Filipino dessert: Summer superstar, HALO-HALO

Summer time again and the only thing to beat the heat is to indulge our taste buds with cold desserts. For this time of the year the superstar dessert for the buds of every Pinoy will be the halo-halo.

From the word Halo, which means mix, it is a combination of different ingredients build in a parfait or tall glass to create a mouth-watering and wonderful structure of dessert. It is not literally mixed together when being served, the mixing part would be when you are about to start eating the Halo-halo (of course, mixing it using a spoon).

:: Halo-Halo ::

 Yes, it is as festive and colorful as the Filipino culture. To be honest with you, I rejected the manner of portioning the ingredients in terms of serving this dessert, most especially if it is being served for my family. Once you have started eating this dessert you will be asking for more. On the other hand, some root crops are added to this dessert, it somehow makes you full right away.

Some of the ingredient are sago or tapoica balls, gulaman or gelatin, minatamis na saba at kamote or boiled and sweetened banana and sweet potato, sweet kidney beans, garbansos,  macapuno, rice crispies, sugar, milk, langka or jackfuit; for toppings, it may be ube yam, leche flan, ice cream cheese or all of these as toppings.

Filipino street food: Barbeque Or Inihaw/Ihaw-ihaw

::Typical scene of Inihaw vendors::
 Source:Filipeanut.com

    If you are walking on the side walks of the cities of the Philippines and you suddenly encounter a heavy smoke with an appetizing smell and an aroma that hypnotizing your taste buds  that is a sign that an ihawan (Barbecue stall or restaurant) is ahead of you.

    Filipino, no matter where they are, can never resist the taste of inihaw ('barbecue' in tagalog).

    In a small stand, a portable grill with flaming charcoal that cooks the marinated meat on sticks and people who patronized the food that is located usually on a corner is the typical scene of an ihawan stall. If you were the vendor, you must have a good memory to memorize those who already got their orders and those who haven't paid yet because the vendor usually the cashier, the server and the cook. It'll be a great loss in the income if the vendor is not attentive.

Here are some of the of inihaw/barbecued dish at a Filipino ihawan stall:

1. Isaw/IUD - Marinated chicken intestine.
2. Adidas/chicken feet
3. Baticolon or balunbalunan/chicken gizzard

4. Betamax o dugo/chicken's blood
5. Helmet/chicken's head
6. Bato/chicken's kidney
7. Sausage/hotdog
8. Atay/chicken and/or pork liver
9. Tenga ng baboy/ pig ears
10. Puso ng manok/chicken's heart
11. Ewe or pwet ng manok/ chicken ass
12. Pakpak ng manok/chicken wings
13. Kurbata/chicken wings

:: Isaw ::
Source:Foodrecipefetish.com

:: Adidas ::
 Source:Angledvista.wordpress.com

:: Betamax ::
Source:Thefilipinolifestyle.com

:: Helmet ::
Source:Pinoyfolks.blogspot.com

:: Hotdog/Sausage ::
Source:From-my-kitchen-to-yours.com

:: Chicken heart ::
Source:Myfilipinokitchen.com

Filipino Beverage and Dessert: Beat the heat this summer

    Filipinos love to eat; and to beat the heat, we crave for foods that are can quench the thirst and fill our appetite. Here are some of the foods that every Filipinos will surely crave for this summer:



1. Halo-halo - First on the list is the Halo halo. Boiled and sweetened kidney beans or mung beans (munggo), boiled kamote (sweet potato), garbanzos, kaong (sugar palm fruit), nata de coco, macapuno, boiled saging na saba, crunchy pinipig, filled with crushed ice and top with ripe langka (jackfruit) and ube (purple yam) and pored with evaporated milk, this Filipino's all-time favorite is served not only in during the summer season, but throughout the year.

::A bowl of mouth watering Halo-halo::
(Source)

    Even if some of the ingredients are out of season, halo halo, from the tagalog term that is 'mix', it can be mixed with other kinds of fruits and flavorings. The classic recipe of this dish has elevated to the next level as some establishments from the food industry introduced innovations to this dessert such as adding a scoop of ice-cream or serving it on a different way.


2. Ice scramble - Crushed ice blended with sugar and evaporated or condensed milk and top with syrup (usually strawberry or chocolate, or combination of both) and skimmed milk, are well-known and best-selling during hot afternoons especially among kids.

::Ice Scramble::
(Source)

    Since this dessert, which is commonly known as a street food, some food franchising company have seen it profitable and introduced innovations to the ingredients used such as the toppings.

