The Best Halo-Halo Around

 

El Ideal Halo Halo has original pinipig, leche flan, my favorite saging na sab-a, beans, dulce na ube, etc.,: a lot of flavor and bang for my peso.

Halo-Halo sa Likod Lagoon. I don’t remember the name of the organic market place but they have this turo-turo type kalan-an where they boast of all-organic ingredients for their food.  The Halo Halo  goes back to the very basic  home concoction.  It is just slices of fruit like avocado, mango, banana, melon, etc., mixed with milk but it is soo “nanam” good.  More fruit, less ice.

Chow King’s Halo Halo  has grated coconut, ube ice cream, corn-flake style pinipig and a glob of  ice. The ice part I did not like.

Tell me of your halo halo experiences.

Ang Panienda Nila ni Nene

Ang Manug-Lubi  (The Coconut Vendor)   

Every barangay in the Philippines has its own tiendahan where vendors of all sorts   converge to sell  their wares.  This one is the coconut vendor.  He may also be selling other stuff like pineapples and other locally grown fruit.  

 

Ang Tienda ni Nene                                                                       

This picture was taken at Murcia, Negros Occidental as we were passing the busy  tiendahan (palengke).   Check out the name NeNe on the top of the bangko (chair).

Batchoy Night

 

Vangie’s Batchoy at Ate Susan’s served by Nonoie

 

 

There’s a special technique to pouring the broth

 

 

 

Pancit Molo Anyone? and some Dinuguan?

 

 

Frozen molo wrapped ala Nonoie style with spring onions… a promise of a hot and hearty soup ahead…

Chop chop the garlic and the onions

 

 

Something  very nice is brewing

 

 

         Crunchy fried garlic sprinkled on top

 

“Higop Sabaw”

 

“This one’s for you”, my mighty audience of one…

 

and this, too---hot dinuguan with a hint of spicy “katumbal”

(Where’s the puto?)

Ilonggo Lesson # 3: “Pamaltak”

Due to the graphic nature of this post, young readers are advised.

“Pamaltak”

Circumcision ala Ilonggo Style

Back in the days when babies were born at home, boys of the Ilonggo tribe go through a rite of passage at puberty:   they are circumcised (ginapaltak sila).

An uncircumcised male is called  “putyong”, and lads as they turn into adults must go through this rite to avoid being branded, for lack of a milder word. A “paltak”, on the other hand, is a circumcised member of the tribe and boys would gladly go through the pain and the temporary embarrassment of circumcision than be called a “putyong”.

Pamaltak is a rather   primitive procedure.  I recall quite clearly the  summer when  my uncle  (Tito Lalong)  rounded up my  pubescent cousins and my brother and singlehandedly, with the use of a hunting knife and some native poultice  for an antiseptic cut them up in their private parts then made them wear skirts, in the aftermath, much to the snickering and teasing of  their playmates and adults.   The “hampol” or poultice was a leaf of a plant—maritana-- that was pounded until the juice seeped out then applied to the raw, skinned  tissue. The hunting knife, of course, was passed through the fire in an effort to kill the “kagaw” or germs.  Ice was applied to the area as a local anesthetic before the actual skinning was commenced. The rate of infection was practically nil with this method.

It is the belief,then, that after they are circumcised they will grow taller and bigger in the normal adolescent progression of development. Officially, “napaltak na sila” or they have been circumcised. In this case they owed it  to Tito Lalong who they will forever remember as the one who orchestrated this whole  rite of their passage from boyhood into full pledged little men.

Ilonggo Lesson # 2:

 “Buhi Na”

(Boo-heei  Na)

On the way home from school…”nagapamulak ang mga tricycle”





Translation:  the  phrase  “Buhi na”  means “school is over”;  time to go home.

Buhi has many meanings. It could mean alive  - buhi’ or got away-   “nakabuhi’”.

For kids off from school “Buhi Na” is replete with all these meanings…school is out, and what a release, they’re off to do the things kids like to do best.

“Nagapamulak”  is derived from the word “bulak” which means flower.  “Nagapamulak ang tricycle” literally means  the tricycle is flowering (with kids).  Nagapamulak describes a vehicle as  full to overflowing with people, up to the roofs, people standing,  sitting, crowding.  It is used figuratively in this context.

