Philippine Food Illustrated

Boodle fight

2025-08-24T04:38:00.015+08:00

boodle fight - /bo-dol fayt/ [All over the Philippines] a form of dining; dw Eng. [kit and caboodle > kit 'n' caboodle > boodle >boodle fight] [n.] A communal Filipino style of dining in which an assortment of food is laid out together on a shared surface - typically a long table or the ground - lined with whole banana leaves. Participants eat side by side, often using their hands, symbolizing camaraderie, equality, and shared experience. Originally rooted in military tradition, the boodle fight emphasizes unity over formality.

Usage: "The family celebrated with a boodle fight, feasting on grilled seafood and rice spread across banana leaves."

Other name:

a.k.a. boodle feast anywhere in the Philippines.

A boodle fight is not a dish; it is a way or act of dining together.

A boodle fight isn’t just about the food spread out on banana leaves. Instead, it’s about the action and the spirit of sharing and dining together. A boodle fight comes from camaraderie and closeness among those who share and partake in the meal. The act of contributing food and reaching in to grab a share symbolizes shared struggle, perseverance, mutual care, and the desire to relive moments of togetherness.

Boodle fight is not defined by the type or abundance of food, but by the spirit of collective effort and unity. Even if the table offers nothing but rice, no viand, or just snacks and finger food, it still counts as a boodle fight - as long as the reason for sharing the meal is rooted in shared memories, collective experiences, camaraderie, closeness, and most often with the struggles and hardships they once faced together.

Without camaraderie and collective sharing, such dining is not a boodle fight - it’s just a regular gathering of diners.

It doesn’t matter whether you eat with your hands, with a spoon and fork, or even with chopsticks. In a boodle fight, eating your way as you like is very much welcome.

Why this? Why that? Because the origin of boodle fight is not rooted in social customs or ethnolinguistic traditions. The origin of the Filipino-style boodle fight comes from the struggle and solidarity of our military forces - from the time they entered training, endured trials, served their duties, and eventually left or retired. At the end of their training, mission, or when they see each other again or have a reunion, they would celebrate their collective struggle and experiences through a boodle fight. It was their version of having a farewell, a celebration, or a reunion dinner - this is their version of dispedida and their desire to relive moments of togetherness.

A true boodlefight must have the following elements:

Ambagan – contribution, of any food and in any form.
Samahan – camaraderie or fellowship.
Sabayang pagsisikap – collective struggle.

By now, we’ve adapted and Filipinized the boodle fight - making it to look extravagant, distorting the original meaning, and the misconception that you must dine in a kamayan style (eating with bare hands) and claiming Filipinos invented it. The truth is, it did not originate in the Philippines, and it is not a dish.

The Origin of Boodle Fight

Based on The Journal of American Folk-Lore - Volume 4 (1891), there was this New England word kitcaboodle that derived from the phrase Kit and caboodle that was later on shortened to kit ‘n’ caboodle. The kit refers to persons and caboodle to their belongings.

Journal of American Folk-Lore, Volume Part 1-2, (1891)

Then in 1994, Paul Dickson wrote in his book, War Slang, A Collection of American Fighting Words and Phrases Since the Civil War, attributing boodle fight to have derived from American boodle, which is a party foodstuff consisting of cake, candy, ice cream, pastries, etc.. Dickson defined Boodle Fight as a party at which boodle is served. He also identified a boodle bag and defined it as a kit or Army haversack into which one stuffs boodle.

War Slang, A Collection of American Fighting Words and Phrases Since the Civil War (1994)

Fast forward to the post-World War II era in the Philippines. After having completed their military training or service, Filipino soldiers would gather whatever provisions remained in their bags and lay them out together, either on a long table or directly on the ground lined with a spread of whole banana leaves. This communal meal became their way of holding a despedida, or farewell gathering. They called it a boodle fight.

Boodle fight of Scout Ranger Course Class 193 of 2015
(Photo courtesy of Scout Ranger Training School, Camp Tecson, San Miguel, Bulacan)

The dining was informal and practical. Soldiers would eat with their clean hands, quickly and efficiently, just as they had been trained to act in a snappy manner with discipline and urgency. It wasn’t about ceremony or luxury; it was about shared experience, camaraderie, and honoring the bond formed through service.

Boodle fight of actual Philippine soldiers in Sulu (Photo shared by Proud Bisaya on Facebook)

Now, boodle fight can be for anybody. It's no longer exclusive to the military. Even the politicians use it during the election campaign as their guise of pakikisama sa masa to gain popularity and collect more votes.

Boodle Fight: From Camaraderie to Celebration

Over time, the traditional boodle fight evolved into what is now known as a boodle feast. While the original practice emphasized shared struggle and camaraderie, the modern version often centers on the food itself - as a reward or token of celebration for an achievement or milestone.

Today, a boodle feast can serve many purposes: it can be a way to bond with friends and family, a gesture of appreciation, or a special treat for someone meaningful. Though its roots lie in military tradition, its spirit of togetherness continues to thrive in Filipino culture, now with a more festive and abundant flair.

Personal notes

A graduation feast to remember: Our family boodle feast experience.

In 2012, we marked a major milestone in our family - my son's college graduation. After the ceremony, there was no question about how we would celebrate. We headed straight to Seafood Island at the Mall of Asia (MOA) in Pasay City for a dinner that was as festive as the occasion itself.

A treat to remember at Seafood Island in MOA, Pasay City. We had this Tali Beach themed Boodle Feast to celebrate my son's college graduation in 2012.

We chose the Tali Beach Boodle Feast, a vibrant spread that perfectly captured the spirit of Filipino communal dining. The table, designed for six, was just right for our family - no extra seats, no missing faces. It was a family-only dinner date, and it felt intimate, joyful, and deeply meaningful.

The feast itself was a visual and culinary delight. Laid out on banana leaves, the Tali Beach theme came alive with a generous array of skewered grilled fish, squid, and eggplant, alongside steamed shrimps, mussels, crab, pork BBQ, lots of rice, and a refreshing touch of fresh lato (seagrapes) and seasonal fresh fruits. Every bite was a celebration, not just of food, but of achievement, togetherness, and love.

That evening wasn’t just about dinner. It was about honoring hard work, sharing joy, and creating a memory that still brings a smile years later. If you’re ever looking for a way to celebrate something big with the people who matter most, a boodle feast might just be the perfect way to do it.

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References:

The Journal of American Folk-Lore, Volume 4, 1891.
Dickson,Paul; War Slang A Collection of American Fighting Words and Phrases Since the Civil War, 1994.

Continue to follow my blogs. You can also follow and learn more by joining us in our Facebook group account of Philippine Food Illustrated (Private) and Philippine Food Illustrated (Public). It is my pleasure to rediscover the known and the least known things or the unheard ones, and put them here for everyone to find, learn, and treasure.

Thank you for all the encouragement and enthusiasm. I also need moral support, prayers, and anything else that can uplift my spirit and keep my good reasons.

If you are pleased or happy with this blog, please share the PHILIPPINE FOOD ILLUSTRATED. It is energizing that my blog is shared with others.

Edgie Polistico

For more about Filipino food, use our Philippine Food, Cooking, and Dining Dictionary. It is OPEN and FREE.

Kamatis Iloko

2023-01-18T06:22:00.021+08:00

Banna, Ilocos Norte. March 23, 2017.

kamatis Iloko - /ka-ma-tis i-lo-ko/ Ilocano fruit vegetable [n.] pumpkin-shaped tomato of Ilocos regions.

Local common names:

Bakka-bakka in Ilocano (Ilocos Sur)
Kakamatisan in Ilocano (Ilocos Norte)
Kamatis Tagalog or kinalabasa in Tagalog, but the fruit is slightly different as its bottom side has no warty formation.
Binakat in Cebuano (particularly western Leyte), the fruit is slightly different as its bottom side has no warty formation.

Found these pumpkin-shaped tomatoes in the public market of Banna, Ilocos Norte. They look more like a flower to me.

Notice the one behind looks like a red rose. You are looking at the bottom side of that tomato.

I am fascinated by their bright colors and they taste good in tinola and kinilaw. Ano tawag nyo dito?

In Visayas, they have a similarly shaped tomato they called binakat, much like a tiny kalabasa (squash) without the warty underside, which I could not find easily in the public market the past few years.

Considered by some as an heirloom cultivar of pumpkin-shaped tomato in the country, which we can no longer find in the local market as farmers now switched to rounded and smooth-skinned hybrid varieties of tomatoes that yield more fruits, have thicker flesh, longer shelf life, and are tolerant to pests and diseases.

Regrettably, local farmers are not saving the seeds of this heirloom tomato. Thus, we can no longer see them grown on the farm these days. If you happen to find this tomato in the rural gardens, treasure it. Don't waste your chance to save this tomato from getting extinct. This is a kind of tomato with a malinamnam taste. Best for tinola, kinilaw, pakbet, and even in a salad.

Locals from Ilocos Sur called this tomato a bakka bakka. In Ilocos Norte, it is called kakamatisan.

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____________________________

Continue to follow my blogs. You can also follow and learn more by joining us in our Facebook group account of Philippine Food Illustrated (Private) and Philippine Food Illustrated (Public). It is my pleasure to rediscover the known and least known things or the unheard ones and put them here for everyone to find, learn, and treasure.

Thank you for all the encouragement and enthusiasm. I need also moral support, prayers, and anything else that can uplift my spirit and keep my good reasons.

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Edgie Polistico

For more about Filipino food, use our Philippine Food, Cooking, and Dining Dictionary. It is OPEN and FREE.

Inagonon

2023-01-10T03:02:00.022+08:00

Inagonon - /i-na-gun-on/ Waray [eastern Leyte] pre-colonial dish [n.] fish cooked in vinegar.

