palapa

You don't have to go to Marawi City in Mindanao to have a taste of palapa. We find these bottled palapa in one of a Muslim stalls we found in a Muslim Community of Quiapo, Manila.

palapa -  /pa-lá-pa/ (Maranao condiment) [n.] a mixture of thinly chopped sakurab (Muslim Mindanao scallion), lots of finely sliced luya tiduk (Philippine bird’s eye chili), pounded luya pagirison (ginger), and some toasted grated niog (coconut). They are combined, pounded, cooked on a big pan, stirred continuously until aromatic, removed from cooking, let cool, and then stored in a garapon (small jar with cap). Palapa can be dry (if cooked over a long time until moisture is reduced, but not totally dry) or moist (when cooked briefly).

When needed in cooking, palapa is sautéed first and added with the optional spoonful of condensed milk before palapa is used as a seasoning to a particular dish.

A small bowl with a serving of sauteed palapa is a centerpiece on our lunch in a Muslim restaurant nearby the Golden Mosque in Quiapo, Manila.

Palapa is an ever-present essential ingredient in Maranao cuisine, it would transform the Muslim dishes to become enticingly reddish in color with much piquancy in taste. If Bicolanos are known for their spicy hot dishes, the Maranaos are far more than that.

Bottled palapa prepared and sold by Maranaos in ubiquitos Muslim stalls nearby the Golden mosque in Quiapo, Manila.

 

If Bicolanos are known for their penchant for chili, wait till you experience how hot also is the Maranao cuisine.


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Edgie Polistico

evergreen mango

My wife savoring a very luscious evergreen mango from Tangub City, Misamis Occidental

evergreen mango - /e-ber-gren mang-go/ (Misamisnon [Tangub City, Misamis occidental] fruit) [n.] a variety of mango fruit that still has shades of green when ripe.

Other local name: 

• a.k.a. mangga Tangub in Cebuano and other vernaculars of Mindanao

The fruit is forever green even when ripe, though shades and spots of yellow would appear when the fruit is very ripe or overripe. 

A slice of lusciously sweet mangga Tangub. When yellow patches appear big allover the skin would mean that the mango fruit is already overripe.

The trees of the evergreen mango variety can be found growing well and bear lusciously sweet fruits in the farmlands of Tangub City, Misamis Occidental (a province of the northwestern side of mainland Mindanao). There were attempts to grow this mango in other provinces of Mindanao but the trees were not producing such very sweet and luscious fruits of Tangub City.

A basket of very ripe evergreen mango in the public market of Tangub City. Those that are already yellow allover are actually overripe.

Evergreen mango on our hanging fruit tray.

Related posts: 

Mango chocolate (choco mangga)

Miracle fruit

Sawa

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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  

ampao

ampaw – /ám-paw/ [n.] puffed rice \pop-rice. 

 (also spelled as ampaw)

Home-made ampao is made of bahaw rice that is sun-dried and then fried to puff. 

Special or commercialized ampao is processed using long-tubular steel with a cover designed like that of a pressurized cooker, installed with a safety device that would prevent the lid from catapulting as soon as it is opened under high pressure. The rice grain and a small amount of cooking oil are put into this cooker, covered tightly, and cooked under heated pressure on a stove. After several minutes of heating and shaking, the lid of the pressurized cooker is loosened at once and the rice would pop aloud as soon as the pressure is released. The sudden release of pressure makes the rice grain pop and become puffy as it enlarges the size of each grain in a snap. 

The popped rice is then blended with melted sugar or caramel. The sugar-coated puffed rice is either shaped into ampao balls (the size of a tennis ball) in different colors using food coloring or molded into big rectangular shapes and sliced into blocks or bite-size bars. 

 In Carcar, Cebu, and in Western Samar, a slice of rectangular ampao is topped with a whole piece of roasted peanut. Unlike the ampaw mentioned above, the ampao Carcar is made of cooked rice that is then dried and fried crisp

A bite of ampao nga may mani from Western Samar. 

A similar ampaw na may mani from Carcar, Cebu and it is called ampao Carcar.

Ampao Carcar bought in Cebu City

Unwrapping pinyato (ampao with minced peanut) from Western Samar

A man peddling ampao balls along EDSA in Munoz, Quezon City; An old lady selling ampao balls at the foot of a footbridge along Commonwealth Avenue in Batasan, Quezon City.

Ampao balls sold along the sidewalk under the viaduct in Alabang, Muntinlupa City; Ampao balls sold at Plaza Miranda in Quiapo, Manila by a grandma and her grandson.

Ampao balls from a sidewalk stall in Bicutan, Taguig 

Related posts:

Buti-buti

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

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.

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

 

tikoy Gumaca

tikoy Gumaca – /ti-koy gu-má-ka/ Quezon delicacy [n.] tikoy wrapped in anahaw palm. 

The tikoy in it is prepared like the conventional tikoy using ground glutinous rice, butter, and ground sugar as the main ingredients.

My wife, Margette, trying the taste of tikoy we bought in Brgy. Buensuceso, Gumaca, Quezon.

What makes Gumaca tikoy unique is that it is wrapped in dried leaves of anahaw palm. The tikoy is stuffed into a tubular cellophane wrapper (or the usual large ice-candy plastic wrapper), and layers of anahaw leaves are then wrapped lengthwise around the filled plastic tube and tied on both ends.

The finished product would look like a long pike of unhusked corn - distinct and appealing packaging.

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Let us know your opinion on the subject. Feel free to comment in the comment section, below. It is important for us to know what you think.

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

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.

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