Dinengdeng

This dish is often interchanged with Pinakbet because of their similar method of cooking and appearance. Both are vegetable soup dishes, and both use a variety of vegetables. The difference between the two, however, is that while Pinakbet contains the more colorful “Bahay Kubo” veggies, Dinengdeng only tends to use green or yellow ones—malunggay leaves and fruits (the long pods), squash and squash blossoms, and alakon blossoms, to name a few. Tossing in grilled pieces of fish or other meat is also frequently done here.

Want to know another major difference? Dinengdeng uses only bagoong, but does not use shrimp paste.

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Pinakbet

Alternatively called Pakbet by the locals, this vegetable dish is perhaps the embodiment of Ilokano cuisine. The average bowl of Pinakbet is created with almost any vegetable—if you know the lyrics to the folk song “Bahay Kubo”, you will have an idea of what these veggies are. Majority of those mentioned in the song are ingredients to Pinakbet. Afterwards, they are boiled until cooked, and then seasoned with the region’s signature bagoong or fish sauce, and lastly, pink shrimp paste. Others may add pork belly with this vegetable dish.

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DODOL

Dodol is a sweet delicacy of our muslim brothers and sisters. It is made from sticky rice flour, coconut milk and sugar.

Dodol is commonly served during festivals, such as Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid al-ADha as sweet treat for children. It is also served during Iftar (the breaking of fast at the end of the day or sunset.

Dodol is usually wrapped in corn husks or brightly colored cellophane sheets.

It is popular not only here in Mindanao, but as well to other countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.

Did you found your heart and soul on the Muslim delicacies listed above? If not share your favorite muslim delicacy with us. However, you can also try these delicacies and maybe one of them can become one of your favorites too. Altamatue bialghidha’

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BEEF RENDANG

The king of all curries, beef rendang is a mouthwatering dish that originated from Indonesia. Eventually became one of the specialties of Maranao people. Beef Rendang is a caramelized beef curry. Cooke with coconut milk to reduced the dish’s darkness and add consistency to its sweetness.

For Maranaos this is usually served during special celebrations.

Some restaurants around Cagayan de Oro City offers beef rendang on their menu.

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PALAPA

Speaking of palapa, it is a sambal like sauce that is oily and spicy. It is known as a Maranao appetizer. It is made of scallion bulbs or sakurab in Maranao with ginger and siling labuyo or chili pepper.  It is known for adding more flavor to every cooked dish.

Muslim meals in Cagayan de Oro City are usually served with palapa. However, if you are interested on buying one, you can buy one in a very affordable price. For a 100 grams of palapa, it will cost you P50 while 200 grams is P100.

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PATER

One of the most popular muslim food here in Cagayan de Oro is the unique yet delicious Pater.

Pater which originated from Mindanao, is a packed meal famous of its unique style. It is neatly wrapped in a banana leaf. Unwrapping the banana leaf, you will find the packed rice topped with either sauteed shredded chicken meat (kagikit) or beef (gandang) or flakes of fish abodo/tuna.

Pater is also known as pastel or pastil or patel or paster. Commonly known as a Maranao and Maguindanao meal.

Aside from the fact that Pater’s taste is loved by the many it is also enjoyed by everyone for it’s very affordable price. Here in Cagayan de Oro, for as low as thirty pesos you can already buy this muslim delicacy.

The muslim delicacy is a lot more delicious when served with palapa.

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Salawaki (Fresh Sea Urchin) Bohol

Who wouldn’t know about Sea Urchins? They’re very popular aphrodisiacs and they’re common around places near the sea especially in Bohol, Bolinao, and La Union. These are spiny sea creatures with yellow or orange insides. Their texture is similar to that of oysters and they are best eaten raw and fresh.

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Adobong Uok (Beetle Larvae) Rizal

If you’re an avid fan of Andrew Zimmerman’s show, Bizarre Food with Andrew Zimmerman, you might have already came across with Adobong Uok. They live in dead coconut logs. Natives would collect them and eat them raw or cooked adobo style. It has an interesting texture and taste that people from around the globe are a fan off.

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Adobong Kamaru (Mole Cricket), Pampanga

Rice fields would often have Kamaru. These can be a little bit of a pest, so to counter them, farmers harvest these insects and people found ways on how to eat them. Served mostly in adobo style (which would mean to cook it in sautéed garlic, soy sauce and vinegar) this peculiar dish is more oftenly eaten together with beer. These are crunchy on the outside and gooey on the inside and they’re quite commonly sold in Pampanga.

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Abuos (Ant Eggs) Ilocos

Let’s now look at the bug choices in this menu. These creepy crawlers might put you off a bit, but you might be surprised how other culture also eat red ant eggs, like in Thailand and Mexico. In Thailand they cook it with lemon grass, garlic and chillies. In Mexico they call it as escamole and they serve it pan fried in butter and spices. Ilocos serves it sautéed with garlic and tomatoes.

