tindok

tindok - /tin-dok/ (Cebuano fruit) [n.] a giant plantain (sc.name: Musa paradisiaca var. magna).

Other common names 

a.k.a. tandok in Cebuano
tenduk or tunduk  in Teduray, Lambangian, Dulangan, and Manobo

giant plantain - English

pisang tanduk - Malay (Malaysia)

 

We found these few pieces of tindok banana in the grocery section of SM Makati in Ayala Center of Makati City way back in 2009.

A very long and large variety of cooking banana fruit.

Its digit is about a foot long or more or about the size of a man's arm. Elongated and commonly a bit curved in form with a thick green banana peel.

The length and size of this banana are even more than that of Margette's arm.

Yes, the one she is holding weighs more than a kilo, and it is priced quite expensive in 2009. The sticker says it is from Dole, a clue that most likely this came from Mindanao.

The tindok plant bears a bunch of fruit that only has around three clusters (piling, sipi, or hand of bananas) in a bunch (buwig) with very few to less than a dozen of digits (daliri or piraso) in each cluster. The bunch would start to sprout at the tip of the banana stem as one big inflorescence (puso ng saging) and would open to bloom only once to produce a few to several digits. Afterward, there will be no more inflorescence (puso) hanging at the end of the bunch. Thus, it also called as "saging na walang puso" (banana with no hanging flower).              

Tindok fruit is rich in potassium and starch and is only good when cooked. Green tindok (unripe) is commonly steamed or boiled with its peel intact. When cooked, it is peeled and eaten as a substitute for rice as the main source of carbs or starch. 

The pulp of unripe tindok can also be sliced thinly and deep-fried into chips. 

Chunks of rare ripe or ripe tindok can also be added as vegetables in boiled bulalo or nilaga similar to saba banana. 

Others would have the tindok fruit grilled or broiled, usually sliced lengthwise and served with a spread of peanut butter, fruit jams, or margarine sprinkled with sugar (or press on a bed of sugar).  

Below are photos of tindok posted by my friends on Facebook and they are worth sharing here:

A trunk of tindok with a bunch of giant fruits - photo credit to Aveen Acuna-Gulo's FB account

This one is captioned with "Per Datu Leticio Datuwata, some fruits grow to be 4 inches  in diameter - photo credit to Aveen Acuna-Gulo's FB account

A pile of tindok at the Bagsakan, Valencia Public Market, Valencia City, Bukidnon - photo credit to Aveen Acuna-Gulo's FB account

A bunch of tindok by Child Andrade Peteros of Hindang, Leyte - photo credit to Child Andrade Peteros' FB account

This giant plantain is commonly grown in Southeast Asian countries, and can also be seen now, though rarely, in Africa, South America, Central America, and the Caribbean.

Personal notes:

Tindok is not a giant lakatan.  Jiggy Manicad of Unang Balita (GMA News Online) mistook tindok as giant lakatan in his June 5, 2015 news report "Puno ng saging sa Bulacan, nagbunga ng 'giant lakatan' 

Related post:

Freaky bananas that baffled local news media and agriculturists

Pakbol

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kinilaw nga sasing

kinilaw nga sasing – /ki-ni-law nga sa-sing/ Cebuano, Boholano, Davaoeño [southeastern Mindanao] and Misamis occidental [northern Mindanao] and Romblomanon raw dish) [n.] peanut worm in vinegar.

• a.k.a. kinilaw nga saypo in Boholano and Surigaonon
• kinilaw na tasing in Cantilangnon (Cantilan, Surigao del sur)

This is a raw dish of cleaned sasing (peanut worm) steeped in vinegar with spices and seasonings.

The inverted sasing worms. So called "peanut worm" in English, because when the worm is inverted it resembles that of emptied peanut shell.

To prepare, the peanut worm is washed clean then each worm is inverted inside out by pushing a bamboo stick from one end and through inside the body. Once inverted, the worm is cleaned thoroughly of its muddy contents. 

The inverted worms are washed again thoroughly on seawater, drained, and then seasoned with vinegar spiced up with chopped onions, ginger, sili (chili), and salt to taste.

The complete ingredients of kinilaw nga sasing in Pagadian City, Zamboanga del sur. It uses sukang tuba (commonly sold in plastic tubes), luy-a (ginger), sibuyas pula (purple onion), siling kulikot (labuyo chili), calamansi (Philippine round lime), biyasong, and tabon-tabon fruit.  

In southern Mindanao, such as in Pagadian City and other coastal towns in Zamboanga del Sur, a tabon-tabon fruit (sc.name: Hydrophytune orbiculatum)  is used to season their kinilaw nga sasing. In this part of Mindanao, tabon-tabon trees and fruits are plenty. 

