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.

duck egg casserole

These balut eggs are out in their shells and into another shells - the glass bottles.

duck egg casserole - /dak eg ka-se-rol/ Tagalog dish) [n.] shelled balut eggs cooked in casserole.

a.k.a. balut casserole in Tagalog

It is usually a soupy or saucy dish, such as the balut caldereta, balut afritada, balut a la pobre, adobo, brined, etc.

Balut eggs can also be served in several ways. When peeled off its shell, it can be cooked in tomato sauce to become balut caldereta or balut afritada, in a soup like a balut a la pobre, cooked adobo-style, or into a paste or spread for bread, as in balut pate.

Bottled duck egg casserole is a perfect way to bring balut as pasalubong for Pinoys and friends abroad.

Bottled duck eggs casserole cooked in different ways and variant of flavors on display in the grocery section of Market-Market Supermarket in Bonifacio Global City (BGC), Taguig City.

The latest innovation in balut is the bottled duck egg casserole cooked in different ways and variant flavors. There is a balut caldereta, balut afritada, and balut in brine or just boiled and preserved in a brine solution (water and salt).

Bottled egg casserole are often sold in select big supermarkets in the Philippines and are likely available in Asian grocery stores abroad.

If you cannot find one, you can make one yourself at home. It is very easy to make. What is difficult is how and where to find balut eggs if you are far from places where balut are sold.

To know more about balut eggs, click here.

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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. 

If you are pleased or happy with this blog, please share the PHILIPPINE FOOD ILLUSTRATED. It is energizing that my blog is shared with others. 

Edgie Polistico 

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

ebun a barag

A bowl of boiled (half-cooked) ebun a barag presented during the sneak preview of MarQuee Mall's "Big Bite! The Northern Food Festival" in Angeles City last week

ebun a barag - (e-bun a ba-rág; Capampangan exotic food) [n.] monitor lizard’s egg. 

Other local names:

• itlog ng bayawak in Tagalog
• itlog sa halo in Cebuano 
• itlog sa hawo or itlog sa haw in Boholano 
• illuk alivo in Itawis

This is the egg of the Capampangan monitor lizard (scientific name: Varanus bitatawa) they called barag or what is known as bayawak in Tagalog.

The pliant shell of the egg would shrink after it is boiled (half-cooked) causing the surface to dent 

The taste of ebun a barag is agreeable.  It reminisces the taste of masabaw na balut penoy. A friend, Kenny Ngo of  Life is Kulayful gestures with approval after trying ebun a barag.

Another friend, Az Coladilla of Azrael's Merryland Blog, seems to be fascinated also by the ebun a barag. A rare exotic delicacy of Pampanga.

Its egg yolk is cream-colored and the egg white is transparent. 

The yolk is creamy-white and does not hold any shape. When squeezed out, the yolk would flow like toothpaste. The albumen (egg-white) is transparent and coagulating like that of chicken egg and flow thin (watery) 

The Capampangans would boil the bayawak’s (monitor lizard’s) egg as malasado (half-cooked)  and eat the cooked egg by puncturing a hole on the top side of the shell and then squeezing the pliant shell. The egg’s content is often spread on hot, freshly cooked rice.

The pliant shell of spent egg would just deflate like a busted pingpong ball. Unlike the shell of chicken egg, the shell of ebun a barag  would not crack or brittle 

It tastes similar to the balut penoy egg that is masabaw (moist and juicy)

RJ Ledesma, co-founder of Mercato Centrale, sips ebun a barag during the sneak preview of MarQuee Mall's "Big Bite! The Northern Food Festival" in Angeles City last week. 

Related posts:

Balot itlog manok

Orange egg barbecue

Balut

Guinness's largest serving of balut in Pateros

References:

• National Geographic, “Giant, fruit-eating monitor lizard discovered in the Philippines” Ed Yong, April 7, 2010, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/giant-fruit-eating-monitor-lizard-discovered-in-the-philippines

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If you liked this post and our site, share it.

Let us know your opinion on the subject. Feel free to comment in the comment section, below. We need to know what you think.

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

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. 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  

betute tugac

A freshly fried betute tugac. I got this on the sneak preview of MarQuee Mall's 'Big Bite' The Northern Food Festival in Angeles City, Pampanga in October 2013.

 

betute tugac - /ba-tú-tè tu-gák/ (Capampangan delicacy) [n.] stuffed frog; a fried stuffed edible frog.

 

Other local names: 

• a.k.a. batute or batute tugak in Capampangan 
• also spelled as betute tugak in Capampangan

A Capampangan dish made with whole tugac (farm frog) caught from the river or from rice paddies of Pampanga.

Skinned ricefield frog sold in the public market of  Cabanatuan City January last year. There are ingenious  and Novo Ecijanos would tan the skin into leather and made into taxodermy-like coin purse attached with keychain holder.

The frog is skinned and all its entrails are removed. The feet are cut off, its head decapitated and thrown away. The cleaned hollowed body is then stuffed compactly with minced meat of another frog, or added with ground pork or finely chopped chicken meat or their combination as stuffing. 

The stuffing is seasoned with finely chopped fresh herbs and spices that include leaves of tangle, a fragrant premma tree (Premna odorata) an aromatic leaf of the tree also known as alagaw in Tagalog. Other seasonings may include other locally available herbs and spices (i.e. garlic, red onions, ginger, tomatoes, kuse, kulitis, etc.) - all minced or chopped into small pieces.

When I came back to Cabanatuan City last June 2012, I brought home and cooked these skinned frogs.

The internal organs of the frog have to be removed and the hollowed cavity has to be filled with ground meat mixed with seasonings and minced tangle leaves if you are going to make a betute tugac.

The stuffed frogs are fried like a relleno. It is deep fried until brownish red or darker and crisp.

The host was trying to impress us with a serving of betute tugac during the sneak preview of MarQuee Mall's 'Big Bite' The Northern Food Festival in Angeles City, Pampanga.

Capampangan betute actually means butete in Tagalog or puffer fish in English.

The stuffed frog is called betute because the bulging-filled belly of the frog makes the frog look like a pufferfish.

This one is filled with ground meat and minced vegetables. The tangle leaves in it added the aromatic flavor.

Betute tugac is served and eaten with a dipping of spiced-up vinegar, chili sauce, or toyomansi. Without the dip, the fried frog would taste flavorless, and its two spreading legs are just pieces of tough meat.  The fillings are made tastier if added with ground pork or beef with all the seasonings and herbs mentioned earlier (above).

Dipping the betute tugac in spiced up vinegar (or any Pinoy dipping sauce) would bring out the taste and enhance the flavor of the frog.

 

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

See Index of Entries here

If you liked this post and our site, share it.

Let us know your opinion on the subject. Feel free to comment in the comment section, below. We need to know what you think.

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

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.  Sharing and giving away is happiness to me.  If you are pleased and happy with 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, you must try 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. 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