3. Sago-gulaman or Samalamig - A refreshing beverage, from the root word 'malamig' (cold), usually flavored with vanilla extract and simple syrup and contains sago (tapioca pearls) and gulaman (gelatin).

::A refreshing glass of Samalamig:: (Source)

    To make this thirst quenching drink more attractable to the customers, they played with various colors or gelatins and add more options to the flavors that are being served such as fruit salad flavor, buko-pandan, melon, and other fruit combination that you could ever imagine.

4. Buko juice (coconut juice) - Buko craze started to boom on the later part of 2012. Since the modern lifestyle today are focused on the 'more healthier side', this natural drink will surely suit your crave for a nourishing and refreshing drink. Buko juice, young coconut meat and milk serve in its shell for a classy look are usually seen in restaurants and resorts.

::Healthy and refreshing Buko Juice::
(Source)

I hoped you will enjoy your summer with this Filipino refreshing drinks.

The Filipino meal: Breakfast or Almusal

   The best part of the day as an ordinary Filipino citizen was the breakfast or almusal. The ultimate power meal that will surely delighting every pinoy's morning.

Coffee - First and always on the list. Just a cup of hot kape ("Kape" is the Filipino term for coffee) always brighten the day. Kapeng barako of Batangas and Kapeng alamid are some of the best and high quality coffee that are loved by Filipinos.

Photo source: The pinoy warrior

Sinangag - Leftover rice from last night's dinner, fried with garlic sauteed until golden brown and onions and simply seasoned with salt, sometimes incorporated with other ingredients such as celery, onion sprigs, chopped carrots, green peas, etc., Sinangag or fried rice can be eaten even without side dishes.

Photo source: Pinoy cook

Daing & tuyo - Daing na isda (cured and dried fish) and tuyo (dried fish) is the best partner of sinangag. Commonly served as fried. In some provinces, they boiled it with herbs that are present in their yards such as saluyot, malunggay, sili, etc. The most commonly known daing is dinaing na bangus. Daing na bangus (milk fish) is marinated in salt, vinegar, ground pepper and finely chopped garlic and set aside for a matter of hours or even in days and served fried.

Longaniza - Longganisa or langgonisa? Smoked, chicken, skinless or garlicky? From vigan or iloco, lucban or pampanga, doesen't matter how you say it, no matter what flavor it is or where it originates, it is still the same sausage every Pinoy loves to pair with sinangag in the morning.

Photo source: Visit Pinas

Egg - Some like it scrambled, some like it boiled, but some like it on top of TAPSILOG.

Photo source: Pinterest

Kakanin - On the go? Kakanin are easily found in every corner of the streets in the Philippines. Heavy, sweet and in different kinds, kakanin is not just for breakfast and snacks, but also the superstar of Pinoy fiesta.

Photo source: Visit Pinas

The SI-LOG - TapSiLog (tapa, sinangag, itlog) is the most common among the combinations that are considered the all-time Filipino favorite breakfast. Sinangag at itlog (fried rice and egg sunny side up) paired with other different fried dish

Here are some of the Si-Log combinations:

• LongSiLog (Longaniza, sinangag, itlog)
• DaSiLog (Daing, sinangag, itlog)
• TuSiLog (Tuyo, sinangag, itlog)
• HamSiLog (Ham, sinangag at itlog)

TapSiLog

Sirena: Song from a gay's point of view

    It was early morning when I do my daily habit-Reaching for the remote and search for my favorite music channel MYX-and I already missed the half of the countdown because I was a bit late waking up that day. A song caught my attention, that was new to the perception of the Philippine culture.

    The video of the song featured in the new album, "MNKM: Mga Kwento Ng Makata" of Gloc9, Philippine Blacksmith of words, already gained over a million of viewers in Youtube.

    The story of the music video was perfectly genius! If you're not familiar or can't fully understand the language, the video itself will tell you the story of the song.

    A middle aged guy with a heart of a lady that is always been harassed by his own father and is always discriminated by his neighbor since his childhood. And, as the time goes by, his family members are already living independently and his father was left alone. Amid the pain-physical, emotional and verbal- that his father has given to him, he chose to live and take care of his father who happened to have cancer.

