FOOD TRIP IN NARVACAN

OTHER than the scenic or rather memorable places of my hometown, one thing that made me so eager to go home again, is the food.

Fortunately, in my latest homecoming, I was not deprived of this rare opportunity to indulge in as many of my favorite Ilocano food as I can. My family, particularly Manong Ben and his wife Cion, were tireless in serving me the food that I crave so much. 

Good thing, Lloyd and Melchor, my classmates in PUP College of Law who joined me in my last visit to Narvacan, joined me in this gastronomic foray. My friends were only familiar with the popular pinakbet, dinengdeng, and the bagnet, while the rest of the Ilocano foods are exotic to them. That’s why I could see either a reluctance of a Fear Factor contestant or that why-not-try attitude when some of these foods were served to them.

Life was tough in Ilocos, but there was always food to give you a bit taste of heaven. Oh my, I have always loved these foods that were served during my homecoming.  

Imbaligtad. This is my number one in the list, because it has always been my usual request that my father would cook one as a welcome treat for me everytime I arrive here for vacation. Unlike the papaitan, which uses beef tripes and innards that are cooked over medium heat until tender, our delicious imbaligtad uses the freshest beef (laman or any lean part). The beef is just stir-fried with garlic, ginger and onion, and some hot chili to spice. Imbaligtad literaly means flipped over (“binaliktad” in Tagalog), so the beef is just quickly stir-fried at high heat on a few turns or flips. The effect is a steaming half-cooked fresh meat that tastes sweet and not rubbery. 

 

Sinanglaw. This is a pinapaitan minus the bitter taste of cow’s papait (a part of the stomach of a ruminant or a bile). Instead of bitterness, it is sourness of sukang Iluko (Ilocos vinegar) or a young tamarind (kamias can be an alternative) that dominates its taste. Thanks to Manong Ben who ushered me and my friends to a well-known sinanglawan in town, those found adjacent to the town hall, for a late-morning breakfast. I haven’t tasted a real sinanglaw (literally means “steamed” in the local dialect) for many years now, although according to my father, that type of sinanglaw we ordered in town is just replication of the better known Vigan sinanglaw which uses meaty portions of the cow, instead of cow’s heart, large intestines, tenderloin, lungs and skin that we usually do here in Narvacan. The ingredients are cut in small sizes and stewed with ginger, onion and pepper. For Melchor and Lloyd (who is from Batangas), sinanglaw tastes a lot like bulalo except the vegetables and ginger-y taste. 

 

Warekwarek. This is sometimes called dinakdakan by the non-Ilocanos. It is usually made of grilled pig head and face, similar to the Kapampangan’s sisig. Pork inards or entrails are also used for our local warekwarek. But I like it best when it contains liver (submerged in vinegar, not cooked or grilled) mixed with pig’s brain (or mayonnaise as alternative ingredient), onions, pepper and sukang Iluko, and spiked with calamansi. I usually prepare a dinakdakan at home for my kids and they really love its taste. And sisig, which is very close to warekwarek in taste and presentation, is my all-time favorite in carinderias. But whenever I have the chance to go back North I always look for the original warekwarek of my hometown. 

Kilawing kambing. The real thing or Ilocano way of this kilawen (eaten raw) uses the goat skin and meat, which is sliced into small sizes or thin strips just after it is grilled. It is mixed with sukang Iluko and finely chopped fresh onions and ginger, seasoned with salt and pepper, and usually with the goat’s papait for more flavor. I always associate kilawing kambing with a big clan reunion in Ilocos. We can’t have one without this favorite pulutan of the Ilocanos. During my youth in barrio Nanguneg, I would always help in the preparation, together with my brothers, cousins, and uncles, from the pulpog (burning off the hair of the carcass through fire) up to the slicing of the grilled meat and other ingredients to the tasting and the ensuing tagayan or drinking for celebration. That’s why for my father’s birthday last November, I volunteered to share an amount to buy a goat for his party, just to ensure that we have one for the gathering. 

Bagnet. This Narvacan delicacy is a dish of deep-fried chunks of pork similar to the Tagalog’s lechon kawali. What distinguishes bagnet from other fried pork dishes is the tremendously blistered skin, because it is fried longer, which literally transforms the pork skin into crackling, and the exterior portion of the meat well-browned and very crispy. How I love that succulent, flaky crisp pieces of skin and meat oozing with fatty goodness, especially when dipped in bagoong with crushed (I prefer this to sliced) tomato or calamansi! Other than the Narvacan longganisa, bagnet is my favorite take-home goodies from our town. This time, Manong Ben brought me and my friends to the market to buy for ourselves our take-home from a stack of newly fried bagnet at a stall. 

