How To Cook Tinungbo

Ilocos food tinungbo

Tinungbo is the traditional method of cooking rice mostly in the mountainous part of Ilocandia.

Very few this way is being done now, during special occasions and picnic only.

Tinungbo is when you cook rice not using pan but bolo-- a kind of bamboo with thin layer. Bolo is the best kind of bamboo because of thinness that makes the heat penetrate inside and rice easy to cook.

How to cook tinungbo?

1. Choose one node of bamboo and in one end make hole.
2. Put the cleaned rice in the hole.
3. Add right amount of water.
4. Make some fire with firewoods and above it put the nodes of bamboos with rice.
5. Cook in time turning the bamboo once in a while.

Immediately served the cook rice. This is the best time to eat tinungbo, while it is still hot. Serving tinungbo after hours will make the rice harder.

Tinungbo has the distinction of taste because of the bamboo. While cooking may be challenging because of the right amount of heat but having it in the meal is fulfilling.

With rice cookers and modern tech of cooking in the kitchen trying this old school way could be rewarding to our feeling.

Buridibod Dish

Know this, buridibod dish cannot be buridibod without the rootcrop kamote as main ingredient. This makes difference to famous dinengdeng-- another homegrown recipe of Ilocanos.

Of course, one of the vegetable that should be in the recipe is edible tree fruit called allukon. Allukon is ab elongated kind of soft and furry fruit about the length 3 to 5 inches. It is colored green but when fully ripen turn to brown. There's a variety of tree that round shape fruit of allukon that is also edible and most preferred by other regions.

Then there's kumpitis a kind of green and common pod bean but only smaller. The fruit is harvested when not fully ripe because it is the best time to consume the bean.

There may be other ingredients like string beans, squash blossoms and others but the most important is the kamote rootcrop.

One best ingredient to add aside from these vegetables is fish. A grilled or fried tilapya or bangus make this soup based dish very alluring to have in the table. It is not advisable to add kind of meat. Fish just make the dish awesome.

Buridibod is a great alternative against dinengdeng or inabraw and other veggy dishes like pinakbet.

Of course, do not forget the bagguong to saute the the taste to make the dish very Ilocano.

Homecook Sinigang Na Malaga

If there is one dish that Ilocano usually cook, its sinigang. Living mostly in coastal areas, the abundance of fishes just make it one of the favorite main ingredient of the soury soup base dish. And malaga fish is one at the top of the list of the fishes considered for sinigang.

Malaga is an indigenous fish commonly found in the river where the saltwater and freshwater meet. The right salinity of the water makes this flat and mean fish grow suited to what it needs.

How to cook Sinigang Na Malaga

What you need:

3 kg malaga fish

1 bundle of kangkong (horse radish) young leaves

5 pieces non-hot chili

3 okra (lady finger fruit)

Gabi, mashed

1 cup juiced tamarind

3 pieces tomatoes

Onions

Patis (fish sauce)

Seasoning

5 pieces shrimps

2 pieces string beans

PROCEDURE

1.       Boil water

2.       Put mashed gabi and then tomatoes

3.       Put other vegetables like the string beans and cook for a half minute

4.       Put okra and then malaga fish and cook for 2 minutes

5.       Put all other ingredients for 3 to 5 minutes

6.       Serve

Daing Of Santo Tomas La Uniom

Daing

Speaking of daing or dried fish, the town of Santo Tomas of the province of La Union is synonyms to it. Located along the national highway, you'll know you're here because of the aroma of daing along the way.

So, when you speak of danggit or pingka/ bulong unas, daing-pusit among other kinds of dried fish, this is the place to be.

Of course, Ilocano's breakfast will not be completed if daing in vinegar is not around the table. Blame it to the distinctive taste of daing which is salty and sour and sometimes sweet.

According to Elizabeth Galera, agricultural technologist of municipal agriculture of the said town the fishermen who are engage in daing making have their association. Fishermen from barangay Damortis, Narvacan, Cupang, Kasantaan, Ubagan and Cabaroan are mostly engage in daing making.

She said the abundance of many kinds of fishes taught these fishermen to make daing to preserve the supply of fish.

It is now the One Town One Product or OTOP of Santo Tomas.

HOW TO MAKE DAING?

Its not really hard to make daing according to Elizabeth. All you just need is a good amount of salt.

1. Clean the fish thoroughly eliminating the fresh blood. The blood may cause the germs and bacteria of not eliminated. It will also invite flies and other insects.

2. Soak in salt thoroughly.

3. Sun dry the fish by putting in the fish nets. Depending on the intensity of sunlight, sun drying of fish may take one to three days. It also depends of kinds and sizes of the fish.

