pebre

pebre - /peb-re/ Caviteño sauce/condiment; dw Chilean (Chile, South America) pebre [salsa of assortment of chopped spices, tomatoes, and pepper] = Catalan (Catalonia region, Spain) pebre [pepper]) [n.] lechon sauce \liver sauce for lechon baboy.

Similar local dishes:

lechon sauce or sarsa ng litson in Tagalog

lechon sauce in Cebuano, Ilonggo, Ilocano, Capampangan, and other Philippine languages and vernaculars

This lechon sauce of Cavite City is used to be for lechon baboy (roasted pig)  only, but later on served also as a dipping sauce for other roasted and fried dishes, such as litson manok (roasted chicken), fried pork chop, pritong isda, even for lumpia.

It has a paste of ground cooked liver of pig (or chicken), bread crumbs, water, brown sugar, onion, garlic, other spices, salt, and ground peppercorn. Named after the Chilean condiment of the same name but the foreign salsa is quite different being that it has no liver in the ingredients but an assortment of spices, ground or pureed spicy aji peppers, and chopped tomatoes, and may vary in different regions of Chile. 

The word pebre in Catalan (Catalonia in northeastern Spain and partly southern France) refers to the pepper of any type. 

The Caviteño pebre is a combination of sweetness and sourness and the peppery piquancy of ground peppercorn. This is the origin of your fave Mang Tomas sauce, a popular commercial liver sauce for your lechon baboy and litson manok.

All photos by Edgie Polistico in this blog are copyrighted. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

See Index of Entries here.

If you liked this post, share it.

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.

Tell us what other topics you would like us to write, share, and discuss.

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. 

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

Sharing is happiness to me.  If you are pleased and happy with what you found here, please share the happiness we have in the PHILIPPINE FOOD ILLUSTRATED. I feel energized when it becomes part 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.

buy-o

Photo credit to Jose Benigno Salvador

buy-o - /búy-o/ Sambali [Botolan, Zambales] condiment\seasoning) [n.] Botolan salt in woven nipa palm pouch.

Other local name:

• asin sa buy-o in Tagalog

Buy-o is originally the Sambali name for that cylindrical pouch that is made of woven nipa palm. This container is used to pack the raw sea salt produced in Botolan, Zambales. Thus, in Tagalog, the salt is called asin sa buy-o (salt in buy-o). The nipa palm (leaves) are cut off from the frond and the blades of the palm are sewn together in a pattern of overlapping each other side by side until they become a wide sheet. The sheet of sewn palms is rolled to shape and look like a cylindrical fat bottle. The circular frame or ring at the base is made of a palm frond. The strips used in stitching the palms could be thin strips of bamboo, rattan bark, or the bark of nipa frond. 

The tip of the container is tapered to look like the mouth of PET bottles, folded and secured tightly with a strip. When the salt is needed, the topmost part of the pouch is cut off or loosened so as to open the container and allow access to the salt inside. 

The floor at the base is made of latticed palm midribs or straw lined with a sheet of food-grade sack that allows the salt to breathe inside. 

A handle is attached on the side that is made of a bent bamboo stick or hemp rope that loops upward. 

The salt is produced by collecting sands that have been soaked for so long in the sea or seashore of Botolan. Sands on the seashore of Botolan that are always soaked in seawater on high tide are heavily saturated with salt deposits. The sands are collected when the sea is ebbing down to its lowest level. It is best to scoop sands at this moment as it would be a lot easier when they are not underwater. The sands can also be made saturated with salt by getting water from the Botolan sea and pouring it on a bed or mound of collected sand on the dry shore and then allowing the sand to dry under the sun. The pouring of seawater and sun drying is done over and over again the whole day at regular intervals until the sand is heavily saturated with salt. In between pouring and sun drying, the sand is turned over with a rake to evenly distribute the saturation of salt.

The collected sands are hauled into a large wooden funnel-shaped strainer and poured with the final round of seawater. The saline water that comes out down through the strainer is collected and boiled continuously in a boiler (usually a kawa, a big wide round cast-iron pan) until white crystals of salt are produced at the bottom of the boiler. When the boiler is about to get dry, more water from the strainer is added to the boiler so as to keep producing salt. The white crystals of sea salt produced are collected using a woven bamboo splits scooping basket that allows the salt to drip and dry. When dry, the salt is then packed in buy-o for keeping.

The buy-o salt is densely packed inside the palm pouch that after some time, it would harden and has to be scraped off when needed in cooking or for other uses. 

Asin sa buy-o is the Tagalog name for this Botolan artisanal salt, and it means "salt in nipa palm pouch."

See Index of Entries here.

