Seaside Tayo!

[Grilled Norwegian salmon steaks brushed with a little butter]

Avoiding meat because of the Lenten season (yeah, blame it on Lent, hehe), and because of my balikbayan aunt, the Lola Taba and Lolo Pato Seaside Palutuan has been a favorite haunt these last few weeks. Actually, it is the best alternative to the tired, usual eating places at the Mall of Asia. Nothing new there, if you ask me, not one exciting thing, even the Taste Asia, which is a palutuan wannabe but with sad and overpriced offerings. Maybe except for the Haagen Dazs Cafe.

The palutuan concept, or "seaside" as we call it, has been around for ages, and has been a hit, spawning branches in Cubao and Ortigas. The "originals" at Dampa in Paranaque and Baclaran are still around, and that's where I first discovered this eating adventure. In the office an entire unit, nay, an entire department, would troop to Dampa, a good one hour traffic-laden drive from Makati, for lunch during birthday celebrations. Or phone in our orders the day before in Baclaran to Aling Letty, who would do the marketing for us and prepare our feast on the appointed date, ready for pick-up.

But Paranaque is too far away, and Baclaran is still far, and we were not too happy then with the eating stalls and the lack of parking space (same with Dampa in the evenings).

[Salmon steak hunks and tuna bellies]

The seaside at Diosdado Macapagal Avenue at the reclamation area in Pasay City is nearer, the wet market cleaner, you are assured of parking space even on Friday nights, and our favorites from Dampa and Baclaran have set up shop there.

And it is on my way home, so I can drop by to buy premium seafood to cook home every night.

The offerings are fresh - of course, you have to know how to buy fresh seafood, for you have to buy your own then give them to the cook of the palutuan restaurant of your choice, with instructions on how to cook them. The restaurants have menus of their cooking methods and styles, with the corresponding cost depending on the weight of the seafood (usually by the 1/4-1/2kg, 3/4-1kg, minimum 1/4kg).

We buy at the wet market in the center of the complex, not by the alleyways between the cooking establishments. The seafood at the market is cheaper and there is more variety. But by the alleyways there are some stalls with tanks full of live seafood.

[Sinigang na salmon sa miso]

Our favorite at Dampa was Trinity's, and I've mentioned Aling Letty at Baclaran, but at Diosdado Macapagal we go to Aling Tonya's (with two branches - we prefer Branch 2). It seems a lot of people share our partiality to Aling Tonya's - there are those who rave about the main outlet in Baclaran, and during a late lunch on a Sunday, we had to wait for an hour for a table while all the other palutuan are empty. We were early one Friday night, but at 6PM it was already full-packed while the nearby establishments were still waiting for diners.

The service is fine, the presentation basic. Dishes with sauce are served in small kawalis (thick frying pans), soups in small kalderos, while dry dishes and rice are served on banana leaf-lined platters, making them aromatic.

The cooked food do not disappoint. Again, this is all highly dependent on the freshness of the seafood. At Diosdado Macapagal the sellers issue a guarantee - they will reimburse the cost and pay for the cooking charge if the seafood they sold you disappoint, in one way or another.

Of course the cooking techniques also play a major role. That's why we go to Aling Tonya's. We bought a kilo of salmon steaks (Php400/kilo) and had half of them grilled. Even though the surface looked a bit charred, it was not overdone and still succulent to the bite.

The other half we had in a sinigang sa miso - it was properly sour, and the cooking charge at P130 already included lots of fresh vegetables - mustasa (mustard leaves), okra, labanos (white radish), tomatoes.

[foreground, l-r: Tiger prawns, suahe; background, r-l: lumot, squid]

A kilo of suahe (Pacific or western white shrimps, Penaeus vannamei) was quoted at Php450, but with some haggling was given at Php420. They were not live as in swimming live (the live ones in tanks sell for about Php780), but still fresh (white, all appendages intact, the heads transluscent and colorless).

[Halabos na suahe]

The best way to eat fresh suahe is just halabos, or steamed, because they are the sweetest thing to come from the sea. Ours was so sweet I could swear they were cooked in sugar!

[Baked oysters with cheese and garlic]

These oysters were also sweet. The shells were opened just before baking them, having bought them in shells at the market for Php50 per kilo.

[Freshly shucked succulent oysters]

[Live crabs]

One main reason one goes to eat at seaside, at any seaside palutuan outlet in any branch around the metropolis, is the crabs. They are sold live, with the claws bound for easier handling. Female crabs are sold for a premium (about Php400) because of their hard, thick aligue (fat), but the male ones are fleshy, as well (Php250-300). All-claws sell for about Php700.