All the fishes have the same technique of fish drying. Usually, the 3 kilos of fish will just become 1 kilo after drying.

Fishes usually made into daing includes dalag baybay, espada, malaga, baraangan, billit among others.

Level Up In Cacao Products

The town of Salcedo in Ilocos Sur is on the track of making cacao products to the next level. In fact they're celebrating Cacao Festival during the month of March to place their cacao in the map of chocolates.

Tableya, one of the traditional chocolate of Ilocos have the history in this place. During those early years when the old folks gather cacao beans in their backyard tree and made it into tableya. Congressman Eric Singson of Candon City recalled he's buying this choco tablet when he was still a child.

Salcedo now is the major producer in Ilocos of cacao that includes seedlings, fruits, seeds and the products like chocolate, jam, tableya among others.

And they wanted to push to a bigger recognition.

There tableya now is not just wrapped in plastic and papers. It is now beautifully presented with nice packaging and wrapping. The local producers have their designed in very attractive package with the brand name, contents and manufacturing informations.

The tableya could be the best alternative when giving gifts  to special people we have. And the taste is still the same taste of choco tablet our old folks cook for us. Though, of course, as part of innovations, some local manufacturers made some improvement in the taste.

And to make name in the larger map markets they developed their version of dark chocolates and other types of chocolates. We all love chocolates and produced in Salcedo will surely give some exquisite taste on our tongue.

Then come other products like the cacao vinegar and cacao jam.

Well maybe scarcity of chocolates in the whole world in the coming of years will not happen in Ilocos. Cacao seedlings are in full blast to combat the predicted scarcity. The seeds are just keep on multiplying.

No fear, chocolates will not be gone.

Soya Milk

So, this is for vegan's.
Not for those who don't prefer dairies.

The summer bring out this milk from soybeans and being sold as very cold drink. Such a nice quencher when the day's mercury rose to more than 38 degrees Celcius.

And the kids love it because of of different taste from dairy milk. Though some adults skip like the way they skipped taho or tofu.

According to one seller I asked, making soymilk is not really that hard.

"Have to cook the soya beans in water until it become soft. Have to filter the residue and skins and then cook again the liquified soya but this time add some sugar. Put in container or cup then chill in the ref."

Very easy.

Because it is made from soya beans it is vegetarian milk. Packed with the health benefits of the soya.

Just like taho it cost less, cheaper than any kind of milk.

Common Summer Fruits In Ilocos

Ilocos becomes a fruit basket to many endemic and common summer fruits. There are some exotic like the sour fruit allagat and some favorite like sarguelas.

The basket is colorful from the different fruit colors like purple, yellow, red, green, black to orange. Each of the feuit got distinctive taste from sweet, sour and tastless.

And because its some, here are some of the most common fruits that can be found in Ilocos. This fruits are all over the place. Some are being sold in the market though many are just rotting in the branch of the tree.

Kaimito

The tree come only fruits during summer. The round shape fruit become shiny when ripe. During the early stage the feuit is green but when gets ripen it turns to purple, though some remain gree.

It is sweet and juicy. Mostly eaten as it is but some prefer adding some milk. Some want it in blender. It has few seeds in the fruit that can be easily remove. The abundance of the fruit come only during summer that most are wasted under its tree.


Kamantiris/Kamatsili

Some variants call it damortis and in English they call it monkeypod. The ripen fruit pulp varies to white and light red though the skin turns to red from green. Commonly found along river sides but thriving in dry lands. The tree is a kind of big one and the branches have small thorns.

The fruit is a kind of pod. Many of its variants got a harsh taste of fruit even when pinky ripe. But there are varieties that are so sweet and tasty. This is also the kind of kamatsili that birds love to eat. Just like other tree it bear fruit once a year only.

Star Apple Mango

The popular carabao or native mango in the Philippines is the most popular one because of the very nice taste of the fruit.

There is one kind of mango that considered to be best to consume when unripen and just disregarded when fully ripen. This is the star apple mango. The unripen one especially during early stage is slice thinly and dip in bagguong or aramang and the sour taste is just so lovely to mouth. When ripen the skin turn pink and just rotten under the tree.

Chiko

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Also known as sapodilla was introduced in the Philippines through Spanish colonization. Though it said bears fruit twice a year but its the summer  it bear more of this round and brown fruit. Inside the ripen fruit is brown to yellowish. Birds love the fruit. Not all people gonna love the taste that is like sweetened liquor or wine. And during summer, the fruits are all over the area.