My recent trip to Ilocos with the Low-Cal barkada was a blast. =) It was tiring as we tried to fit three days' worth of lakwatsa into two days. To save time, we decided to travel during the night to and from Ilocos and just sleep in the van. All the sleepiness and aching muscles are worth it though, but let's save some of the stories for later. =D
Being a barkada with an appetite, we tried as many local cuisines as we can. Just kidding. We mostly ate Bagnet.
This is the first time I tried genuine Bagnet, and it did not disappoint. Just don't think of the words 'cholesterol,' 'heart attack,' and 'high blood pressure' while eating this.
We also tried Poqui-poqui (yes, that's how it's pronounced), which we learned goes best with Bagnet. It is a dish made from grilled eggplant, and egg, then sauteed with onion and tomatoes. I also heard it's very easy to make. It taste similar with a Visayan eggplant food dish I tried in the past, the name of which I have already forgotten. Hehe.
I also tried other popular Ilocos cuisine such as Vigan longganisa which is very garlicky. It's a nice experience to sample these local cuisine, but being a sweet tooth that I am, I prefer the ordinary sweet longganisa I grew up with.
Of course, as person who loves empanada, I would not let this trip end without sampling the Ilocos empanada. Like the Vigan longganisa, it is very galicky. It is, however, very oily. Perhaps I bought from the wrong food stall, but I did not like it as much as the empanada I usually eat. =(
Another peculiar Ilocano delicacy that caught my attention is the Balikutsa. Balikutsa is basically sundot-kulangot disguised as uraro cookies. It's also diabetes disguised as a candy. Seriously though, it is made from sugar cane, and it is really very sweet.
Ilocos also has a variety of kalamay called Tinubong. The mixture is similar to that of tinupig, but it is cooked inside a bamboo.
Anyway, I bought Tinubong before going back to Manila. It was initially intended as a pasalubong, but half of it did not survive the trip. The other half, Billie and I ate a day later, after a little hesitation:
Billie: Baka sira na yan. May niyog yan e.
Me: Hindi pa naman ata.
Billie: *takes a big bite* May maasim na lasa na...
Me: Pero mukha pa namang okay. Normal pa naman ang amoy.
Billie: *takes another big bite* Hmmm...
Me: Ano, okay pa ba?
Billie: *takes another big bite*
Me: Teka nakakahalata na ako sa'yo ha.
And no, hindi pa sya sira. =D
(Author's Note: All pictures are taken from the internet. The author does not have enough food EQ to take pictures before eating them.)