Similar local dishes

a.k.a. inagun-on in Waray
inon-on in Bicolano
inun-onan in Cebuano, Boholano, Waray (present day)
paksiw in Tagalog
paksi in Capampangan
nilengla in Ilocano

piyalam in Tausug

A pre-colonial Waray-waray dish in Eastern Visayas. It is the inon-on of Bicolanos; the inun-onan of Cebuanos, Boholanos, and present-day Warays; paksiw of Tagalogs; paksi of Capampangans; nilengla of Ilocanos; and piyalam of Tausugs. The grandparents of present-day adobos.

Photo credit to Kyle Closets on Facebook

Inagonon of Butuan

I could only trace inagunon (or inagun-on) still exists in Butuan where mangko (a.k.a. pirit or tulingan, bullet tuna) is the kind of fish used in this dish. Why inanogon is in Butuan is not a puzzle at all. Leyteños brought it there. Demographically, the populace of Agusan del Norte (where you can find Butuan City) include a large number of migrating Leyteños. In fact, I have a number of close relatives there who came from western Leyte and relatives of my wife from eastern Leyte.

You know this dish?

The Warays of pre-colonial eastern Visayas (Leyte) used to sing the song Tagay preserved by Myles Mariano in a literary work he shared, Philippine Literature. The song mentioned inagonon as their pulutan (food served in drinking session).

An Ilocano friend of mine shared an anecdote - that while in Grade 6 (about five decades ago), he was with a choral group and sang the song they fondly called Igduhol-duhol and won 2nd place at the regional level competition. His younger sister made it to the national championship and won. They were told that it was a favorite song of former First Lady Imelda Marcos, who is a Waray from eastern Leyte. The kids were trained to sing and play the piano by a certain Sister Alice. Apparently unfamiliar with the Waray language, Sister Alice told the kids it was a Visayan love song. Convinced, the kids sang it to the best tune of their hearts, and they won! Hahaha.

The song was actually titled Tagay and it mentioned inagonon as a pulutan. If the fish is actually cooked and preserved in vinegar, it is something to think of why inagonon should be consumed all the way in one day or else they could not have it anymore the next day. The reason must not be because it would spoil soon, but peer pressure to finish a serving so they could be served with more drinks and pulutan. Binge drinking in those times was known to last for days or a week.

I made my own translation of the song as the one shared by Myles Mariano appeared to be lost in translation on some of the lines. Obviously, the one who wrote that translation is not familiar with the Waray language.

By the way, I still don’t know the tune of the song. I expect to receive the audio from a friend who introduced me to this very old Waray-waray song a few years ago.

All photos by Edgie Polistico are copyrighted.

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If you liked this blog, please share.

Let us know your opinion on the subject. Feel free to comment in the comment section, below. It is important for us to know what you think.

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Continue to follow my blogs. You can also follow and learn more by joining us in our Facebook group account of Philippine Food Illustrated (Private) and Philippine Food Illustrated (Public). It is my pleasure to rediscover the known and least known things or the unheard ones and put them here for everyone to find, learn, and treasure.

Thank you for all the encouragement and enthusiasm. I need also moral support, prayers, and anything else that can uplift my spirit and keep my good reasons.

If you are pleased or happy with this blog, please share the PHILIPPINE FOOD ILLUSTRATED. It is energizing that my blog is shared with others.

Edgie Polistico

For more about Filipino food, use our Philippine Food, Cooking, and Dining Dictionary. It is OPEN and FREE.

Chiton (kibet chicharon)

2022-12-28T20:57:00.005+08:00

chiton - /tsi-tón/ Tagalog [Quezon province] fried snack; dw Eng. chiton [sea mollusk with oval flattened body covered with a shell of overlapping plates] [n.] chiton crackling; a crisp fried meat of chiton.

Other local common name:

a.k.a. kibet chicharon in Tagalog-Quezon

Chiton is pronounced as /kháy-ton/ in English, and /tsi-tón/ in Tagalog. In Quezon, kibet refers to raw or processed meat of the mollusks, but when fried into chicharon, it is called chiton by the locals.

Chiton is a Tagalog-Quezonian [Quezon province] delicacy, also known as kibet chicharon in Tagalog-Quezon. It is a crisp fried meat of kibet, known in English as chiton (Chiton densiliratus), a kind of oval flattened sea mollusk with overlapping shell coverings on its back. It crawls and firmly attaches itself to rocks on the seashore.

The kibets are boiled for about at least 30 minutes to soften them. The shells are then removed, the skin around the edges (girdle) is scraped off, and the thick skin of its sole is peeled off. The cleaned kibets are boiled again on medium heat for about an hour to remove the stench and then seasoned with salt, ground pepper, and crushed garlic towards the end of boiling. Other flavorings or spices of choice might also be added. The water used in boiling is drained and kibets are sundried the whole day, or until completely dry and stiff. The final step is the deep-frying of dried kibets until they become crisp, golden-brown chicharon.

Capa's chiton, manufactured in Alvares Village, Lusacan, Tiaong, Quezon. I bought this from the Pasciolco Pasalubong and Restaurant along the Diversion Road of Brgy. Lumingon, Tiaong, Quezon (23 August 2019) at PHP80.00 per pack then.

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Related topics:

YouTube video: Unang Hirit, "Sarap at Lutong ng Seafood Chicharon sa Tiaong, Quezon," Oct. 25, 2017, https://youtu.be/LU-7tXhgjLQ
YouTube video: Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho, "Pinoy exotic foods, yummy o yucky?" Nov. 05, 2017, https://youtu.be/YPGyiElcKFE

Continue to follow my blogs. You can also follow and learn more by joining us in our Facebook group account of Philippine Food Illustrated (Private) and the Philippine Food Illustrated (Public). It is my pleasure to rediscover the known and least known things or the unheard ones and put them here for everyone to find, learn, and treasure.

Thank you for all the encouragement and enthusiasm. I need also moral support, prayers, and anything else that can uplift my spirit and keep my good reasons.

If you are pleased or happy with this blog, please share the PHILIPPINE FOOD ILLUSTRATED. It is energizing that my blog is shared with others.

Edgie Polistico

For more about Filipino food, use our Philippine Food, Cooking, and Dining Dictionary. It is OPEN and FREE.

bu-o

2022-12-28T04:41:00.009+08:00

Pictures not mine. Photo credit to the owner, Chef Theodore Day Salonga.

bo-u - /bu-ow/ Cordilleran fungi (Benguet province, Mountain Province, Ifugao province, and Abra province) [n.] Cordilleran false truffle.

Other local common names:

bu-o or bu-buo in Bokod, Benguet - pronounced as /bu-ow/ and /bu bu-ow/
bu-o in Mountain Province - pronounced as /bu-ow/
kankannool in Abra Province - pronounced as /kan-kan-no-'l/
atayan in Sagada, Mountain Province - pronounced as /a-ta-yan/

Some claimed they found truffles in the Philippines but only to find out that what they found was not a real truffle but a local version of False Truffle (Scleroderma polyrhizum) often found in the mountains of Benguet province of Cordillera Administrative Region in central Luzon, Philippines.

Local food writers, bloggers, and vloggers unofficially gave this ball-shaped fungus an English name as the Bokod Truffle, Benguet Truffle, or Cordilleran Truffle, dubiously introducing and attracting truffle enthusiasts. It is misleading being that Cordilleran bu-o is not a real truffle. Opportunists even pass on and marketed this Cordilleran wild mushroom as an expensive Philippine truffle. Be wary that the taste and aroma of bu-o are insignificant and far behind from the real truffle.

Bu-o would spontaneously sprout on the ground at the start of rainy seasons (year-end in the Philippines) towards the end of summer (mid-year) of the following year. It is not like the real truffle that would grow underground (subterranean) and be classified as among the tubers. Real truffle often needs a trained sniffing dog to easily detect and find one. However, in Cordillera, you don't need a sniffing dog to find a bu-o as you can easily find it sprouting out on the ground.

While still young, bu-o is completely white inside and looks similar to button mushrooms. Young bu-o is savored by Cordillerans just like the way usual mushrooms are taken as food. As the bu-o matures, the inside would develop dark spots and starts to look like truffles.

The semblance in the appearance of the inside part of matured bu-o, particularly when cut, could easily fool anyone to assume it as a true truffle. But its thick outer layer (skin) is a giveaway telltale that it is not a true truffle.

In Cordillera, bu-o is prepared by peeling the thick light-brown skin off and slicing thinly the black inside portion. The slices are sautéed in garlic, onion, and ginger and added with vegetables (e.g. sliced green beans, kangkong, or chayote) towards the end of sautéing. To enhance taste, the dish is seasoned with a dash of salt, pepper, and pouring drops of vinegar and soy sauce.

So far, no incident of toxicity or poisoning had been reported or recorded yet from those who have taken this false truffle of central Luzon. Nonetheless, one has to be extra careful when taking this as food. Some mycology experts warned that this species could be toxic and may cause gastrointestinal disorders or even death. One has to be prudent when serving this wild mushroom. The adverse effect may take some time to manifest. Meanwhile, we don't find yet any known chemical sampling and toxicity test of bu-o to settle this issue. More studies and research are needed for this. If you know something, share it for awareness.

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References:

Earth balls(Scleroderma), https://www.childrens.health.qld.gov.au/poisonous-plant-earth-balls-scleroderma/

Continue to follow my blogs. You can also follow and learn more by joining us in our Facebook group account of Philippine Food Illustrated (Private) and the Philippine Food Illustrated (Public) It is my pleasure to rediscover the known and least known things or the unheard ones and put them here for everyone to find, learn, and treasure.

Thank you for all the encouragement and enthusiasm. I need also moral support, prayers, and anything else that can uplift my spirit and keep my good reasons.

