Pastel: Yummy!!!!!
I’m from Cebu, the place where you can get the best lechon in the country. I’m specifically from Talisay, the place where you can get arguably the best lechon in Cebu. This makes me a lechon snob 
. No other lechon, but a Talisay lechon would do. This article made me want to go home to Talisay for the weekend.
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Lechon was originally introduced as part of Spanish cuisine. It is a Spanish word for suckling pig. In Cebu, it connotes a whole roasted pig or lechon baboy. The process of lechon involves the whole pig/piglet being slowly roasted over charcoal. The younger and thicker the pig the tastier. Cebu lechon is so well-known as the best-tasting lechon in the country that some Philippine presidents and celebrities were reputed to have Cebu lechon specially flown from Cebu to Manila for special occasions.
A Cebuano lechon must be stuffed with tanglad (lemongrass). Saba (a local variety of banana) or gabi (taro plant) and other condiments are stuffed inside the pork belly before it is sewn up and roasted on the spit. The tender meat and crispy, delicious skin can stand on their own but can equally go well with any sawsawan (sauce) of your choice (Filipinos love sawsawan!) – a special lechon sauce, ketchup, or bagoong (fish paste) with calamansi.
From: http://www.iagora.com/itravel/icities/philippines/cebu/si_food.html?review_id=1446
http://www.extra-rice.com/cebu/cebu-specialty/
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This is especially good with puso (hanging rice) and suka and sili as sawsawan, and yes, with a ice-cold Coke right after. Yummmmm!!!
I have homecooked meals that consist of canned, frozen or microwavable food most of the time with an occassional dinner or two in restuarants. Sometimes I get fastfood–KFC, McDonalds, Jollibee, the works. Then I discovered the joys of gastonomic exploration every so often. Ah, the joys of the dining experience. But the thing is, there are so many well-known restaurants in Manila you see lining up in Greenbelt, Fort or in the other Malls. This is even not including hotel restaurants. There are even more not-so-well known but equally wonderful restaurants along the side streets of Manila. I made a list of the restaurants I have visited recently. Unfortunately, I could not remember the exact names of the dishes that were ordered. Well, one can always ask the server for recommendations.
Here the the restaurants I like:
For the Food:
1. Taipan
Cuisine: Chinese
Location: on some high floor in the PhilAm Tower along Paseo
One work to describe the fish fillet dish we ordered – Unforgettable!!!! By far, the most delicious Chinese food I have ever tasted. Alas! Only members or their guests can eat in the restaurant. Ahhh.. but why deprive us masses of this gastronomic delight ???
2. Apartment 1B
Cuisine: Continental/Filipino
Location: Lafayette Square in Salcedo Village
They term their cuisine as gourmet comfort food. So they serve meatloaf, pasta, porkchop and even steak. Good food with nice presentation. Their desserts are not to be missed.
3. Gaudi
Cuisine: Spanish
Location: Fort and Greenbelt
If you crave for good meat dishes, Spanish style. Gaudi is the place. Great for group or family dinners with a steak dish to share.
4. Japanese Restaurant in Rustans
Cuisine: well.. Japanese
Location: near the Women’s section in Rustans Makati
A friend who invited me there for lunch said that they have one of the best sushi in Makati. I am no sushi expert but what I tasted was indeed better than sushi I have tasted in the other Japanese restaurants I have been to.
For the Ambiance:
5. Pantalan
Cuisine: Filipino
Location: Along Roxas Boulevard – near the US Embassy
If you go there around 5pm, you can catch a spectular view of the Manila sunset up close.
6. L’Opera
Cuisine: Italian
Location: Fort
Great looking restaurant. They have musicians serenading the diners as well. Great for dates. 
7. Museum Cafe
Cuisine: Mixed (they have a lot of Filipino inspired dishes)
Location: across Ayala Museum
Great for lunch meetings. Also, they serve Sunday buffet brunch from 10AM-2PM with a live jazz performance.
Well, that is my list as far as fancy food goes.
Still, the Cebuano in me is craving for ngohiong, lechon, puso, dugo2x. But I’ll save that post for later. 
These are staples in the kitchen: 
1. A1 Steak Sauce
Perfect for steaks. Del Monte has its own local version but I think that it doesn’t come close to A1. A1’s distinctive tangy and salty taste is good also for any meat dish(pork, beef or chicken). I tried it with porkchop and its great! Sometimes I mix it with rice if my viand is a bit bland.
2. Datu Puti Spiced Vinegar
Good for sinugba or inihaw dishes. It is also great for bulad or tuyo. The spicier the better.
3. Del Monte Tomato Ketchup
The perfect match for fries. Speaking of french fries, I put salt and pepper in my fries (like in the In-and-Out Fries) and then dip it in ketchup. Good for fried chicken, spaghetti and burger. Also great for canned and processed foods like bacon, corned beef, meat loaf. I love putting ketchup in eggs too.
4. Maggi Savor
I usually put it in my pochero or nilaga soup or any soup for that matter.
5. Tabasco (not in the picture)
Great for spicing things up. Mama Sita’s Siling Labuyo is a good substitute. sometimes I mix it with ketchup or mix it with A1 steak sauce for that extra kick!
I’m hungry. =)
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