Ilonggo Lullaby: Ili Ili

  A soothing lullaby most of us native-born Ilonggos grew up with…

 Ili, ili, tulog anay

Wala diri imo Nanay

Kadto tienda, bakal papay
Ili, ili, tulog anay

Mata ka na,

Tabangan mo

Ikarga ang nakompra ko

Kay bug-at man sing putos ko

Tabangan mo ako anay

Hush, hush, baby, sleep for now.

Your mother is not here

She went to the market

To buy bread.

Hush, hush, baby, sleep for now.

Wake up now, little one

Help me

Carry my basket

Because it is heavy

Help me awhile.

Ilonggo Beauty: “Jed”

“Jed”

“May nawong nga maaya-aya, kag matam-is nga yuhum…, nagapaligo sa hulog-taktak”

“With a countenance so pleasing and a smile so sweet…bathing in the falls…”

Ilongga Beauty: “Mona”

“Mona”

“Babaye nga magirum-girum, sa lomboy ginpanamkon;

Pila ka tagipuso-on,  ang imo nabu-ong?”

“Lady with the golden brown skin; your mother conceived you from the lomboy; how many hearts have you broken?”

Lomboy is a dark purple, grape-like fruit.

Ilonggo Lesson # 1

“Lugod”

(noun: Loo-good; verb: Loo’good)

Translation:  a noun referring to a piece of  stone used to rub on soles, elbows, and the whole body to remove dirt and dead skin.  It is usually hand picked from around the house, and kept in the bathroom.  It must be roundish and of a smooth , grainy texture to serve its purpose.

A rock is not a lugod; it is only a lugod if used for the purpose stated above.

It is a verb when used in this  context:  “Ti, nakapang lugod Ka na?”

“So, have you rubbed yourself with the lugod?”

Ilonggo Pasttime

“Panguha Uban”

or

Pulling Out Grey Hair

Every hair is set aside and counted, and depending on the agreement, each hair is equivalent to several cents.  The more gray hair pulled, the more money for the patient “manug-uban” (puller of grey hair).

It is one of the many pleasures of Ilonggo life.

A Taste of Ilonggo Cuisine

I’ve been planning to cook Bihon Guisado and finally did today.  This is my all-time favorite food.  My non-Filipino friends and acquaintances love this  so I may venture to say that it is world-famous.   It also goes by the more popular name “pancit” but for us Ilonggos, the recipe actually consists not of pancit, which is a thicker canton-type noodle but of a rather thin, angel’s hair kind of noodle that  we call sotanghon or bihon.     It is really quite simple to do:
You are going to need:
1 kilo of chicken, preferably white meat
half a head of cabbage, cut Julienne style
1 cup carrots, cut Julienne style
half a pound of shrimp
1 small onion, minced
2 to 3  cloves of garlic
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 1/2 cup chicken broth
dash of pepper
2 tbsps of cooking oil
1 kilo bean thread (sotanghon) from your oriental store.

1.  Put  the  chicken meat in a sauce pan and  boil until the meat is tender.  I always boil with the bones as the broth would taste better.  I also remove the skin for a low fat recipe, but you may leave the skin if you wish.

2.  Once the chicken meat is cooked, remove from the broth, drain, and pick the meat off the bones in flakes  and set  the meat aside.  Leave the bones to simmer in the broth.

3.  Saute the onion and garlic until brown.  Add the shrimp until pink and then the chicken meat.  Pour the soy sauce.

4.  Pour some broth over the sauteed  ingredients and allow to simmer…

5.  Add the carrots and the sotanghon noodles,

6.  Add the cabbage last and let it simmer, mixing the ingredients all together.  You may add some more broth as needed but not too much  as the recipe should be soft but not soggy.

7.  A dash of   pepper.
8.  Serve hot, sprinkled with calamansi juice or lemon juice.







P.S.  There are many variations to this recipe.  You can add more veggies like string beans, etc.  or chcken liver or gizzard.
This is a complete balanced meal.  In my opinion, what makes it flavorful is really the taste and the texture of the bihon or sotanghon.  Authentic Ilonggo food!