If you are pleased or happy with this blog, please share the PHILIPPINE FOOD ILLUSTRATED. It is energizing that my blog is shared with others.

Edgie Polistico

For more about Filipino food, use our Philippine Food, Cooking, and Dining Dictionary. It is OPEN and FREE.

pakdol

2022-12-27T14:44:00.014+08:00

Pakdol - /pak-dol/ Waray [Eastern Leyte] soupy dish [n.] A soupy dish of stewed marrow-rich shank or hocks and knee of carabao.

Similar Dishes

bulalo of Batangueño and Tagalog
kansi of Ilonggo
pochero of Cebuano

Pakdol is a Waray soupy carabao dish of eastern Leyte. Originally made with a big cut of the carabao's upper leg (shank) or any cut portion of the upper leg down to the knee joints (hocks) and may also include a portion of the lower leg or any part of the limb in general.

Pakdol is often mistaken by diners, food writers, and bloggers that pakdol is a kind of nilagang baka when in fact it is of carabao (karabaw to the Warays).

When the carabao population dwindled and became restricted or limited in slaughterhouses, it was then that the shanks and knees of cows were used as substitutes. Pakdol's lesser version uses the pig's ham part complete with a portion of marrow-rich long bone and ball-joint of the pig's hip, stifle, elbow, or shoulder joints.

The big cut (slice) of this meat-bone part is stewed for 2 to 3 hours or until the meat and tendons around the bone are very tender but not letting the meat fall off from the bone.

A marrow-rich shank of carabao.

Pakdol is a soupy dish, comparably similar to the bulalo of Batangas only that the bulalo is originally of shanks and hocks or knees of a cow. Yes, Batangas bulalo is of cow, while pakdol is of carabao.

The broth of pakdol is basically seasoned only with salt and peppercorn, it may have a little amount of repolyo (cabbage), pechay (bok choy), and sitaw (string bean or yardlong bean). Optional add-ons are sibuyas pula (red onion), garlic, ginger, tanglad (lemon grass), tomatoes, and a souring fruit called aslum by Warays or the Garcinia binucao (batuan in Ilonggo).

As years went by, pakdol evolved or had fusion with other Philippine regional cuisines. There are those who would use similar incidental ingredients of Batangas bulalo dish, like adding corncob of yellow corn and/or ripe saging saba (plantain).

Occasionally, there are also those who would add gabi (taro) or white ube to thicken the soup slightly and add a savory creamy taste.

Pakdol is best taken when piping hot as the tallow (wax-like fats called sebo) would start to form and stick stubbornly on the surface and around the serving bowl when the broth is no longer warm.

The sebo (tallow) of carabao meat are starting to build up as tiny circles of floating wax when the broth cools down.

A serving of pakdol in Dahil Sa Iyo Fastfood, one of Tacloban City's oldest restaurants specializing this soupy dish until now.

Be wary that most restaurants and eateries in eastern Visayas are heavy users of vetsin (monosodium glutamate or MSG) as a seasoning in soupy dishes. It's OK if you got used to it. Otherwise, you better inquire if MSG was used in cooking before you ask for a serving if in case you are sensitive or not OK with vetsin. If the dish is yet to be prepared, ask the server or resto staff to tell the cook not to put MSG in your dish.

Dahil Sa Iyo Fastfood at 66 Real Street corner Burgos Street, Downtown, Tacloban City in Leyte province of Philippines.

The restaurant, Dahil Sa Iyo Fastfood, was named after the favorite song of Waray-Leyteño Imelda Romualdez Marcos, the wife of former President Ferdinand E. Marcos. The admiration of the resto owner to Mrs. Marcos led them to name this old-timer dining place after the First Lady's favorite song.

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Continue to follow my blogs. You can also follow and learn more by joining us in our Facebook group account of Philippine Food Illustrated (Private) and the Philippine Food Illustrated (Public) It is my pleasure to rediscover the known and least known things or the unheard ones and put them here for everyone to find, learn, and treasure.

Thank you for all the encouragement and enthusiasm. I need also moral support, prayers, and anything else that can uplift my spirit and keep my good reasons.

If you are pleased or happy with this blog, please share the PHILIPPINE FOOD ILLUSTRATED. It is energizing that my blog becomes one of the reasons why someone is happy and smiling.

Edgie Polistico

For more about Filipino food, use our Philippine Food, Cooking, and Dining Dictionary. It is OPEN and FREE.

mango chocolate

2021-12-06T04:42:00.160+08:00

mango chocolate - /mang-go tso-ko-leyt/ (Cebuano sweet; dw Eng. mango + chocolate) [n.] chocolate coated dried mango.

Other local name:

a.k.a. choco mangga in Cebuano

The ripe or rareripe mango fruit is peeled and sliced into thin slabs. The slices are blanched or steamed in boiling sugar syrup added with a flavoring of choice.

The cooked sliced mango is strained and then dried either by sun drying or by heating in the oven. Big manufacturers used the “forced air dryer” method that utilizes a heater system to warm the air that is then blown using an industrial fan mechanism to dry the cooked sliced mangoes laid on wire mesh.

Philippine Brand mango chocolate by Profood International Corporation (Central Visayas Philippines).

When dried, the mango is set to cool and then dipped in melted chocolate and set to stand until the chocolate hardens to coat the dried mango. Dry dark chocolate is commonly used for melted chocolate. The chocolate is melted using the bain marie (or double boiler) technique. The chocolate may also be flavored with vanilla essence or vanillin.

Mango Chocolate by Cacao de Davao is dried mango chips coated with 75% dark cacao chocolate that is made with cacao beans that are grown, harvested, and sundried from Davao.

Mango chocolate is pioneered and popularized in Cebu as a sweet treat. Originating as the famous Cebu dried mango that became a popular pasalubong.

Philippine Brand mango chocolate by Profood International Corporation (Central Visayas Philippines)

The Cebu Best Mango Chocolate, which was launched in early 2011, claimed to be the first and original chocolate-dipped dried mango introduced in the market and was given as a gift to Pope Francis (Jorge Mario Bergogli) during his Papal Visit to the Philippines in 2015.

Mango Chocolate by Dutché Chocolates Philippines.

The Cebu Best Mango Chocolate also served as diplomatic giveaways, airline treats, and snacks for presidential flights.

Cebu Best Mango Chocolate are dried mangoes covered with delightful Belgian chocolate. It claimed to be the first and original chocolate-dipped dried mango introduced in the market.
Photo courtesy by Cebu Best Mango Chocolate Fabecook page (@CebuBestMango)

There are now many makers of mango chocolate in the country that carry their own brand names.

The other name for mango chocolate is choco mangga.

Choco Mangga by R&M Preserves is made with chewy mango strips half-covered in velvety chocolate. It comes in dark and white chocolate variants that received the Golden Shell Award.

Related posts:

Evergreen mango

Miracle fruit

All photos by Edgie Polistico are copyrighted.

References:

Cebu Best, Our Story, http://www.cebubestmango.com/#OurStory
Olchondra, Riza T. “Pioneering R&M levels up from dried mangoes,” Philippine Daily Inquirer, July 26, 2013, https://business.inquirer.net/134567/pioneering-rm-levels-up-from-dried-mangoes

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Continue to follow my blogs. You can also follow and learn more by joining us in our Facebook group. Have more bits and pieces about our kind of food, ingredients, and ways of cooking, dining, and knowing food culture across the 7,641 islands of the Philippines. I will search for more and continue to share my findings. It is my pleasure to rediscover the known and least known things or the unheard ones and put them here for everyone to find, learn, and treasure.

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Edgie Polistico

Parirutong

2021-11-29T03:40:00.117+08:00

parirutong - /pa-ri-ru-tong/ Tagalog [Quezon province] snack; dw Tag. [Quezon] parirutong [a variety of dark purple rice] [n.] purple rice pancake.

Other local name:

a.k.a. maruyang parirutong in Tagalog (Lucena City, Tayabas, and Pagbilao, Quezon)

This parirutong of Quezon province is a tasty and easy-to-prepare rice snack. It is made with ground purple rice (non-glutinous) mixed with enough water and stirred well into a flowing or thin batter. The mixture is added with strips of buko (scraped soft meat of the young coconut) and sugar. A ladle-scoop of the mixture is pan-fried, similar to when you cook a Filipino hot cake (pancake).

Parirutong is cooked similar to pancake. Here how it is done in the public market of Sariaya, Quezon.

No yeast or baking soda is added but normally the batter would raise and bubble like a pancake when pan-fried. It is flipped to cook the other side and removed right away from the pan when it is dry.

Parirutong is traditionally served on a banana leaf and eaten as is with no need for spread or toppings, and often paired with hot coffee or an ice-cold softdrink (soda).

A serving of parirutong in the public market of Sariaya, Quezon.

It tastes like a bibingka sa pugon and is among the favorite snacks of the locals.

I found this parirutong in the old public market of Sariaya, Quezon. I wondered what else more do we have in Quezon province that we do not knew yet.

You can find this parirutong in the Southern Tagalog region (Calabarzon). One thing is for sure, many of you in Metro Manila and nearby towns and cities are not aware until now that we have this tasty rice snack in Quezon province though this has been here for many generations already.

The parirutong of Sariaya, Quezon.

Personal note

Philippine cuisine is continually evolving. Filipino cooks are no longer restricted to modifying and improving traditional foods. When cooking parirutong, you may add more ingredients to give it a twist. Try adding some cheese, milk, egg, flavoring, or aromatics. Adding a teaspoonful or two of yeast or baking soda and let stand for one hour before cooking can make the rice pancake soft and fluffy. You may also spread it with your favorite syrup or pastry toppings. Instead of serving it flat on the plate, you may roll, fold, or cut it into pieces and do innovative plating ideas. Serve it by pairing it with whatever pleases you, and enjoy a serving any time of the day.