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Kinilaw na Tamilok in Palawan and Aklan (Shipworm or Woodworm dipped in Salt and Vinegar)

Kinilaw is a popular way of preparing seafood especially shelled mollusks. Kinilaw is quite similar to ceviche, where you would need some acidic solution to “cook” the ingredients. They basically soak it in either vinegar or calamansi juice with bits of ginger, and minced garlic and they leave it for a bit. This is then served as is. Tamilok is a bivalve mollusk that is attached in mangroves. They look like worms inside, but they taste like the typical oyster. So imagine your typical oyster served in kinilaw style and you would get an idea of how this would taste like.

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Betute Tugak (Deep fried stuffed frogs) Pampanga

Fancy deep fried frogs with meat stuffings? They always say that frogs taste like chicken and they do. That in itself is comforting, just close your eyes and imagine you’re eating chicken if you’re having second thoughts on eating this. Betute Tugak is quite popular in Pampanga. These frogs are those that roam around farms during the rainy season. They’d remove the skin, season it with salt and pepper and stuff it with sautéed ground pork.

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Balut

Evenings would never be complete without hearing some vendor calling out “baloooooooot!”. Some vendors walk, others would be in their bicycles. But did you ever try to buy one? If you haven’t and you’re wondering what it is, then it’s a duck egg. To be more specific, it’s a developed duck egg, which of course means that there’s a little baby duck inside it. It’s very popular among the locals. It has this bit of broth that has a distinct taste, and some egg yolk and hardened albumen. Some would put vinegar in it, others would just put a bit of salt.

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Isaw, Betamax, Gizzard

This might just be the mildest among the rest of the items on this list. All of these three are grilled, and there are basically sold everywhere in the country, most especially in places near university belts. Isaw is chicken intestines, betamax is grilled blood cubes, and gizzard is basically grilled chicken gizzard. Other culture also eat innards, in fact there’s a couple of words pertaining to innards such as Giblet, for chicken neck, heart and liver, Numbles for animal entrails.

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Tortang Talong with Ground Pork Recipe

You can add ground pork to your eggplant omelet to make something like this. I simply call it tortang talong with ground pork. This dish is like tortang talong and tortang giniling combined.

While it looks yummy, it will even be yummier if you serve it with your favorite condiment. Banana ketchup is more than enough, as far as I am concerned.

Let me give you some pointers before you start. The first thing to do is to peel the skin off the eggplant. Do this by first exposing the eggplant directly on fire until the skin gets a bit burnt. It will be easier to peel the skin off this way. You can also bake or grill the eggplant.

The ground pork mixture (giniling) is simply made by sautéing garlic, onion, and tomato with the ground pork. Season it with salt and pepper towards the end

nitially cook the eggplant the same way we do when making tortang talong. Run a fork over the peeled eggplant to flatten it, and then dip in beaten egg before frying. The ground pork will only be placed on one side to make the process simpler. Arrange half of the ground pork over the eggplant as you fry the other side, and then pour enough beaten egg to cover it. I usually pour hot oil over the beaten egg to partially cook it. This will hold the ground pork and prevent it from falling off. Simply scoop oil from the pan using a small spoon and pour over the eggplant. Do this until the egg on top turns solid.

I think the step when we need to turn the eggplant over is not the easiest. What I usually do is grab a wide spatula (big enough to accommodate the eggplant) and quickly flip it to cook the opposite side. It takes a little practice to perfect it.

Ingredients

• 2 Chinese eggplants
• 3 eggs
• 6 to 8 ounces ground pork
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves crushed garlic, minced
• 8 tablespoons cooking oil
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Heat the eggplant directly over a stove top until the sides skin turns black. Remove and let it cool down. Peel the skin off and arrange in a plate. Flatten each piece using a fork. Set aside.
2. Meanwhile, heat 3 tablespoons oil in a pan. Saute garlic, onion, and tomato.
3. Add ground pork. continue to cook until the pork turns light brown. Season with salt and ground black pepper. Transfer to a clean plate and set aside.
4. Heat remaining oil in a clean pan.
5. While the oil is being heated, crack eggs and place in a bowl. Beat until smooth.
6. Dip a piece of eggplant into the bowl with egg. Make sure that the entire eggplant gets completely coated.
7. Gently slide the eggplant into the pan.
8. While one side is frying, arrange half of the ground pork mixture over the eggplant. Pour 2 tablespoons of beaten egg to cover the pork mixture. Tip: Scoop oil from the pan using a spoon and pour over the eggplant. This will partially cook the beaten egg on top, which will act as a binder to prevent the meat mixture from falling apart.
9. Flip the eggplant over to cook the opposite side. Note: you can use a wide spatula, or you can temporarily transfer the eggplant to a plate. If using the plate method, empty the oil from the pan first. Hold the pan in one hand and the plate on the other. Cover the plate with the pan and quickly flip the pan so that it facing up. The side with ground pork should be facing down at this point. Continue to cook in medium to high heat until the tortang talong with ground pork is fully cooked. Do the same step for the remaining eggplant.
10. Transfer to a serving plate. Serve.

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