FILIPINO DELICACIES

Every country boasts of its very own specialty dishes and delicacies uniquely associated with them. These cannot be disregarded since these have been crucial parts of its recognition. Filipinos will never be left out in terms of these. Let me introduce to you a number of native foods adherent with some places in the Philippines. This is as a guide for those who wish to travel around the country and try its prestigious foods.

In the southeastern part of Luzon, Bicol is famous for its Bicol Express. This is a spicy hot dish mainly containing slices of pork combined with shrimp and made more mouth-watering with chilies, coconut milk, garlic and onion. In addition, Bicol is also popular for natong, also known as pinangat which are fish or pork stewed with taro leaves.

Pancit Malabon is exquisitely found in Malabon city, located on the National Capital Region, Metro Manila. This tasty noodle ("pancit" in Filipino) cuisine is seasoned with crab fat and fish sauce resulting to its yellow-orange color. It is topped with lots of seafoods like oyster and hard boiled eggs.

Another of Luzon's noodle variety is Pancit Habhab or Pancit Miki, a local food of Lucban in the province of Quezon. It is wrapped loosely in banana leaves and eaten unusually without a use of any utensil.

Bulacan, being the home of desserts, is the place of origin of halaya ube, suman, cassava cake, sapin-sapin and kutsinta (a rice cake variety). The sweet and tasty pastillas de leche, made of carabao's (water buffalo) milk, is the pride of San Miguel, Bulacan which is the King of Sweets. Moreover, Bulacan is known for its rinds of pork called chicharon.

You may also want to venture to Western Visayas in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental and try its distinctive chicken inasal. The grilled aromatic chicken dish is made attractively reddish by annatto or achuete seeds.

The Philippine culinary center, Pampanga, is known for longganisa (sweet and spicy Philippine chorizos), tocino (sweet cured pork meat) and kalderetang kambing (goat stew). Kare-kare, a stew mainly made of peanut sauce, vegetables and oxtail, is also a remarkable cuisine of Kapampangans.

Puto is considered the "white gold" of Calasiao town in Pangasinan province. It is a suman or a small rice cake produced from fermented and ground semi-glutinous rice. The delicacy is much appetizing when paired with bagoong, a strong-odored salty paste made by fermenting small shrimps or fish.

From Central Visayas, Cebu is famed for their own style of lechon, having a juicy meat covered with a crispy skin. The recipe is made worth craving for by an exclusive combination of spices. Also famous in Cebu are caramel tarts and dried mangoes.

Butse-Butse is a local food from Region VII in Central Visayas. The dessert is made by mashing sweet potatoes and shaping them into a number of balls. Cassava is stuffed inside the balls making it more appealing to the taste.

Binagol is a dessert from another Central Visayan Province, Leyte. It is prepared by mixing its main ingredient, shredded gabi, with condensed and coconut milk. The mixture is served in coconut shell which is finally wrapped in banana leaves.