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Related posts:

Tarang bulan

Daral

Bibingka royal

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alugbati sauce

2018-12-27T16:58:00.061+08:00

alugbati sauce - /a-lug-bá-ti sows/ Caviteño and Tagalog sauce\dip; dw Tag. alugbati [Malabar nightshade, a.k.a. Malabar spinach] + Eng. sauce) [n.] dip sauce with alugbati fruit extract.

We sourced this dip from the Siglo Modern Filipino and learned that the base ingredient used in this alugbati sauce is a naturally sweet, ripe Tagaytay pineapple. The pineapple fruit is peeled and processed well in a fruit blender and then cooked with the alugbati fruit extract. No sugar added. The bright red-purple extract of ripe alugbati fruits serves as the natural food color. Alugbati is a Malabar nightshade in English, though in some other parts of the world, it is also known as the Malabar spinach or Ceylon spinach.

We also researched more about alugbati sauce and found that root crops can also be used as a base in the sauce. Any white root crop will do, such as cassava, gabi (taro), white yam, patatas (potato), or white camote (sweet potato). Other ingredients that can be added are butter, broth, sugar, salt, pepper, and other seasonings. The broth can be chicken, beef, or pork.

The alugbati sauce of Tagaytay City's Siglo Modern Filipino resto.

I first saw this bright red-purple sauce as the creation of Siglo Modern Filipino restaurant in Tagaytay City two years ago. This caught me by surprise. Like you, I wondered how comes the alugbati becomes too red-purple in this spread. Aha! That must be because we only eat too much of the green leaves. We forgot or most of us are not aware that the alugbati vine, after some time, would bear plenty of never-ending flowers and fruits. When ripe, the fruits produce deep red-purple juice extracts, and this for sure was used in the alugbati sauce.

There are different ways how to extract the juice of ripe alugbati fruits. The best way is hard press. You can use a garlic crusher for small amounts. For large amounts, use a hydraulic press like those used in squeezing the coconut milk in the wet market, or the electric press juicer (see the Youtube video with the link, below). What I did for a handful or glassful of ripe alugbati berries is that I improvised a thick plastic bag (cellophane) in crushing the berries by putting all the berries in the bag then lay it flat on the hard surface of a countertop or table and crushed the berries by pressing the bag hard with a rolling pin (the one we used in pressing dough) or an emptied round glass bottle of wine. Just press and roll, do not pound.

Alugbati fruits (Malabar nightshade or Ceylon spinach; sc.name: Basella alba).

I remember when young girls in our barrio would use it to stain their nails pretending it was Cutex. In China, the pigment of alugbati fruit extract is also used to dye fabrics purple. Likewise, for a long time, it is considered a non-toxic and environmentally friendly ink and coloring material. The fact is that ripe alugbati fruits are very much edible.

Aside from using processed naturally sweet pineapple as a base, I found in my research alternative ways on how to create this sauce. The constitution base of the sauce can also be any white root crop, as mentioned above. I pick camote as a good choice for its natural sweetness. Having a white base is like having a white canvas with purple paint. Butter is added to smoothen the texture and enhance the broth's flavorful taste.

Another way is to use mayonnaise as the base. This could be easiest as you have to simply add the alugbati fruit extract into it and mix well. You may add some sugar or honey to sweeten the dip. Being that mayonnaise is partly made with vinegar, the natural purpleness of the dip is enhanced and would stay longer, as the vinegar would help preserve the alugbati fruit extract.

The sauce can also be used as a filling or spread in bread, biscuits, and other pastries. Also for the green salad.

Visit Siglo Modern Filipino at 3500 Calamba Road, Sungay West, Tagaytay City to get a taste of naturally flavored alugbati sauce.

If you made much alugbati extract, you can use the extra juice to color other food. Try it in your bread, cake, pasta noodles, hot cake, and other pastries. It's a natural food color to treasure. Can also be taken as a healthy refreshing drink by adding freshly squeezed juice of sugar cane or mixed with other sweet drinks or fruit juices. You know, having said that, I am already giving you more good ideas on what to do next about the goodness of alugbati's color.

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Lipote

Dugyan (Philippine red durian)

How to extract juice of ripe alugbati fruits using electric press juicer (Youtube)

Continue to follow my blogs. You can also follow and learn more by joining us in our Facebook group account of Philippine Food Illustrated (Private) and Philippine Food Illustrated (Public). It is my pleasure to rediscover the known and least known things or the unheard ones and put them here for everyone to find, learn, and treasure.

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sara-sara

2018-12-05T06:10:00.054+08:00

sara-sara - /sará-sára/ Cebuano [Kidapawan City, Cotabato province] and Ilonggo beverage; dw Ilonggo sarà [strain]) [n.] roasted corn coffee \roasted rice coffee.

A ground roasted corn or rice, brewed and served as coffee. The corn kernels (or corn grits) or husked rice are roasted until burnt and black then ground into powder. The powder is then brewed and the liquid is strained and served as a hot beverage, like coffee.

The "poor man's coffee." Sara-sara only tastes like coffee but does not smell like coffee, sans the caffeine sought by coffee lovers. I regret when I used my coffee maker in brewing the sara-sara. It took me long to clean the mess inside it and was pressed to urgently clean it. I should have used a sauce pan or cooking pot instead.

Sara-sara is not exactly a coffee, but a cheaper substitute to real ground coffee, or let me say it's the "poor man's coffee." It is served and taken like coffee in Central Visayas and some parts of mainland Mindanao.

It has to be brewed in pots on the stove and not in an electric-operated coffee maker. Using a coffee maker will not work and will just end up as a big mess. The sara-sara powder, when mixed in hot water would become like a watery gruel or thin paste because it heavily consists of starch. It needs to be cleaned right away before the paste of sara-sara would stick stubbornly in there like a lump of soggy dough, or worse like dried glue.

Sara-sara does not smell like coffee, but a pleasant aroma of burnt corn or rice.

The hot beverage may taste like coffee but not exactly that of coffee and sans the caffeine sought by coffee lovers.

I found this sara-sara made with corn being sold in the public market of Kidapawan City, Cotabato last April 25, 2018.

Sara-sara is of Ilonggo origin. Ilonggos used it to call their hot beverage of ground-roasted rice. Using rice is the original version of sara-sara hot drink, not corn. The rice version was used as an extender to tablea (cacao chocolate) when making sikuwate (hot cacao chocolate drink) and other hot beverages, including coffee and soya bean powder hot choco drink.

Sara-sara is from the Ilonggo word sára, a term used when straining or filtering liquid clean from its residue. Straining the drink is necessary so as to separate and keep sediments and other debris in the brew as you pour the hot drink into the cup.

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gatang albacora

2018-11-25T22:01:00.043+08:00

gatang albacora - /ga-táng al-ba-có-ra/ Tagalog and Caviteño dish; dw Tag. gata [coconut milk] + albacora [albacore]) [n.] albacore tuna in coconut milk.

Other local name:

ginataang albakora in Tagalog

On one of my visits to the public market of Cavite City, I found behind the market this small carenderia. Delving over its array of turo-turo dishes, I was attracted to this gatang albacora, obviously because I'm a big fan of dishes with coconut milk. This one is a bit picante (spicy hot).

I delved more into this simple dish and learned from the kusinera (lady cook) that this requires two-step cooking (pinaksiw then ginataan) using fresh fish, freshly squeezed kakang gata, and fresh spices. Sounds simple but pressing - for you have to literally press fresh coconut here. It's a big deal that you have to use a freshly squeezed gata when cooking ginataan. Or else, you will never get that heavenly creamy-licious essence of ginataan. Gata must be there at least an hour before cooking time - the shorter the time, the better. Canned or powdered substitutes cannot satisfy this. It's a blessing if you have a kudkuran (coconut grater) in the kitchen or if your place is nearby a mercado (palengke) or talipapa (informal fish and farmers' market) to get your coconut. In the case of this carenderia, the public market is just right beside their feet. No wonder the smell of gatang albacora is so inviting. The next thing in my mind is a plateful of steaming kanin and an ice-cold soft drink - having both the hot and the cold is the yin and yang of Filipino dining.

I learned from the kusinera that she first cooked the fish ala pinaksiw in pure sukang irok (sugar palm vinegar) with bawang (garlic), luya (ginger), sili (chili), and salt to taste. After a few minutes of boiling the pinaksiw na isda, she added the kakang gata followed by cutlets of siling haba (green finger chili). Pinaksiw is a way of cooking that helped remove the fishy odor of albacora and enhanced the taste of fish.

Adding kakang gata or that thick pure coconut milk adds a creamy and nutty flavor. This is the reason why I cannot resist sipping that white sauce. Good to go also as a topping on my rice.

Each fish is separately wrapped in dahon ng saging (banana leaf) to keep the fish from sticking to the pot and to each other. Plus the leaf is adding aromatic flavor.

This reminds me of my version of Visayan linabog dish, the linabog nga tilapia. The ways of cooking are almost similar only if the albacora here was also fried before adding the kakang gata.

Pass the rice, please.

albacora /al-ba-ko-ra/ Tagalog and Caviteño sea fish /seafood) (also spelled as albakora in Tagalog) [n.] albacore (sc.name: Thunnus alalunga) is a species of tuna with unusually long pectoral fins which include some species of yellow fin tuna in temperate and tropical waters across the globe, particularly in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans, and in the seas around them. Known also as “longfined tuna” in Hawaii, and “longfin tuna” in Canada, Australia, and South Africa.

Related posts:

linabog nga tilapia

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Edgie Polistico

For more about Filipino food, see this Philippine Food, Cooking, and Dining Dictionary. It is OPEN and FREE.

puso (sweet rice)

2018-10-13T20:00:00.132+08:00

puso - /pu-sô, pu-sò/ Hiligaynon [Capizeño of Panay, Capiz] snack; dw Hiligaynon poso sang saging [banana heart]) [n.] sweet glutinous rice in nipa palm balls.