My favorite part of the lyrics and was the best line of the lyrics that I have read in my life so far was:

Isang gabi, ako'y iyong tinawag, Lumapit

ako sa'yong tabi ika'y tumangan, kumapit

ka sa aking kamay kahit hirap magsalita

Anak, patawad sana sa lahat ng aking nagawa

Di sinusukat ang tapang at ang bigote sa mukha

Dahil kung minsan mas lalake pa sa lalake ang bakla

 And this is my rough translation of the lyrics:
 
One night, you called me and I came
And, with me on your side you cried
Held my hand though you can't hardly speak
"Son, sorry for what I've done,
Bravery and mustache are never been
the measurement of being a man,
Sometimes, Gays are manlier than a straight guy."




    I almost cry when I heard that line of the song. It was very effective and surely always catches the heart of everyone who will hear the song. No wonder why it is still on the countdown of the said music channel and stays on the same position for over the weeks at number two.

    I hope you will appreciate it the same way as I appreciate the brilliance of the song and its music video.

Watch the video of the song directly from the Universal Records Philippines official YouTube Channel and read the description below to know how to and where to download the song.

Support Original Pinoy Music.

Stop Internet Piracy

Creepy lullaby song

   My sister, Elena, were searching across the web when she remember the song Ili ili tulog anay, a Visayan lullaby song. I never heard this song played with instruments, I just heard of this song from my mother or from my music teacher when I was in high school. It sounds creepy for a lullaby, but I really love this song (sounds creepy or it's just me?).

 Ili ili tulog anay

Ili-ili tulog anay,

Wala diri imo nanay.

Kadto tienda bakal papay.

Ili-ili tulog anay.

—English translation—

Sleep for a while.

Your mother is not here.

Went to the market to buy bread.

Sleep for a while.

-Lyrics taken from The Absentee Negrense

    I grabbed an instrumental version of ili ili tulog anay at Mp3skull. I hope you won't get too much goosebumps while playing this song.

ili_ili_tulog_anay


Powered by mp3skull.com

   Here the video taken from the film White Lady where the song was featured. Angelica Panganiban and Pauleen Luna, cast of the film, had their own version. Pauleen sung the song much creepier.

Ili ili tulog anay - Angelica Panganiban's version

 Ili ili tulog anay - Pauleen Luna's version

A sad story: Habagat takes lives

    The past week has been devastating to my countrymen because of the weather, PAG ASA didn't report any typhoon signal, but the rain fall seems like never ending--Terrible! it was like typhoon Ondoy!

    Thank goodness we are living in an elevated area (I was thinking, manila had already sunk in if ever we have reached by the flood.), but some of the people around Bagong Silang, here in Caloocan, who are located near the creeks and rivers have been affected by the heavy rain fall.

An incident happened just near our street during the typhoon that really catches my heart-A mother who risked her life to save her baby, unfortunately their life had been taken by the raging flood.

    "The house of the victims was located near the creek" as my mother told me while she was removing the goods from the shopping bags, that's the first time she had been into the market since Monday due to heavy rainfall. "Some of their neighbor had told them to leave, but they didn't even listen and though they already knew that the house next to their house had been taken by the flood because of the landslide" 

    "Some of the concerned people who saw them carried by the flood together by their house started running to the bridge where the lower part of the river is and rushing to bring down the net to catch the mother and the child over the raging stream." As she sadly continued the story, "Unfortunately the child wasn't with the mother when she was caught. The mother had bruises all over her face, it was awful to see someone in that state. But, it was too late, she was dead and so as her husband and her other two children. They should have listened." 

   It was a sad story. The next day, I heard that the baby the mother was trying to save was found at the river on the town of San Jose, Del Monte. 

    Though the people are still not recovered from the past tragedy, another typhoon had occurred, the typhoon Helen has already entered and currently in the Philippine area of responsibility.

Bayanihan: People unite to help other people

    I hope and pray that this won't be another reason for the people to lose their loved ones.

    As we pray for the people who have been victimized by the flood, let us also pray for the safety of everyone and the kind-hearted people who are always there to help and let the bayanihan always rule in our country.

Sinigang

     Best soup for cold season you say? Want to taste the best one? Then, have taste Filipinos all-time favorite Sinigang.

Cravining for soup?

Tumblr: My food

     Sinigang is a pinoy version of sour soup and is perfect for cold season. Mostly associated with tamarind as a souring agent and enhanced with green finger pepper, gabi (taro), labanos (raddish), kangkong (water spinach), kamatis (tomato), paminta (pepper) and usually cooked with meat or fish. Here are some of the variation of sinigang:

• Sinigang sa Sampalok - Tamarind traditionally the souring agent used for sinigang. It is added at the beginning of the cooking procedure to bring out the soury taste of the tamarind. 

