Ilonggos Rock!

Being an ilongga, it is quite normal that we have ilonggo dishes prepared weekly at home. My son doesn't eat pork or beef and when he eats chicken, he only eats fried chicken from main fastfood chains like KFC, Jollibee and McDonald's. His tastebuds sure are bisaya and ilonggo through and through and we are so proud of that! We may live in Cavite but our hearts truly remain in the Visayas!

Sharing you some photos of ilonggo dishes we normally eat at home or at relative's home.

The Famous Kinilaw! This was prepared by my Tita Haydee when we got to visit them for lunch one day in May. She used dilis in this recipe. Kinilaw is a dish every ilonggo is familiar with. It is composed of deboned fish (usually tanigue, nipis or dilis), minced ginger (many of them!), onions, chilies and sinamak! Sinamak is an ilonggo spiced vinegar btw.

This is one of my favorites! Sinigang na alimusan! Alimusan is a local fish found in rice ponds and it is very cheap! Ilonggos use batwan as a souring agent, a local sour fruit in Bacolod and Iloilo. This one is very easy to make. Use any fish like milkfish, tilapia or even hito. Bring water to boil with tomatoes, batwan and salt. Put in the fish until tender and mix in some banana's heart. Season to taste!

See these golden lobo-lobo disc yummies? My son loves it so much we cook it every week at home! Just mix dulong with an egg and a little cornstarch, then fry small disc portions and voila! Be careful not to put salt though because dulong is already salty in itself.

Give it up for LASWA! The ultimate ilonggo nutrients-packed vegetable viand soup! Gotta share with you a separate recipe post on this one. Yeah, laswa is that special it needs a separate page on my blog. Watch out for it!