This puso is wrapped in woven young nipa palm, shaped in chisel-like style called tinigib, one of the most difficult styles of weaving palm balls. This scarcely available kind of puso can only be found now in Panay, Capiz where vast nipa palm grooves are still thriving. This sweet delicacy is now being promoted by the local tourism industry of Capiz. When in the town of Panay, drop by at the Holy Grounds Coffee Shop, just across the Santa Monica church in the proper of Pueblo, Panay, Capiz.

This puso is made with glutinous rice boiled in freshly gathered and naturally sweet tuba sang nipa (sap from nipa inflorescence) until the sap turns syrupy thick and the rice inside the palm ball is cooked to become like biko, sticky and sweet.

This puso of Panay is sold by pair. Each pair comes with a plastic bag of latik na tuba (nipa palm syrup).

This sweet puso is an old native delicacy of Panay, Capiz. To serve, puso is cut into halves and the sweet rice inside is poured with latik na tuba (nipa palm syrup) before eating. Best served with hot coffee.

The puso of Panay is wrapped in woven young leaves of nipa palm. It is served with latik na tuba (nipa palm syrup).

This sweet delicacy from Capiz is served with latik na tuba (nipa palm syrup) and can only be found now in the municipality of Panay, Capiz where it is promoted by the local tourism office of Capiz.

The latik na tuba (nipa palm syrup) is poured over the puso right before you scoop it out to eat it.

When in Panay, drop by at the Holy Grounds Coffee Shop, just across the Santa Monica church in the proper of Pueblo, Panay, Capiz.

You may find this closely similar to the patupat of Pangasinan, only that the Pangasinense's patupat is cooked in bennal or sugar cane syrup. In contrast, puso from Panay is cooked in a naturally very sweet fresh tuba sa nipa (sap from nipa inflorescence) boiled into palm syrup called latik, nipa latik, or latik na nipa.

The puso of Panay, Capiz is not the same as the puso in other parts of Visayas and Mindanao.

Do not confuse the puso of Panay with the other Visayan puso that is made with plain rice and boiled in plain water.

The more popular puso of Cebuano-speaking Visayans is made with plain ordinary rice and cooked using the same kind of woven coconut palm balls used in Panay puso. Cebuanos would often serve their puso as their kan-on (kanin in Tagalog) to pair with their sud-an (dish or ulam in Tagalog), while the puso of Panay is often served as a sweet snack.

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puso (plain rice)

pastil

Kalintubo

Pasong

Thank you for all the encouragement and enthusiasm. I need your moral support, prayers, and anything else that can uplift my spirit and keep my good reasons. Keep them coming.

Edgie Polistico

For more about Filipino food, see this Philippine Food, Cooking, and Dining Dictionary. It is OPEN and FREE.

odong

2018-07-28T19:51:00.039+08:00

My pancit odong collection.

odong - /o-dóng/ Cebuano, Boholano, Waray, Surigaonon, and Davaoeño noodle [n.] Visayan stick noodle.

Sticks of uncooked odong noodles are dry and stiff like raw spaghetti noodle but would break easily when bent.

This Visayan spaghetti-like stick noodle is one of the old-time favorites in the Visayas and Mindanao. It is basically made with wheat flour, salt, water, and food coloring. Some are flavored with seasonings or with chicken eggs.

It is often cooked into a saucy dish with flaked meat of canned sardines, preferably tomato paste flavored.

My pancit odong collection. Some are from Tagum, Davao del Norte; Davao City, and some from Barra, Opol, Misamis Oriental.

Odong is commonly sold in small pack of a dozen (12) sticks, or a little more. Two packs are quite enough to serve one person. When boiled, the sticks will expand and thicken the remaining soup into a delectable sauce.

The usual seasoning spices used are ahos (garlic), sibuyas bombay (red or purple onion), and luy-a (ginger). They are sliced into pieces, and sliced garlic and ginger are pounded lightly and then sautéed at the start of cooking.

Cups of water are added to make the soup and boiled with the tomato red sauce of canned sardines. Canned sardines are casually called by Visayans tinapa or nilatang sardinas. Do not confuse Visayan tinapa with the Tagalog tinapa, which is smoked fish. Smoked fish in the Visayas is called tinap-an or tinap-anan. Though smoked fish can also be a good substitute for canned sardines in pancit odong

Adding one or a combination of leafy vegetables is optional. The most common leafy vegetable used are repolyo (cabbage), kalamunggay (moringa leaves), and alugbati (Malabar nightshade). You can also use any other leafy vegetables available in the garden or the market. Other vegetables like kalabasa (squash), sayote (mirliton), or batong (string beans) can also be added to pancit odong.

Added last are flaked meat of sardines, pounded or freshly ground black pepper and salt to suit the taste.

Sinardinasan pancit odong with freshly plucked ashitaba leaves and red chilies. Just take note here that after I took this photo, we covered the dish for a while to let the remaining heat of the freshly cooked pancit odong cook the leaves before we dine it.

Some would also add beaten chicken egg towards the end of cooking.

Chopped sibuyas dahon (spring onion) and bits of browned roasted garlic can be used to garnish a serving of pancit odong, or use your creativity on how to garnish one using other ingredients like this pancit odong we have for lunch with ashitaba leaves and sili (spicy hot red chili).

Pancit odong. In Visayas, sinardinasan means "with sardines."

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linabog nga tilapia

2018-07-15T22:21:00.073+08:00

linabog nga tilapia - /li-na-bóg nga ti-láp-ya/ Ilonggo, Cebuano, and Boholano dish) [n.] Tilapia fish in thick and spicy hot coconut milk.

Fresh tilapias are gutted and scaled

Linabog is an old-time Visayan seafood delicacy. Originally, it uses meat from cartilaginous fish, such as pagi (ray) or iho (shark). The meat of dugong (manatee), butanding (whale shark), and balyena (whale) are also favored when available. If not available, slimy freshwater fish is used, like the hito (catfish) or the haluan (mudfish).

The ingredients

When Visayans migrated to Mindanao at the height of the “Land of Promise” campaign in the 1970s, they brought along with them the traditional Visayan seafood dishes that included linabog. This explains why linabog is also found in Mindanao.

The ingredients are prepared and ready.

In the olden days, the pagi or iho was cooked into inun-onan (boiled in vinegar) without any condiment, as it was merely a process of preserving the catch to last for days without getting rotten. Later on, the inun-onan evolved with condiments introduced to the islands. The thick coconut cream was used as a desirable ingredient and thought to be a natural protection from possible food poisoning. Hot spice is also added to mask any nasty taste. What used to be thrown away, eventually became a delectable delicacy.

The fish are cooked in vinegar with garlic and salt to taste. Just the way you cook paksiw na isda. Banana leaves are used to wrap each fish to keep the fishes from sticking to each other. The leaves also add aroma to the dish.

When boiled and cooked, excess vinegar is drained.

Now that the Philippine and International Laws on Marine Wildlife Protection prohibits the capture and consumption of the sea fish mentioned above, the tradition of cooking the original linabog shunned away the locals from savoring their old-time favorite linabog. But the taste of linabog lingers making the locals keep on longing for it. When pagi and iho are not available, they resort to hito or haluan. Later on, tilapia is also used.

Cooking oil is added and brought to boil. The fish are fried well until crisp with those bones and fins on the edges would easily brittle.

Excess oil is drained right away after frying, or the fishes are removed from the oil.

Braising the fish first in vinegar with salt and spices transforms “nasty” to “tasty.” It removes the nasty fishy odor of the fish. Cooking is exactly the same way as you cook paksiw na isda. In my recipe, I made the twist of frying the fish after braising them in vinegar with condiments to attain the crispiness of the skin and edges of the fish, which is a favorite of mine when it comes to tilapia. Chewing the crisp-fried bones is nice and tasty. It also eliminates the hassle of picking those tiny bones around the edges, which I often feared might prick my throat if I accidentally swallowed them.

All the spices are sauteed until they caramelize then added with some water, simmered for awhile, then coconut cream is added (below).

Visayans are known to be fond of using creamy coconut milk in their seafood delicacies. Almost all Visayan seafood cooked with coconut cream or coconut milk are my favorites, among them are the tinunoang kinilaw (fish ceviche in coconut cream), the tinunoang kinhason (shellfish in coconut milk), and linabog.

Curry powder

Hot chili pepper

Salt

Sibuyas dahon (chive)

I was inspired by the sinugno of Quezon province that I added pechay leaves (in place of mustasa) in my recipe. Chilies are not strange to Visayans. They use it to spice in many of their dishes. They even have a dish called halang-halang for that. They also squeeze chilies in kinilaw.

Bell pepper (green and red)

Pechay leaves buried in thick coconut sauce, simmered, then transferred onto deep serving dish.

Here’s my version of linabog and enjoy cooking and dining with my fellow Visayan’s comfort food. This will make linabog continue to live on - in a new form

The crisp fried tilapias are arranged on top the savory spicy coconut sauce. To eat, flake the fish, dip or combine it in the sauce, and savor every bite.

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How to cook Linabog Nga Tilapia
A fully illustrated recipe by Edgie Polistico

Edgie Polistico

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miracle fruit

2018-06-17T06:50:00.129+08:00

A miracle fruit tree on the roadside of Brgy. Mambago, Sta. Rosa, Babak, Island Garden City of Samal (IGACOS) in Samal island, Davao del sur.

miracle fruit - (Mindanao fruit) [n.] calabash (sc.name: Crescentia cujete).

Miracle fruit (Calabash) is used to be known only in Mindanao. It was seen growing anywhere there (in red). Latest distribution inventory shows miracle fruit is now all over the Philippines. I marked the provinces and islands in orange labels where miracle fruit is now grown and distributed by locals.