Extract of scraped tabon-tabon fruit and extracted juice of calamansi and biyasong lime make the kinilaw nga sasing more delectable

The kernel of tabon-tabon fruit is scraped off, mixed with a little amount of vinegar then squeezed and the extract is mixed in the dish. It is even made more delectable by adding calamansi juice and extracted juice of native lime called biyasong.

Adding vetsin (MSG) is optional, but not recommended.

A young Maguindanaon couple residing near the sea of Pagadian City, Zamboanga del sur prepares kinilaw nga sasing.

Sasing is an exotic delicacy and is considered an aphrodisiac by the locals. It is leathery and tough but crunchy. It has to be chewed well to savor the essence of its true flavor.

Kinilaw na sasing is highly sought as a pulutan (food served in drinking sessions) in coastal villages of Visayas and Mindanao. It is a perfect pair for tuba (coconut wine) or ginebra (gin).

Sasing (Youtube video)

Related posts:

sasing (saypo)

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See Index of Entries here.

For more about Filipino food, see  this Philippine Food, Cooking, and Dining Dictionary. It is OPEN and FREE.

sasing

sasing – /sa-sing/ Cebuano, Boholano, Davaoeño [southeastern Mindanao] and Misamis occidental [northern Mindanao], Waray, and Romblomanon worm/seafood) [n.] peanut worm (sc.name: Sipunculus nudus).

 

a.k.a. saypo in Boholano & Cebuano

saypo in Surigaonon

tasing in Cantilangnon (Cantilan, Surigao del sur)

 

A kind of sand worm or sand burrower of the family Echiurus that burrows under sandy clayish soil of the sea shore. 

Sasing burrows in moist sandy-muddy ground along the shore and river deltas. A hole like this is a sign that peanut worm is just around under the sand. 

It is an exotic delicacy to some Pinoys. Often eaten as kinilaw nga sasing where the cylindrical body of the worm is inverted inside out and washed thoroughly. The cleaned inverted peanut worm is then dipped in spiced vinegar and munched.

Sasing has a crunchy leathery texture and has to be chewed thoroughly to savor its flavor. 

It is considered an exotic delicacy and as an aphrodisiac to some Pinoys when they visit places where sasing are found. 

The worms are washed clean then inverted inside out by pushing a bamboo stick from one end and through inside the body so as to clean its muddy contents. The inverted worms are washed again thoroughly, drained and then seasoned with spiced up vinegar to become a kinilaw nga sasing.

So called peanut worm in English because when it is inverted, the inner side of the worm would look like an emptied peanut shell.

Although sasing worms live and feed in the sandy mud shores, some Filipino Muslim (followers of Islam faith) do not consider peanut worm as unclean or filth to be among those forbidden (Haram) in Islamic laws. Nevertheless, this exotic worm should be served with caution to Muslim or any followers of Islamic faith, so as not to offend or insult them

Sasing (Youtube video)

Personal notes

I read an old news feature of GMA Network news that some folks of Inopacan, Leyte believed sasing has curative powers against tuberculosis and anemia. Inopacnons are fond of it and would love to take kinilaw nga sasing as their pulutan with their tuba (coconut wine).

Related posts:

kinilaw nga sasing

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Encouragement and enthusiasm is not enough. I also need moral support, prayers, and what else that can uplift my spirit and keep my good reasons. Keep them coming.  Sharing and giving away is happiness to me.  If you are pleased and happy of what I am doing, just smile and share the happiness we have in the PHILIPPINE FOOD ILLUSTRATED. I feel energized every time my blog becomes one of the reasons why you are happy and smiling. 

For more about Filipino food, see  this Philippine Food, Cooking, and Dining Dictionary. It is OPEN and FREE.

snake wine

A snake wine with the Philippine king cobra in a bottle. The snake is called banakon in Cebuano or ulupong in Tagalog. The slender snake is called iliw in Cebuano. Both snakes are known to be extremely venomous.

snake wine - /es-nek wayn/ Cebuano and Tagalog wine [n.] a spirit soaked with a snake.

A freshly killed snake (complete with its scales, skin, flesh, bones, and internal organs) is steeped in spirit or clear (transparent) distilled wine until the juice from the body of the snake partly became the flavor of the wine.

Snake wine is taken as a potent drink and is believed to have some medicinal benefits, add vitality, energy, and as an aphrodisiac or something that boosts one’s sexual appetite.

The authentic "Cobra Energy Drink." Unlike the commercially bottled cobra energy drink, this snake wine will not cause you to worry about having diabetes. The snake wine has no sugar added in it. What you will get is a real cobra in a bottle -  not just a label with a drawing or printed illustration of snake.