 

Jumping salad. These are shrimps straight from the net of a local fisherman to the dining table. They are literally jumping from the bowl while they are eaten raw. The rawness of the food makes first-timers really go argghh! But not to the adventurous kind like Melchor and Lloyd. I even teased Melchor to just open his mouth and wait for the shrimp to jump into his palate and chomp it at once. And to build up the activity, making the shrimps jump higher, I squeeze fresh calamansi or a drop a pinch of salt over the live shrimps. For the sawsawan (dip), I would pour patis or fish sauce (bagoong or soy sauce is a good alternative) into saucers.   

Ginataang palaka. It was Manong Ben’s idea to buy a kilo of frogs, which were already skinned to tender white flesh. “Let your friends, know we’re eating them,” he told me. Everyone needs to remember his or her first time, he would say, that is, eating this exotic food which to some is yucky or kadiri. I myself hadn’t eaten this childhood favorite of mine for years. When cooked, the dish looked like diminutive drumsticks on a milky soup. “It tasted just like chicken,” I had to explain to Lloyd and Melchor when a bowl of the dish was served to them for lunch. They were easily convinced and had another serving. My memories of these edible farm frogs are actually not limited to just eating but also catching them in the rice farms during rainy season in the barrio. Those were part of my happy childhood that I cherish to this day. 

 

Maritangtang. Next to tirem (local name for oyster) and unnok (a kind of clam), maritangtang (sea urchin) is one seafood that I crave so much when I’m home. According to my sister Mahren, this delicacy, called uni by the Japanese, is very expensive when ordered in a five-star hotel where she is working. Its yellowish flesh is the most expensive topping for sushi due to its scarcity in Japan. But this edible sea urchin were abundant in Ilocos, and it is sold very cheap, but not as cheap as when they were sold decades ago, according to my father who told me also that people of old would simply gathered them during low tide. During our last picnic in Nalvo beach of nearby Sta. Maria town with my classmates, my father upon my prodding, went to buy freshly harvested maritangtang worth P400 from a village sea pen. We roasted each maritangtang, and when it is done, we cracked the shell open and scooped that scrumptious yellow flesh. Actually almost everything inside the spiny shell is edible, including the briny water inside that tastes delicious as well. 

Dinengdeng. Enjoying a serving of my favorite dinengdeng, the real one as it is traditionally cooked by my mother, or my sister-in-law Cion, is another highlight of my food trip. Unlike the more popular pinakbet, dinengdeng, also called inabraw, uses fewer vegetables and contains more bagoong soup base. It is cooked with practically any vegetable that can be placed in the pot, and then simmered together until cooked. We, Ilocanos are, without a doubt, a vegetable-eating people. I think a lot of it has to do with the abundance of vegetables that are common ingredients of our dinengdeng, such as eggplant, squash fruit or its blossoms, string beans, okra (ladyfinger), paria (bitter gourd), saluyot (jute), marunggay (moringa) leaves or fruits, kabatiti (luffa), pallang (winged bean), kamote (sweet potato) tops and roots, and kangkong leaves. I like the dish with bits of roasted fish, like dalag or bangus, for added flavor.  

source of buridobod photo: pinakbet.wordpress.com

Buridibud. I have been longing to try this dish, which is another version of dinengdeng, using the combination of alukon (green worm like flowers of a local tree), patani, and diced kamote to give texture to the broth, and some eggplant, kumpitis (a local pod) and marunggay leaves. Roasted fish, especially the local fish called bunog, is a good sahog or flavoring. It’s truly a unique Ilocano concoction of what’s sweet and pulpy to go with a variety of vegetables, leaves, fruits and tubers. I have also tried preparing it at home in Bulacan with my kids, and among the vegetable dishes that I introduced them, buridibod to them is one of the best. But nothing could beat my mother’s own version, of course.

Melchor and Lloyd

I’VE listed 10 here, but I should have more if I was able to gobble other exotic Ilocano food that I crave so much, such as any dish with mushroom (uong saba) and the ipon (a small fish endemic to Ilocos). Some of the local delicacies are missing in my last vacation because they are seasonal.

So I can now characterize my vacation as full of hearty burps.