Miracle fruit (internationally known as the calabash) is a tree that bears huge fruits that looks like a buko (young coconut). It grows abundantly everywhere in Mindanao, some parts of the Bicol region, and in the Visayas. Few are also growing in Luzon up to the northern part of Ilocos and Cagayan region (see the food map, above, for the latest inventory).

At first glance, you could have mistaken this as a young coconut fruit growing on a small tree.

Sadly, most of the fallen fruits were left to rot on the ground. Most local folks do not know what to do to make good use of this wonderful fruit. They dreaded the black color of its flesh and the gummy smell. What they do not realize is that black juice is sweet and has healing wonders, the reason why old folks called it the "miracle fruit."

I tried one. And yes, it was wonderful.

The outer shell is very hard that you have to cut it with a saw to split open into halves You cannot just cut the calabash fruit with a knife, unless you use a big bolo or machete.

Many who tried this drink claimed they experienced rejuvenating vigor and mental alertness. It is good when you are going to study, review, or take an exam.

Local women who have tried the freshly extracted black juice claimed it helped ease their menstrual pain.

Drinking miracle fruit juice is relaxing and helps you go to sleep, relieve stress, and feel well-rested as you wake up. It makes the skin glow healthy, and feel younger again.

Good for those who are recuperating from sickness and a treat after a weary activity.

The flesh is white, moist, and soft.

I experimented with the first calabash fruit I got from Mindanao. I extracted the juice and processed my first miracle fruit wine at home. I hand-carried one fresh green fruit of calabash on my flight from Misamis Oriental to Metro Manila. I cut open and processed the fruit juice into miracle fruit wine using the needed ingredients that were found in the groceries. After three months of fermentation, I had the wine and enjoyed it.

I wonder if this fruit once grew in the fountain of youth. The vigor made me feel younger. Next time, I will no longer bring a calabash fruit. I will bring the tree.

When boiled, the flesh of calabash turns black.

Here's a calabash fruit I found in Cagayan de oro City, Misamis Oriental in Mindanao. I brought it home in Metro Manila. Cooked it into tea and later processed into wine.

How to know if the miracle fruit is already ripe to harvest:

The color of the fruit is dark green and has slight shades and spots of brown.
The surface or outer skin is no longer shiny.
It is heavier and sounds dull when you knock it with your fingers.

Personal Notes

Miracle fruit (Calabash) is used to be known only in Mindanao. It was seen growing anywhere there (shaded red in the food map, above). The latest distribution inventory shows miracle fruit is now all over the Philippines. I marked the provinces and islands in orange labels where miracle fruit is now grown and distributed by locals.

I first saw this fruit and the tree on the campus of Notre Dame University, Cotabato City on November 10, 2010. Since then, I took notes on where else I found miracle fruit in Mindanao.

In 2017, I picked a fruit from a tree in Cagayan de Oro and hand-carried it on my flight back to Manila where I tried to process it into wine. The wine turned out good - it tastes jammy and fruity. I kept a bottle of it until now for aging.

Related readings:

Calabash the miracle fruit, Henrylito D. Tacio, Business Mirror, Oct. 15, 2015, https://businessmirror.com.ph/2015/10/15/calabash-the-miracle-fruit/
Calabash Tree (Crescentia cujete Linn.), Dr. Godofredo Stuart, Stuart Xchange, http://www.stuartxchange.org/Cujete

Know more about calabash here

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Related posts:

How to make miracle fruit juice
or miracle fruit tea.

How to make miracle fruit wine

Lipote

Sawa

Dugyan (Philippine red durian)

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t Filipino food, see this Philippine Food, Cooking, and Dining Dictionary. It is OPEN and FREE.

pipinong gubat

2018-04-10T03:17:00.134+08:00

pipinong gubat - /pi-pi-nong gu-bat/ Tagalog fruit; dw Span. pepino [cucumber] > Tag. pipino + gubat [forest] [n.] creeping cucumber (sc.name: Melothria pendula, Linn.) \wild cucumber.

Other local common names:

pipinong ihalas in Cebuano and Boholano
a.k.a. pipinong ligaw in Tagalog

A variety of very tiny cucumbers having a smooth and watermelon-like berry.

Pipinong gubat or pipinong ligaw of Malolos, Bulacan.

Pipinong gubat found in Tagaytay City, Cavite.

The plant is a perennial climbing vine and can be found growing uncultivated or wild all over the Philippine archipelago, and in other countries on the other side of the world.

A pipinong ihalas found on the roadside of Bonifacio, Misamis Occidental. It is strikingly similar in size, shape, color, and taste (yes, I tried it) to that of pipinong gubat in Malolos, Bulacan and in Silang, Cavite.

Pipinong ihalas found in Bonifacio, Misamis Occidental

Pipinong ihalas of Bonifacio, Misamis Occidental

The vine bears tiny oblong-elliptic yellow-green berries which turn black when matured and ripe that grow 10 to 20 millimeters long, and about 12 to 15 millimeters in diameter.

The crisp young green berries are edible and can be pickled or put fresh and whole in salads. The black ones can be used as purgative for livestock.

Pipinong ihalas from the backyard of our house in Inopacan, Leyte.

Pipinong ihalas of Inopacan, Leyte.

Trying some pipinong ihalas at home in Inopacan, Leyte.

Pipinong ihalas of Inopacan, Leyte.

Personal notes:

Our rural folks still wonder what to do with these tiny cukes. They do not eat them. They thought it is not safe to eat. They regarded the vine as a pesky plant on the farm. They do not know this plant is edible. Few recalled that their old folks used to pick this along the trail and have it as a snack. My dear friend, Jose Benigno Salvador, a Bulaqueño food historian, shared that the Katipuneros of Bulacan used to forage this wild tiny cucumber while trekking the terrains of Bulacan.

The pipinong ihalas I found in Bonifacio, Misamis Occidental is strikingly similar in size, shape, color, and taste (yes, I tried it) to that of pipinong gubat or pipinong ligaw of Malolos, Bulacan and in Silang, Cavite. Last summer, I found it growing in the backyard of our house in Inopacan, Leyte. I learned later in my research that this plant grows all over the archipelago. The fact is, we can actually find this tiny cucumber on the other side of the world, where it is pickled or put in a green salad. Last June 12, 2017, this was served as an heirloom salad by the Siglo Modern Filipino at the View Park Hotel of Tagaytay City, Cavite.

There was a study that found out that the “chemical-bromatologic” analysis of this wild cucumber constitutes a source of water, vitamins, minerals, and even some proteins. The fruits of this plant, despite their reduced size, have a pleasant flavor and are edible for humans. Its foliage is given to livestock as forage. Thus, this “wild cucumber” could be an additional nutritional alternative for men and animals. The wild cuke is 12.6% protein, 16.30% fiber, and 56.8% carbohydrates. The entire plant is good for ruminants.

In Myanmar, the green leaves are eaten as vegetables. One of my friends who learned about this suggested that the leaves can be stir-fried or sautéed with garlic just like when you cook talbos ng kamote (sweet potato tops) or added in soupy dishes as you do with spinach. You may add sahog (meat ingredient) and seasonings of your choice.

When matured or ripe, the fruit would turn black and can be used as purgative, usually to livestock and other foraging farm animals, and even to humans.

Propagation of pipinong gubat is by seed and cuttings.

Related posts:

Lipote

Dugyan (Philippine red durian)

Miracle fruit

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tarang bulan

2018-02-17T14:23:00.049+08:00

tarang bulan - /ta-ráng bu-lan/ Ta'u-sug snack; dw Bahasa Melayo tarang [bright] + Tausug bulan [moon]) [n.] bright moon pancake \stuffed folded golden pancake.

Other local name:

Muslim hotcake in Chavacano [Zamboangueño]

A traditional pancake made with a runny batter of flour mixed with some water (or fresh milk), baking powder, sugar, and yellow-orange food color.

A Tausug lass selling tarang bulan in Zamboanga City public market.

A pan is pre-heated and brushed with butter (or margarine) on the surface. A scoop of the batter is poured on the pan and set to cook on medium fire until the batter formed into a round patty of pancake with bubbly perforation on its surface and smooth on the underside. The pancake is removed from the pan and the top side is spread with sweetened boiled mongo beans (mung beans) then folded halfway making it look like a half-moon.

When serving, the tarang bulan is sliced into parts.

This snack originated in neighboring Asian countries and can be found also in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Tausug tarang bulan in the corner of Zamboanga City's public market (2013).
.

The name tarang bulan is from the Bahasa Melayo tarang meaning "bright" and Tausug bulan meaning "moon." The shape and its bright yellow-orange color are enough explanations for why this folded stuffed pancake is aptly called the bright moon.

What makes tarang bulang different from the usual pancake we have in other regions is that it has a spread of sweetened boiled mongo beans inside the fold.

Personal notes:

If you need to look for this in Metro Manila, don't go far, you can find them on weekends in Maharlika Village near the Blue Mosque.

If you prepare the pancake of tarang bulan by yourself, you can follow the way western pancake or the Tagalog and Visayan hot cake is done. Just make it way a lot bigger and thicker than those you found in the morning menu of Jollibee and McDo. You sprinkle the batter with a little amount of ground salt to make the patty pancake more savory. Adding a dash of cinnamon powder or droplets of vanilla extract would make the pancake lusciously aromatic. Boiled pandan leaf extract will do it too.

For the sweetened mongo beans, you can prepare them like the way minatamis na monggo is done for the traditional summer halo-halo or of pan de mongo and hopia monggo. It's the same sweetened mongo you can find stuffed in ensaymadang monggo.