If you liked this post, share it.

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.

Tell us what other topics you would like us to write, share, and discuss.

Related topic:

• Youtube video: The Finest Sea Salt in the Philippines is in Danger (Asin sa Buy-o) Filipino fleur de sel

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

You can also follow and learn more by joining us in our Facebook group. 

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

Sharing is happiness to me.  If you are pleased and happy with what you found here, please share the happiness we have in the PHILIPPINE FOOD ILLUSTRATED. I feel energized when it becomes part of the reasons why you are happy and smiling. 

Click here on how else you can help me. Thank you for your kindness and support. 

Edgie Polistico 

siling labuyo

Siling kulikot sold in the Carbon Public Market of Cebu City

siling labuyo - /si-ling la-bu-yò/ Tagalog spicy condiment/seasoning) [n.] Philippine bird’s eye chili (sc.name: Capsicum frutescens, [Linn.]).

Other local common names: 

• a.k.a. siling bundok or siling palay in Tagalog
  
• kulikot or siling kulikot in Cebuano and Boholano
• kutitot or sili katumbal in Ilonggo
• udto-udto in Hiligaynon
• pasete or pasiti in Batangueño
• mimis, siling diablo, or sili’t sairo in Ilocano
• rimorimo in Bicolano
• paktin in Ifugao
• sili napet in Itawis
• katumba or lara jangay in Tausug
• loia tidek or luya tiduk in Maranao

What is siling labuyo?  How can we tell a siling labuyo? 

Well, let's talk about it.

A species of wild native hot tiny chili pepper that grows in the forested areas of the country, though it can be grown also in the garden, backyard, or pots.

It bears tiny fruit refuted to be one of the hottest peppers in the world, especially the ripe ones that are bright red in color, but green and sometimes rare white when unripe and yellow when about to ripen.

The Ta'u-sug lara jangay sold in the Public Market of Zamboanga City

This species of Philippine tiny wild chili pepper is also known as the “bird’s eye hot pepper” known to grow only in the Philippine archipelago. So called siling labuyo because it is picked by wandering wild chickens called labuyo by the Tagalogs. The siling labuyo plant bears tiny fruits refuted to be one of the hottest peppers in the world. It is classified as “very hot” with a scale of Scoville heat unit (SHU) ranging from 80,000 to 100,000.

Siling kulikot sold in the Carbon Public Market of Cebu City. This is the same kind of chili known in Tagalog as siling labuyo.

Authentic siling labuyo is very small, very short (less than an inch) with a not-so-pointed tip.

Some imported and less spicy hot chilies are passed on as siling labuyo in the market or grocery stores when in fact it is not a siling labuyo like the siling Taiwan that is more than an inch long and very pointed.

The mimis of Ilocos Sur province

This tiny chili is known for its intense piquancy - so small in size, yet so hot in taste.

Despite its irritating piquancy, chickens and birds are picking the ripe mimis in the wilds, as if it is their favorite.

The mimis of Ilocos Sur province.

Ilocanos would use mimis as spicy flavor in making spicy hot sukang Iloko (sugarcane vinegar). They also used it as condiment in some dishes and dippings.

Siling labuyo is more commonly used in Filipino kitchens as a condiment. Also used as one of the main ingredients, in some Bicolano, Ilocano, and Maranao dishes.

In Leyte, they have a fiery hot dish called taguto that uses minced siling kulikot equal to the amount of minced native chicken.

The tiny fruits are served as sliced, chopped, crushed, mashed, or marinated whole in vinegar, as in the sinamak vinegar. It may be also sun-dried and ground into powder and placed in a shaker for sprinkling over some dishes on the table or while cooking. 

Some bottles of sukang Iloko in Binalonan, Pangasinan are steeped with mimis.

Siling Taiwan sold in the public market of Cabanatuan City. It is commonly found also in public markets and groceries in Metro Manila, often passed on as siling labuyo, when in fact it is not a siling labuyo.

Siling labuyo is mild if spiced as a whole piece, but very fiery if it is cut open, mashed, or chopped into pieces as it exposed its seeds and juice, which are the hottest parts. It is advised that siling labuyo should not be taken during pregnancy and lactation.

The young leaves (tops) of siling labuyo are also used in cooking as vegetables in soupy dishes.

Siling Taiwan being sold in the Alabang public market of Muntinlupa City. Keep in mind that siling Taiwan is not siling labuyo.

See Index of Entries here

Related posts:

Taguto

Wild chili ale

All photos by Edgie Polistico are copyrighted. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

See Index of Entries here 

If you liked this post, share it.

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.

Tell us what other topics you would like us to write, share, and discuss. 

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