[Crabs in special sauce]

We love the special sauce (oyster sauce, leeks, onions, garlic, bell pepper, ginger, listed in no particular order) in these palutuans so we always order one kind of seafood cooked in special sauce. It is either crabs or steamed fish (pompano, talakitok, lapu-lapu, samaral).

With crabs it is so lip-smackin'ly satisfying and oh so finger-lickin' good!

Also great with sweet chili sauce.

[Live halaan spouting water at buyers]

Love these in soup with ginger, sliced onions and dahon ng sili (young leaves of finger chiles).

By the way, Aling Tonya's claims 100% MSG-free cooking.
Also delivers and caters.

Aling Tonyas's

• Branch 2: 105 Seaside
  Macapagal Avenue, Pasay City
  Tel. No. 5561781
• Branch 1, Tel. No. 5561782
• Main Office: Seaside Mart
  Baclaran, Pasay City
  Tel. No. 8544564, 8523792
• Dampa, Paranaque
  Tel. No. 8256951
• Ortigas Town Center
  J. Vargas Avenue, Pasig City
  Tel. No. 9140269

Baktaw

Common names (Philippine languages)

baglau/bataw/bulay (Bisaya)
batau/bataw (Bikol)
bataw/sibachi/sibatsi (Tagalog)
itab (Ifugao, Bontoc)
parda, parda-atap (Ilokano)
baktaw (Pangasinan)


Scientific name Dolichos labiab Linn.

Baktaw has been in season since late last year, along with other vegetable pods. The young pods are mixed in with other vegetables that are usually sinagsagan, or boiled with bagoong (salted fish paste), in Pangasinan.

It looks like snow peas or Chinese peas in shape, size, and thinness, but the pod skin is rough, the color lighter green. One variant has characteristic violet shading along the edges.

It is not a prized vegetable, and it is neither cultivated for commercial purposes. The plant usually sprouts on its own when its season arrives, usually during the colder months of the year, after the rains. The pods are plucked and sold in the markets as an alternative, or additional, ingredient to any cooked vegetable mixture.

When cooking, the edges are trimmed and the pods split lengthwise. Traditionally, it is added to pakbet, or any mixture of vegetables distinguished as Ilocano/Pangasinan (sitaw, patani, sigarillas, kamansi, papaya, et.al.). I find this too gloomy, though, or too green, too homogenous. Not too exciting.

So I add it to squash, probably mixed with cabuey (sigarillas/winged beans) if available, and squash' interminable companion agayep (sitaw/string beans or yard-long beans), and some chopped tomatoes. The squash brightens up the vegetable dish, in visual terms as well as in taste.


I am not particularly enamored with baktaw, either - I buy and eat it because it is....there, if you know what I mean, and because eating what's in season is in line with my food philosophy. It doesn't have any distinguishing taste, nor scent, and it is not really missed if it's not in season.

But blogging about food has led me to discover many things. I've learned, for example, that baktaw contains significant amounts of calcium, iron, vitamin C, and other minerals.

More importantly, a team of researchers from the Central Luzon State University, led by Lilia D. Torres, learned more benefits from baktaw, along with other native vegetables, in a study entitled “Investigation of selected agricultural products and wastes in Region III as sources of natural products and pulp,” published at the DOST website. And I quote:

....Extracts from the seeds of bataw contain saponins and alkaloids with anti-tumor agent.

Alkaloids have strong anti-bacterial and anti-cancer biological activity and are widely used as component of drug and herbal formulations.Saponins are surface-active agents producing foamy suds when mixed with water. These are used as ingredients for cosmetics, detergents, shampoos, emulsifiers, and fire extinguishers.

Saponins exhibit hemolytic properties, which act as poison, show cytotoxic or pesticidal activity, and have a variety of medicinal applications. They can inhibit growth of cancer cells, lower cholesterol, boost immune system and energy, act as natural antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-oxidant....(emphases mine)

So now there's more reason to buy baktaw.