If you're fed up with mung beans all your life or afraid of having gout pains later in your joints, you can vary the fillings. Instead of sweetened mung beans, use haleyang ube, strawberry jam (from Benguet), minatamis na buko or macapuno, peanut butter, cheese, omellete, chocolate spread, or leche flan.

For fresh milk, you can substitute it with milk powder mixed with water. Try kakang gata, it will do wonder too.

Related posts:

Parirutong

Bibingka royal

Daral

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pebre

2018-02-11T22:50:00.030+08:00

pebre - /peb-re/ Caviteño sauce/condiment; dw Chilean (Chile, South America) pebre [salsa of assortment of chopped spices, tomatoes, and pepper] = Catalan (Catalonia region, Spain) pebre [pepper]) [n.] lechon sauce \liver sauce for lechon baboy.

Similar local dishes:

lechon sauce or sarsa ng litson in Tagalog

lechon sauce in Cebuano, Ilonggo, Ilocano, Capampangan, and other Philippine languages and vernaculars

This lechon sauce of Cavite City is used to be for lechon baboy (roasted pig) only, but later on served also as a dipping sauce for other roasted and fried dishes, such as litson manok (roasted chicken), fried pork chop, pritong isda, even for lumpia.

It has a paste of ground cooked liver of pig (or chicken), bread crumbs, water, brown sugar, onion, garlic, other spices, salt, and ground peppercorn. Named after the Chilean condiment of the same name but the foreign salsa is quite different being that it has no liver in the ingredients but an assortment of spices, ground or pureed spicy aji peppers, and chopped tomatoes, and may vary in different regions of Chile.

The word pebre in Catalan (Catalonia in northeastern Spain and partly southern France) refers to the pepper of any type.

The Caviteño pebre is a combination of sweetness and sourness and the peppery piquancy of ground peppercorn. This is the origin of your fave Mang Tomas sauce, a popular commercial liver sauce for your lechon baboy and litson manok.

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buy-o

2017-11-26T21:00:00.119+08:00

Photo credit to Jose Benigno Salvador

buy-o - /búy-o/ Sambali [Botolan, Zambales] condiment\seasoning) [n.] Botolan salt in woven nipa palm pouch.

Other local name:

asin sa buy-o in Tagalog

Buy-o is originally the Sambali name for that cylindrical pouch that is made of woven nipa palm. This container is used to pack the raw sea salt produced in Botolan, Zambales. Thus, in Tagalog, the salt is called asin sa buy-o (salt in buy-o). The nipa palm (leaves) are cut off from the frond and the blades of the palm are sewn together in a pattern of overlapping each other side by side until they become a wide sheet. The sheet of sewn palms is rolled to shape and look like a cylindrical fat bottle. The circular frame or ring at the base is made of a palm frond. The strips used in stitching the palms could be thin strips of bamboo, rattan bark, or the bark of nipa frond.

The tip of the container is tapered to look like the mouth of PET bottles, folded and secured tightly with a strip. When the salt is needed, the topmost part of the pouch is cut off or loosened so as to open the container and allow access to the salt inside.

The floor at the base is made of latticed palm midribs or straw lined with a sheet of food-grade sack that allows the salt to breathe inside.

A handle is attached on the side that is made of a bent bamboo stick or hemp rope that loops upward.

The salt is produced by collecting sands that have been soaked for so long in the sea or seashore of Botolan. Sands on the seashore of Botolan that are always soaked in seawater on high tide are heavily saturated with salt deposits. The sands are collected when the sea is ebbing down to its lowest level. It is best to scoop sands at this moment as it would be a lot easier when they are not underwater. The sands can also be made saturated with salt by getting water from the Botolan sea and pouring it on a bed or mound of collected sand on the dry shore and then allowing the sand to dry under the sun. The pouring of seawater and sun drying is done over and over again the whole day at regular intervals until the sand is heavily saturated with salt. In between pouring and sun drying, the sand is turned over with a rake to evenly distribute the saturation of salt.

The collected sands are hauled into a large wooden funnel-shaped strainer and poured with the final round of seawater. The saline water that comes out down through the strainer is collected and boiled continuously in a boiler (usually a kawa, a big wide round cast-iron pan) until white crystals of salt are produced at the bottom of the boiler. When the boiler is about to get dry, more water from the strainer is added to the boiler so as to keep producing salt. The white crystals of sea salt produced are collected using a woven bamboo splits scooping basket that allows the salt to drip and dry. When dry, the salt is then packed in buy-o for keeping.

The buy-o salt is densely packed inside the palm pouch that after some time, it would harden and has to be scraped off when needed in cooking or for other uses.

Asin sa buy-o is the Tagalog name for this Botolan artisanal salt, and it means "salt in nipa palm pouch."

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Youtube video: The Finest Sea Salt in the Philippines is in Danger (Asin sa Buy-o) Filipino fleur de sel

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sadya

2017-11-25T17:46:00.134+08:00

sadya - /sad-yâ/ Caviteño [Tanza, Cavite] bread; dw Tag. sadya [special]) [n.] specially baked bread roll of Tanza, Cavite.

Loaves of sadya at PHP65.00 a piece (2017).

A big-size version of Philippine monay bread made special by the Kaibigan Bakery of Brgy. Biwas, Tanza, Cavite.

You have to come early because this bread is fast selling in the morning. By past noon, all are gone - sold out.

Sadya is a Tagalog word, which means intent or purpose. For this bread, sadya is a descriptive name to mean "specially made" with a purpose or intent to satisfy the customer (or anybody else who will take this bread). It is called sadya because the baker has to make this bread a pinasasadya or what we fondly called now as "special." It is done by using specific ingredients and by following specific baking procedures.

Suggested serving is to split the loaves into halves then slice the half into slabs.

Sadya of Tanza is made special by Kaibigan Bakery with special ingredients and flavors added to the dough. It has plenty of itlog na pula (salted eggs) that are fresh and uncooked (not boiled) and premium butter. Kaibigan Bakery now preferably used Magnolia Gold Pure & Creamy Butter. In the past, an unrecalled brand of premium butter was used.

Suggested serving is to slice the halves into slabs, to make it easy to spread with jam, peanut butter, mayonnaise, or pesto. You may also sandwich or top the sliced bread with fried egg, bacon, greens, or whatever you like.

Sadya is one of the old-time Caviteño favorites that you can buy best from Kaibigan Bakery, a Caviteño panaderia established in 1920.

A loaf is sold at PHP65.00 a piece in the bakery as of 2017. Priced more if you buy it from the resellers in Tanza public market. But you have to come early because this bread is fast selling in the morning. Past noon, all are gone - sold out. Over the years, the Kaibigan Bakery had not opened any branches. It would just distribute its freshly baked bread to a number of resellers in the public market of Tanza, Cavite.

My first visit at Kaibigan Bakery on its original spot along Hugo C. Arce Street in Brgy. Biwas, Tanza, Cavite.

My special thanks to a good friend, Ige Ramos for bringing this up first in his Facebook posts. It was like a whiff and I followed the smoke that eventually led me to where the Kaibigan Bakery when I happened to be in the coastal side of Cavite province. He was right of describing it as ang tinapay na amoy usok (smoky). It is the compliment of smoky flavor from firewood-fueled pugon, a traditional oven of bricks laid on thick bed insulation of sea salt.

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_______________________

For more about Filipino food, see this Philippine Food, Cooking, and Dining Dictionary. It is OPEN and FREE.

Continue to follow my blogs. You can also follow and learn more by joining us in our Facebook group account of Philippine Food Illustrated (Private) and Philippine Food Illustrated (Public) It is my pleasure to rediscover the known and least known things or the unheard ones and put them here for everyone to find, learn, and treasure.

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saklob

2017-11-15T22:25:00.090+08:00

saklob - /sak-lób/ Caviteño [Tanza, Cavite] bread; dw Tag. saklob [face-to-face]) [n.] A pair of two sweet bread, paired face-to-face.

buddy-buddy, body-body, or double body in Cebuano, Boholano, and Ilonggo

A pair of sweet bread, shaped like a thick tongue, and rolled in desiccated shreds of coconut meat.

Saklob is an old Tagalog word for "face-to-face."

Saklob bread in four colors, a product of Kaibigan Bakery. To get your freshly baked saklob, you may visit the bakery at Hugo C. Arce Street of Brgy. Biwas in Tanza, Cavite.

Saklob bread is dense in every bite but somewhat soft and a bit cakey.

It is quite sweet, and with a texture somewhat like a dense cake.

A perfect terno (pair) for hot coffee. Also a good partner for a cold softdrink (cola or soda).

The loaves would spoil in two days because of the shredded coconut meat used as a coating of the bread.

In Visayas, there is a similar pastry they called buddy-buddy or double body with pieces shaped into a rounded or oblong flatbread. Noticeably, the Visayan version is crisp like a cookie.

These packs (above) and mounds (below) of freshly baked saklobs are readied by Kaibigan Bakery for distribution to resellers in Pamilihang Bayan Ng Tanza, where a pack of 6 saklobs is sold at PHP5.00 as of 2017.

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samak

2017-11-02T01:40:00.016+08:00

samak – /sa-mak/ Ilocano tree /bark /leaf /fermentation agent) [n.] parasol leaf tree (sc.name: Macaranga tanarius, Linn.) \elephant’s ear

binunga in Tagalog and Ilonggo

minunga in Bicolano

A small tree with medicinal bark, leaves, and fruits is used in fermenting and coloring basi (sugarcane wine), sukang Iloko (Ilocano sugarcane vinegar), and tuba (palm wine) in some places of Luzon.

How to tell binunga leaves from binungang-malapad.

Binunga leaf (Macaranga tanarius) is very much like that of Macaranga grandifolia (of botanists Fr. Francisco Manuel Blanco and Elmer Drew Merrill) commonly known as binungang-malapad in Tagalog. They are often confused and mistaken to be the same. The slight variation is the "rounded" shape of tanarius compared to grandifolia's "heart shape" with more pointed and sometimes curvy bottom tip.

