Treats from the South: Bicol Region

For the past few days I wanted to finish my article about my husbands trip to Caramoran, Catanduanes -- but I just cannot find the motivation to do so. However, the treats that he bought home seem to spark tons of natural interest and memories.

Each one of this unique food items have a story. It forms a unique character that reflects the gastronomic treasures of Bicol.

Adobong Puti

First on the list is Adobong Puti. The credit for  the sample below goes to Nang Mary, the charming old lady from Caramoran. According to my husband, this type of adobo is cooked only with salt and water. It is boiled until the pork renders its own fat. Upon seeing Adobong Puti, I think the name came from the curdled fat of the adobo when exposed to low temperature. According to my husband, this type of adobo is done to preserve the pork that is intended to be used as "sahog" for other dishes. In their place, pork and other meat items are seasonal, thus, they buy in bulk when available and they preserve it thru the process of stewing it in salt and water.

Adobong Puti

          To remake the adobong puti I separated the pork meat from fat. I made another version of adobo called Honey Adobo.  The pork fat on the other hand is fried and mixed with vegetables like cabbage and carrots. 

Putyokan

          For the Honey Adobo I used the wild honey from Maui, Caramoran. They call it putyokan in Bicol instead of pukyutan. The putyokan is also known as wild honey. Unlike the usual honey that we buy in the supermarkets, the wild honey from their place is opaque and aromatic. According to my husband the color of the honey depends on the type of flower the the bee "kissed". The orange colored putyokan like the one below came from Narra flowers while the pinkish putyokan came from Makahiya flowers. 

Kulambutan

           It is my first time to see a squid as large as the one shown below. The second picture is the "sakay-sakay" of the squid or the hard part of the squid. The squid is huge. According to my husband the "sakay-sakay" of the squid is also called the squid "styrofoam" since they also use it as a floater. The "sakay-sakay" is also processed as parrot feeds. 

                        

             In their place this type of squid is only sold for 50 pesos per kilo. It is indeed a treat. On the other hand, it took me 30 minutes to process one squid. I have to sigh numerous times as I battle with the tough skin of the giant squid. 

         After 30 minutes I successfully divided the squid into four portions. It was cooked as calamares, squidsilog, chopsuey and adobo.

                                      The squid above is cooked in four different ways ways:

 Squid Calamares

Squid Tapsilog

Chopsuey

Adobo

Kugita

             The kugita looks like and alien from a sci-fi movie. Since it is my first time to clean and cook kugita, it took a while for me to dissect this sea creature. For this delicacy, I grilled the tentacles and the rest of the kugita meat was frozen for pancit palabok or pancit luglug. 

                                  

                                                        

                                                                               Grilled Kugita

                                                       

Pili

     

              A visit to Bicol is not complete without Pili. It is my first time to taste the salted version and I think the sugar glazed is way much better since Pili is not  crunchy like peanuts and cashew. The caramelized sugar added a good texture to the Pili. 

                                                       

                                                                                Salted Pili

                                                       

                                                                         Sugar-glazed Pili

Pinais

   

             This is actually one of the best treats of Bicol. It was bought in one of the bus terminals. It is sold for only 30 pesos per serving. Each serving have two stuffed taro leaves. it is filled with some spicy white fish and coconut. It is cooked with vinegar, thus the taste rendered a flavor similar to kesong puti. It is gastronomically heavenly.

                                                      

                                                      

                                                      

Cassava Suman

        This version of cassava suman is not intended for dessert, it is quite different from the one that we used to eat at home which is yellowish and sweet. This version is more timid in taste and flavor, it is best paired with something savory like Pinais. 

                                                                             

                                                                                                                   

                                                                                                   

                                                  

                                                                     

Fish, Fish, Fish  

            I am not familiar with the local name of this fishes, but just by looking and smelling each specie I can already tell a perfect way to cook each one. For the first fish, I deep fried it and smeared it with sweet and sour sauce. Among the three, that was my favorite. For the second fish, it is boiled with calamansi to make a citrus like broth, it is the favorite of my daughter. Lastly, for the third fish it is simply deep fried in oil. 

  

Sweet and Sour Fish

Sinigang sa Calamansi

Pan fried fish

Longganisa de Guinobatan

             This longganisa version are midget in size but huge in flavor. Unlike the typical longganisa, it can already be cooked without boiling. It has two variations: original and spicy. It is best paired with sukang tuba.

Cocoa

             This version is different from the one that is bought in the supermarket. It is very mild in taste. I tried cooking it for a chocolate drink but it did not work well. By trial and error, I discovered that it is perfect for tsamporado, as it renders a very dark chocolate color with a very mild chocolate taste.

                Just like any other place in the Philippines the above treats have their own version of "taste", it just needs to be discovered by an adventurous palate. :)