Related Post
Baktaw Flowers

---

Bahay Kubo

Bahay kubo, kahit munti
Ang halaman doon ay sari-sari
Singkamas at talong, sigarillas at mani
Sitaw, bataw, patani

Gundol, patola, upo’t kalabasa
At saka meron pa, labanos, mustasa
Sibuyas, kamatis, bawang at luya
Sa paligid-ligid ay puno ng linga

Roughly translated as:

Bahay KuboFilipino folk song

Nipa hut, even though small
the plants surrounding it are varied and many
turnips and eggplants, winged beans and peanuts
yard-long beans, hyacinth beans, lima beans
wax gourd, sponge gourd, bottle gourd, squash
and there’s more, radish, mustard
onions, tomatoes, garlic and ginger
the surrounding spaces filled with sesame

---

Palibit

It has been noted that the bulk of weddings in the Philippines happen during the month of December, and on to the next months of the cold season. And so it is also an acknowledged fact, though I don't have the statistics - partly due to the weddings and mostly to the cold season - that hospitals encounter the most number of deliveries starting September of every year (I hope you're doing your math, so I don't have to, ahem, expound further ;-) ).

And then it follows that about 2 months afterwards, we experience a deluge of christenings.

Old customs prohibit newborns from being taken on trips out of town, most especially if they have not claimed their names yet, which is the Pangasinan idiom (agni angala na ngaran to) for babies who are yet to be baptized. It is considered bad luck for un-Christened children to travel - they're prone to encounter accidents and disasters.

I think this is much of an old wives' tale - one of the many that we sometimes set aside as having no scientific basis at all.

We had brought my newborn daughter to Pangasinan from the Quezon City hospital where she was born when she was but a day old, and nothing untoward happened. Although she cried throughout the entire trip, we credit that to her already being hungry and my not being able to produce milk yet. And then a day before her baptism we took her to Baguio City - at the height of the meningococcemia (meningococcal meningitis/cerebrospinal fever) scare.

She's a healthy and lively thing now, at three. But sometimes, it behooves me to think about the prudence of keeping newborns at home.

During our one-on-one, pre-nuptial briefing, we were advised by the priest to exercise all caution, because the marriage rite is a holy sacrament, and the devil will do all that is possible to prevent such a sacrament from being consumated.

As it is, a Christian baptism is also one of the seven holy sacraments.

Anyway, I think a lot of people practice the custom, or else have their newborn babies baptized as early as possible. So by December of every year, at a time when families have already recovered from the birth of a baby, and there is enough money from Christmas bonuses (not to mention prospective ninongs and ninangs being awash with cash from their respective bonuses), invitations to baptisms start pouring in.

In my hometown baptisms in December and early January also ensure that the baby's Christian identity is confirmed - confirmation being another holy sacrament - after the bishop's mass for the town fiesta on the third week of January.

It is also somehow a way of feasting on a date that is still safely far from the impending arrival of the Lenten season.

A Christian baptism is always a big event, as big as a wedding, though without all the trimmings and trappings, but requiring almost the same expense. The reception is traditionally held at noon, following the church ceremony always scheduled at 11AM.

And it is always a community event - no need for invitations - people have the uncanny sense to know when a baptism will be held and where, and they come in droves. Of course, the preparation for the feast starts several days before the event, with the participation of a lot of people, so word goes around easily.

One notable custom during baptisms in Pangasinan is the palibit, literally translated as padala or "letting one carry." In slang, it is take home, food from the bounty of the baptism reception. Guests, especially kin who come from out of town, are given plastic bag-fuls of food - their choice or what's plentiful from the menu.

One distinctive palibit, though, is the food given to godparents or ninongs and ninangs. Traditionally, this palibit is specially prepared, and not served as part of the feast. Customarily, it is half a chicken that is fried, wrapped in colored cellophane and be-tied with a fancy ribbon.

Other meats may be added (second photo shows that the palibit included an aluminum foil-wrapped embutido - steamed meat roll), but the fried chicken is always the star of the show, sometimes accompanied by a cup of home-made atsara.

One of the best fried chicken I've ever tasted is a palibit from a binyag. The meat was soft and succulent, very garlicky in taste, and the skin crispy without the batter that coats all fried chicken nowadays. That one was heavenly delicious in its simplicity - just properly seasoned and fried masterfully.

The common practice in cooking palibit is first boiling the whole chicken with lots of crushed garlic, onions, salt and pepper, then chopped in half, rubbed with salt and pepper, and deep-fried in very hot oil.

I'm not sure about the significance of giving fried chicken to the people who will (supposedly) be part of the child's spiritual upbringing, but it's been the practice in the province way before I was born. I guess because in the old times fried chicken is not so common as it is now that everybody can sprout wings anytime, as the saying goes.