The usual kind of snakes used in making snake wine are those that are highly poisonous like the dreaded Philippine king cobra (Naja philippinensis) known as banakon in Cebuano or ulupong in Tagalog. Another known highly venomous snake is the Cebuano iliw.

The usual spirits used as a base for this potent drink are the hinebra (gin), vodka, lambanog (Philippine coconut arrack), anisado (anise wine), and naturally fermented rice wine.

I found this man peddling a bottle of snake wine on the sidewalk of Ormoc City in western part of Leyte, Philippines.  He told me that he used a local gin with a brand name Mallorca as base spirit for this potent drink.

To convince me that it is safe to drink snake wine, this man swigs a shot of snake wine.

Few seconds later, the drink started to warm his body. This man told me it would keep him active for a day. Awesome. Honestly, I was actually stunned when he did that. I thought the potent spirit he drank would later take his spirit away. But no, he stayed alive.

In 2018, while on the strawberry farm of La Trinidad, Benguet (about 10 Kilometers or 6 miles north of Baguio City), I found more variations of local snake wines. They are quite expensive. The smallest bottle (350 ml) of snake wine is sold at PHP1,000.00 each and the biggest ones are between PHP3,000 to PHP4,000.

More bottled snake wines in La Trinidad, Benguet using different kinds of venomous Cordilleran snakes.

See me sampling a shot of snake wine that is made with rattle snake from Kiangan, Benguet. Click or tap the photo, below, to watch the Facebook video.

SNAKE WINE from Kiangan, Benguet is very expensive. This one is of rattle snake in lambanog with ginseng root. I don't know how they got rattle snake here in Benguet. A shot glass is P150.00. Every drip counts. (June 08, 2018)

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Continue to follow my blogs. You can also follow and learn more by joining us in our Facebook group account of Philippine Food Illustrated (Private) and Philippine Food Illustrated (Public). It is my pleasure to rediscover the known and least known things or the unheard ones and put them here for everyone to find, learn, and treasure. 

Thank you for all the encouragement and enthusiasm. I need also moral support, prayers, and anything else that can uplift my spirit and keep my good reasons. 

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Edgie Polistico 

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chopsuey

A serving of chopsuey at the Dwino's Grill in OzamisCity, Misamis Occidental during one of my travels in the southern part of mainland.

 

chopsuey – /tsàp-soy/ (Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilonggo dish; dw Chin. tsa-sui [various pieces]) [n.] stir-fried vegetable.

These stir-fried vegetables can also be added to seafood and meat at will.

An assortment of cut vegetables is stir-fried and mixed with seafood (shrimp, squid, fish fillet, etc.) and sliced meat (pork or chicken).

The kind of vegetables conventionally used in making this dish are wide cuts of repolyo (cabbage), widely sliced carrots, sayote (mirliton pear), cauliflower, sliced bell pepper, and sometimes with sliced tomatoes and green pods of beans, such as sitsaro (snow peas), sitaw (string beans), or Baguio beans.

A serving tray of chopsuey one summer day of May 2012 while at the beach resort of AcuaVerde in Laiya Aplaya, SanJuan, Batangas.

Its thick white sauce is made with water (or broth) added with some gawgaw (tapioca powder) or corn starch that is pre-dissolved in lukewarm water then added and stirred in the dish and seasoned with patis (fish sauce) or oyster sauce.

This chopsuey seafood is of Sam's Fastfood & Bakeshop during my trip in May 2011 to Pagadian City of Zamboanga del  Sur also in the southern part of mainland Mindanao.

Occasionally, when available, chopsuey has young corncob, broccoli, mushroom, and coriander added to the ingredients.

This dish is a Chinese-American-influenced dish that is now commonly found in Pinoy eateries and gatherings.

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Continue to follow my blogs. You can also follow and learn more by joining us in our Facebook group. Have more bits and pieces about our kind of food, ingredients, and ways of cooking, dining, and knowing food culture across the 7,641 islands of the Philippines. I will search for more and continue to share my findings. It is my pleasure to rediscover the known and least known things or the unheard ones and put them here for everyone to find, learn, and treasure. 

Encouragement and enthusiasm are not enough. I also need moral support, prayers, and anything else that can uplift my spirit and keep my good reasons. Keep them coming. All I know is that I am happy with what I am sharing and giving away. If you are pleased and happy with what I am doing, just smile and please share the happiness. Keep sharing and include to share the PHILIPPINE FOOD ILLUSTRATED. I feel energized when my blog becomes one of the reasons why you are happy and smiling. 

Edgie Polistico