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buri

2017-10-01T00:30:00.193+08:00

The towering buri palms in this panoramic ricefield of Magsaysay, Occidental Mindoro. The tallest one in the middle is already dying after it bore fruits. I took this photo while sitting on the roof of a fully-loaded traveling jeepney, August 11, 2010.

buri – /bu-rí/ (Tagalog, Capampangan, Bulaqueño, Waray, Ilonggo, and Bicolano palm) [n.] raffia (sc.names: 1. Raphia ruffia; 2. Corypha umbraculifera, Blanco; 3. Corypha utan, Lam., Merrill; 4. Corypha elata, Roxb) \raffia palm \buri palm (Phil. English) \talipot palm.

Other local common names:

a.k.a. buli in Tagalog

a.k.a. ibos, bule or buli in Bulaqueño

a.k.a. ibus or silad in Bicolano

a.k.a. ebus, busi, or piet in Capampangan

buli in Cebuano, Boholano, and Ilocano

budjawi in Ilonggo

silag in Ilocano and Pangasinense

silal in Subanon

sirar in Bagobo

bagatai or taktak in Isinay

Buri palm is one of the largest palm trees we can find all over the country. The leaves are sturdy and can be a strong binder for a bundle of firewood. The strips taken from its frond are used to bind farm goods, while the midrib of its leaf is used as a skewer to hold fish caught. The leaves are often used to bind the crabs.

The palms of buri are also used as a good food wrapper or packaging for suman sa ibos, patupat, sinanglay, inutokan, tagoktok, etc..

The Capampangans and Bulaqueños would use the palms of buri to weave native hats called kupiang ebus and sleeping mats they called dase.

A serving of sweet tuba I tried at a roadside food stall of Balungao, Pangasinan in 2012. Read and see more photos here.

The Pangasinenses would harvest the sap they called sweet tuba from the inflorescence of buri. The sweet tuba is traditionally used to sweeten the Pangasinense patupat (sweetened glutinous rice in a square-woven palm pouch). It is from the inflorescence of buri that sweet tuba is gathered by a mangangarit (tuba gatherer) in a process similar to how coconut tuba is gathered. Unlike the Visayan tuba, no tungog (tanbark) is used in sweet tuba.

When sweet tuba is getting very scarce, patupat makers would resort to using arnibal (sugarcane syrup, a.k.a. pulot tubo in Tagalog) as sweetener being that arnibal is more abundant than sweet tuba in the region.

Sweet tuba if not consumed will become a Pangasinense tuka silag (raffia vinegar) in a few days.

My own version of minatamis na buri has wild honey and star anise. See my recipe here.

The palm of buri is also used by the Capampangans and Tagalogs to wrap bagkat, a thickened caramel-like syrup of boiled sap of buri.

The buri fruits, while still green and young, have a soft nut with a taste and consistency similar to that of buko (young coconut fruit). The soft nut is eaten as is or boiled with sugar to make a minatamis na buri.

Matured buri fruits are very hard to crack open. The nuts would even get harder and harder as it gets older by the time the fruits get fully matured and dried, they are very dense and marbled that they can be used as a cheap gem in jewelry or ornamental decors.

Freshly harvested buri fruits are green.

(Photo credit to Castle Panganiban's Facebook account)

Buri fruits would turn maroon to dark brown after few days, specially when stored in closed plastic bags or in the refrigerator.

The ubod (pith) of buri is taken from the topmost part of the trunk. It can be cooked as vegetables, eaten raw like salad, or stuffed in fresh lumpia.

When the tree reached its maturity age, around 20 to 50 years, buri would start to bloom. If the inflorescence is left to grow, it would burst open into a bunch of flowers that after a month or two would develop into a bunch of buri palm fruits. Soon after bearing fruits, the buri tree will die.

The dying trunk is sourced for palm flour, similar to lumbia palm of Mindanao. The inner part of the trunk is pounded into a pulp and processed into flour. The flour is made into suman, pastries, and other delicacies. Other uses are for medicinal and industrial benefits.

There are some places, mostly barrios (barangay) and districts (sitio) were named after this plant. Thus, we can find a place called Buri, Buli, or Ebus. It is the origin of other places called Bulihan, Kabulihan, Cabulihan, Burihan, Kaburihan, and Caburihan. The Brgy. Ebus of Guagua, Pampanga and the town of Cabulihan in Siquijor province are examples. Buri palms used to be thriving in these places.

Personal notes

Buri palm reminds me of some people, who upon reaching the peak of their lives would become more passionate and productive in things they love to do. Then after delivering their best shot, they are gone and sorely missed.

Dark matured fruits of buli palm were part of my childhood happiness in Inopacan, Leyte. My playmates and I would collect those round dried buli fruits we called bolitin. When very dry, they were dark brown or plainly black. We used to play bolitin as our toy marbles. Inside the bolitin is a hardened nut that when peeled would closely resemble that of a tiny ball of stone marble, much like a pearl and we kept them as a precious gem and traded them like play money as we play tinda-tindahan and bahay-bahayan.

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tinudok

2017-09-30T02:08:00.019+08:00

tinudok - /ti-nu-dók/ (Igorot and Ilocano [northern Luzon] snack; dw Igorot tinudok [skewered]) [n.] fried sticky rice balls

Other local name:

a.k.a. tinudoks in Igorot

The Igorot variation of Tagalog carioca. It is made with ground glutinous rice, sugar, and scraped meat of not-so-matured meat of green coconut fruit.

All the ingredients are mixed well into a dough and cut into pieces and rolled into ping-pong-sized balls, then deep-fried until browned, and finally coated with caramelized white sugar in coconut cream.

It is commonly served or sold skewered in bamboo barbecue sticks.

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buteteng laot

2017-09-24T16:26:00.062+08:00

buteteng laot - /bu-te-teng la-ot/ Tagalog sea fish /seafood) 1. [n.] porcupine fish \spot-fin porcupinefish (sc.name: Diodon hystrix); 2. [n.] oceanic puffer (sc.name: Lagocephalus lagocephalus). Another species of buteteng laot known plainly as the butete has been banned permanently by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) from gathering, marketing, and consumption, because it naturally contains a toxin called tetrodotoxin which renders the fish unfit for consumption.

Other local common names:

also spelled as boteteng laot in Tagalog

a.k.a. buktit in Tagalog

butete tunokon, tagutong, or tagutungan in Cebuano

tagutungan in Boholano and Leyteño [western Leyte]

otit in Waray-waray (eastern Samar)

mosi in Bicolano

tagutongan in Davaoeño

busisi in Ilokano

butbutan in Zambaleño

lukoh itingan or tagutugan in Chavacano (Zamboanga)

dautdotan in Maranao, Tausug, and Samal

buntal in Sinama (Bahasa Bajau of Sulu archipelago)

A species of puffer fish considered edible and safe for consumption but has to avoid the internal organs, particularly the liver where a tiny sac of highly deadly poison can be found. As much as possible, only the meat is used in cooking.

Maypay is a Cebuano name for that tiny sac of highly poisonous glands. It's attached to the liver and would require an expert to safely remove it because even a slightest leak could be very fatal. It's far more lethal than cyanide.

The big-sized liver though is the most sought part of the fish in making the Cebuano linarang with coconut milk. It needs to be an expert to safely remove the tiny monggo-size sac of poison called maypay in Cebuano. It has to be taken out intact because a slightest leakage can be fatal when it contacts the flesh or contaminates the water used in washing the fish.

A slight contact on flesh or contamination of the water used in washing the fish could be fatal. Yes, because maypay is far more lethal than cyanide. It could no longer be removed or rinsed off.
BE EXTRA CAREFUL WHEN YOU PREPARE TO COOK THIS FISH.

In my hometown's small fishing village, maypay was used to poison cats that stole food in the kitchen (I felt sorry for the naughty pussy cat).

Porcupine fish can be prepared as tinola (boiled), nilarang tinunoan (boiled with coconut milk and spices), inadobo (adobo-style), pinirito (fried), ginataan (cooked in coconut milk with malunggay or dahon ng sili, and sauteeing first in garlic and other spices the flaked parboiled fish), nilubihan (cooked with grated meat of not-so-matured green coconut fruit), or into Bicolano kinunot (braised shredded fish fillet).

The fish has to be gutted completely and carefully so as not to burst open any of its internal organs to avoid possibly getting poisoned, and the sturdy spikes around the skin have to be removed by parboiling first the whole fish and then pulling out the spikes using pliers.

Vegetables commonly used as suitable optional ingredients when cooking this fish into a soupy ginataan or tinola dish are malunggay or dahon ng sili, talong, okra, kalabasa, sitaw, alugbati, pichay, and/or pako.

The big-sized liver though is the most sought part of the fish when cooking a linarang dish with coconut milk (linarang is boiled fish with different spices and salt to taste). You can have this linarang from some eateries in Cebu City and other towns in Visayas.

While in the Tabuh of Bongao, Tawi-Tawi

"Yong mga nagsabi na di daw to nakakalason at nakakatikim na sila, nakaswerte lang sila at magaling yong gumawa ng ulam. Di naman kasi madaling puputok yong maypay pagka fresh pa yong isda. Baka sa susunod kapag masyadong kampante na sila, mamalasin na. Wag naman po. Ingat lang. And I share it here para alam nyo na ano yong isang maliit na bagay na nakakamatay. Yong sa butete iba pa yon. Mas matindi yon. Mas delicate. Pati balat nakakalason."

"It's safer to slice na lang a portion of the liver around the "maypay" at least, 1-inch diameter or more! Wag nang manghinayang sa matatapong kapirasong atay, manghinayang sa buhay!"

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