This is further bolstered by the practice of boiling the chicken before frying it - it points to the days when broilers were not yet farmed in commercial quantities - native, or free-range, chicken were the only chicken available, and these need to be tenderized before frying.

Anyhow, the practice has survived to this day, and it is still fried chicken even when all that you can order out in any cooked food outlet is fried chicken. But of course the fried chicken has been modified to adapt to the times - like the use of broilers eliminated the pre-boiling part, and the chicken is coated with all sorts of seasoned batter that sometimes when you get home the skin is already soggy. Or that somehow it makes you think it was ordered from McDo or Jollibee.

Posts on Chicken
Pinaupong Manok sa Asin
Pinapuong Manok sa Sabaw
Pininyahang Manok
Adobo sa Mangga
French Baked Adobo
Chicken with Old Bay Seasoning
Chicken Fillet with Mango
Chicken Mapo Tofu
Tinolang Native na Manok

Haagen Dazs Chocolate Fondue

Just want to share a pre-Valentine indulgence with some girlfriends. Chocolate fondue at the latest Häagen Dazs Cafe, inside Mall of Asia.

I first tried the chocolate fondue years and years ago at the first Häagen Dazs Cafe in Glorietta, with another girlfriend. That was unforgettable - chocolate fondue with 8 scoops of the smoothest, creamiest Häagen Dazs ice cream in different flavors, plus marshmallows, some pastries and sliced fruits in season. It's still available now (Php590++), and it is just good enough for two - maybe three if you've had dinner. We had it for an afternoon snack and we two finished off the whole thing.

I've been hankering to try again the fondue when Häagen Dazs opened a cafe at the Mall of Asia (MOA). I liked its open location by the 2nd floor lounge, beside the baby grand piano, although if there's an event down at the ground floor it's bound to be noisy.


The Häagen Dazs Cafe at MOA is offering the regular chocolate fondue, but with more ice cream - 14 scoops in all, in strawberry, choc choc chips, coffee, and macadamia nut flavors (Php760++). Because there were three of us we were given an additional free scoop in the flavor of our choice.

Plus fruit slices (we had green apples, kiwis and bananas), large chocolate chip cookies, chocolate rolled wafers, and delicious cubes of a very dense butter cake.

It is more than good enough for two - there were three of us but we couldn't, much to our dismay, eat everything off. We just had dinner, and had pre-dinner snacks, too. Of course we slurped up all the ice cream, and the fruits, to balance off the sweetness, but it was just too much. We noticed that all the tables were occupied by couples, and they were all eating fondue. We didn't stay long enough to check if they finished all the morsels.

I think the fondue is good enough for a family - I'm estimating that it is more than enough for the hubby and me, plus the two kids. Perhaps for four adults who had just had dinner. It's the only size available at MOA anyhow - the other variation is an all-dark chocolate orange ice cream scoops, featuring Häagen Dazs' new flavor that is an intense dark chocolate ice cream filled with orange rinds and spiked with liqueur.

Valentine's Day is as good an excuse as any.

Chocolate Fondue available only at Häagen Dazs Cafe outlets
(Glorietta, Shangri-la, Alabang and MOA)
For cafe locations, please check here.
20% discount for American Express cardholders

Mall of Asia
Level 2, Main Mall
SM MAll of Asia, Pasay City
Tel. No. 556-1111

Glorietta
Ground Level (in front of Landmark)
Glorietta 3, Ayala Center
Makati City
Tel. No. 8922873, 7527299

LP 24: Loco Over Coco

Anywhere you go in the Philippines, from the lengthy coastal areas surrounding the more than 7,000 islands comprising the archipelago, to the inland valleys and rolling plains, up to the rugged mountain ranges, solitary hills and volcanoes rising up to the heavens that rig the land, the coconut tree is a ubiquitous presence.

So much so that in any place in the country, from Batanes to Tawi-Tawi, coconuts - that is to say, all the various parts of the coconut - figure in one way or another in the regional/ethno-linguistic cuisine.

So you have the fiery ginataan (savory dishes cooked in coconut cream) that is the distinctive feature of Bicol dishes, or the sweetish and garlicky lumpiang ubod that is the specialty of the Bacolold-Silay area, to name a couple of the more commonly known coconut-themed regional fare. How about grandmas imbibing tuba in the early morning southern sunshine?