Ygoy: Tamarind as medicine

•  Sinigang sa Miso - Miso and seafood always blends together. Miso usually cooked with bangus (milk fish) or salmon.

My 3rd & 7th sense: Salmon belly sinigan sa miso

•  Sinigang sa Libas - Libas is a leaf that is mostly used as souring agent in the southern part of the Philippines or Visayans. It is incorporated in the dish right before it is served.

Manila old timer: Libas leaf

•  Sinigang sa Batuan - Jammed (I mean, not to the point that you have to crush the fruit.),  and cut into halves, this sour fruit will surely a counterpart of the tamarind soup.

Marketmanila: Batuan

 Sinigang sa Bayabas - Bayabas or Guava will put another check to our list. Aside from its sourly flavor, it gives a little sweet to the dish which also enhances the flavor.

Bayabas/guava

Filipino Delicacies: Suman

     No Filipinos have not tasted the sweet and savory kakanin. Who wouldn't persist to taste it's sticky yet sweet and delicate taste?

     Kakanin, or Rice cakes as they refer to call it, is one of the best delicacy that Filipino should be proud of. Aside from the famous Lechon and pancit, kakanin gain its popularity in fiestas and other special celebration. Every region has their own variations of kakanin. Appearance, taste, ingredients and preparation depends on the region or town where it originated or even on the person's family where he adopted the recipe.

1. Suman - I put it on first on the list because of its being common and availability in the market. Usually made out of glutinous rice wrapped in a coconut or palm leaves and steamed. Here are several types of suman

• Suman sa Ibus - Glutinous rice wrapped over a coconut or palm leaves, steamed with water and small amount of salt. These yellow leaves that serves as its container will attract everyone's eyes. Its sweet taste from the rice yet salty flavor matches hot chocolate and coffee for breakfast or simply match it with ripe mango on an afternoon as a miryenda or snack.

•  Suman sa lihiya - Another favorite on the list. Glutinous rice wrapped in banana leaves and steamed with coconut leaves instead of water. It goes with the latik, made of coconut milk's residue, cooked over medium heat. 

Ranchero's Merienda

•  Suman sa Kamoteng Kahoy (Cassava) - Made of grated or finely ground cassava, wrapped in banana leaves and steamed in coconut milk and sugar.

When adobo met feijoada

Filipino snacks: Kutkutin

    I have been on the web looking for a site that is about Filipino snacks, unfortunately I haven't seen exactly what I've been looking for. So, I made a list of the foods that I've been craving for a long time.

   This list is all about Filipino snacks that mostly Filipinos always bought while they're on their way home as a pasalubong or gift for their family or loved ones, specially if they came from a long trip or have been to a vacation.

Barquillos -  A thin rolled cookies, mixtures of milk, flour and egg. Iloilo, a province in western Visayas, is a well-known province for making barquillos and other sweet delicacies. It's like the Champola wafer sticks and Stick-O's. Good to eat with a hot chocolate and/or along with a scoop of your favorite flavor of ice cream.

 Photo source: Wikimedia

Kamote (Sweet potato) Chips and Cassava Chips - This two chips may look like the same, but they differ from the texture and taste. Sweet potato or Kamote are sliced thinly to ensure the crunchy texture after frying while the Cassava, which is also sliced thinly, may appear to have a bubbly-like appearance on the layer of a thin-sliced cassava due to heat pressure while cooking. Kamote chips are best if they're flavored with honey and Cassava chips goes along with cheese flavor and barbeque. You can go and visit Market Manila for their recipe of Kamote chips.

Photo source: marketmanila.com

Photo source: Between you and me

  
Shingaling -I've been eating this food since I was a child and it was and is the best snack ever. Made out of Thick noodles, dried over night and deep fried with seasoning and red pepper until it reaches it's golden brown color. Visit Loqal.ph where Marjorie Gorospe shared her story of A snack fondly called ‘shing-aling’.

 Photo source: loqal.ph

 Banana Chips - Sliced thinly and deep fried with sugar, banana chips is one of the classic Pinoy snacks.

 Photo source: Multiply

Ampao - From the word itself Ampao or hollow, this food is made out of sesame and a thin wafer-like filling or sometimes is made out of puffed rice and coated with sugar caramel.

Photo source: Market Manila

These sweet delicacies and snacks are mostly found in Pasalubong stores, bus stops and or supermarkets.