But coconuts really do feature in the day-to-day lives of most Filipinos, and mostly in the ordinary, taken-for-granted ways that we almost forget how very tightly our diets (at least, in the pure Filipino sense) are entertwined and based on this tropical palm. We even have various terms for the coconut fruit depending on its level of maturity.


We slake our thirst on the refreshing coconut water, blend it into a cocktail, ferment it into natural vinegar, or take the fermentation a little further to turn it into an alcoholic drink.

We eat the meat straight from the shell, or toast it, or spoon it or break it into strips to mix in salads, or grate it to add flavor to any rice concoction, or sweeten it into macapuno to eat it on its own or again mixed in a fancy dessert.


Even coconut fruits past their prime are valued – they provide the cream in which anything fancied can be cooked, be it a savory or sweet dish. We also have bukayo - sweetened coconut - in all forms, color, texture and style, depending on the region. And of course, mature coconuts provide the meat from which santana, or coconut oil, is expressed. Did you know that coconut oil may yet be the healthiest oil in the world?

And if you think I have run out of edible parts of the coconut, wait just yet. We eat the trunk, too. Well, actually, it’s the young shoots of the tree, called ubod.

Strictly speaking, we are now past the edible parts, since we really don’t eat the next one, but the intricately woven wrapper in which suman, patopat, or puso are encased and steamed come from strips upon strips of young coconut leaves.

And in the rural areas, dried coconut husks are the preferred pang-uling – charcoal – for a proper grill. The "husky" ones, though, are used as floor polisher - the manual...errrr...the one-where-you-use-legs kind - kuskos, bunot - giving a good workout for the body and a shiny wooden floor for the house.

On top of this, the coconut is not called the tree of life solely on the basis of the food it provides. Because it also sustains life, by providing its durable trunk – to stand as the foundation of a small nipa hut, or to elevate a batalan in which food is prepared for a meal, and afterwards where the kitchen and dinner utensils are washed.

Essential components that sustain a family, helping turn a house into a home.

And the left-over spines of the leaves are gathered and bound to become walis ting-ting – brooms – to sweep away the camachile or banana peelings, and other litter on the floor or on the lawn. This last has even been transformed into a symbol of unity for the country – inspired by the Filipino proverb Matibay ang walis, sapagkat nabibigkis. Roughly translated, though a bit far-fetched,“there is strength in unity,” but that is the essence of it.

And so it is with this sense of unity – by the food that transcends time and boundaries – that I invite all Filipino bloggers across the country and all around the globe, as well as other bloggers and writers who have an affinity, nay, a passion, for Filipino food, to join the Lasang Pinoy community in celebrating the fruit of life and the tree from which it springs, for the 24th edition of Lasang Pinoy.

• Anytime during the month of February you can write about or feature a photo of anything that involves the coconut, cooked or uncooked, edible or inedible. You can write about a time-honored tradition, or create/invent a new one for the succeeding generations. You can write about the coconut’s presence in your life while growing up in the Philippines, or what it has meant for you living elsewhere. Maybe discuss how coconuts are treated in your host country, dwelling on its status as compared to how it is valued in the Philippines.


• As an added feature, I would like to request bloggers to list at the end of your post any previous post/s, if any, involving the coconut. I'm starting it right here - you can find a list of my previous posts that included coconuts at the end of this announcement. I'm making it easier - if you find you cannot come up with anything on coconuts for this month (which I dare say is impossible!), you can submit the list of previous posts as your entry.


• Non-bloggers are very much welcome – you can ask any of your favorite Pinoy blogger to host your article. Or you can email it to me at sweet(underscore)bucaio(at)yahoo(dot)com and I’ll be very glad to feature it, but just make sure to send it by February 22.


• Bloggers can post their entries anytime during the month of February (which includes any post before this announcement), then notify me about your posts via an email to sweet(underscore)bucaio(at)yahoo(dot)com with the subject LP24. A round-up of all posts to close the event shall be posted in this blog by the first week of March.

Please use this icon, courtesy of Mang Mike, to mark your post/s, or display it on your sidebar for the month. Please also link this announcement so that we can have maximum participation.

So let’s start using those coconuts!



My Previous Posts That Dwelt on Coconuts

• Using coconut meat

Bahay Pastulan's Buko Pie
Buko Salad
Intemtem/Tupig
Unda-Unday

• Using gata (coconut cream/milk)

Pinipig with Gata
Langka Suman
Inlubi with Toge
Masikoy
Katiba
Baked Buchi
Adobo sa Gata
Latik
Patang Curry

• Using coconut cookies

Langka Cheesecake