BAGNET: Comfort or Torture?

By: Pauline Saballo

Is it lechong kawali? Is it crispy pata? No! It’s Ilocos’ very own delicacy, BAGNET!              

Bagnet is a super delightful chunk of deep fried pork with a very crispy, blistered skin with it. Well, this bagnet was from Ilocos, of course. In Ilocos Sur, bagnet is called as it is while in the north, bagnet is called as chicharon. Despite the fact that bagnet was first a Ilocano food, we all cannot deny the fact that bagnet’s  crispy taste has captivated the stomach of every Filipino.

One thing that you cannot forget to try once you’re in Ilocos is this, the Bagnet. I am very sure of that. At first glance, it is very much like lechon kawali, right. That was my first impression too. Never did I know that it has a different taste and crispiness. Later then, I knew that it was because bagnet is fried twice. The authentic Ilocano bagnet was boiled then fried for more than 3 hours. After that, it’s going to be set aside for 15 minutes and then it’s going to be fried again. Imagine how hard it’s going to be for Ilocanos to cook bagnet. I think I could even give them an A+ for effort.

I already told you what bagnet is, right. But I haven’t told you where it came from or in short, its history. Well, here are the details. Bagnet came from the Ilocano word, “bagnettin” which means to preserve meat. Before, during the past times, there were no refrigerators available for meat preservation. So whenever Ilocano slaughter pigs, they had to boil and fry the meat. When it’s ready to be eaten, they’d re-fry it which is how bagnet existed.

Bagnet is good on its own, I promise you that. But it can also be a main ingredient of a lot of Filipino dishes. Kare-kare, binagoongan, sinigang and ebsalada would definitely be at its best if it has bagnet on it. Bagnet would surely give a new but delicious taste to all these Filipino dishes I have mentioned to you.

 

It’s very true that bagnet is a comfort food that all of us can enjoy eating. But it also brings torture. Why?  It’s because of bagnet’s high cholesterol level. Bagnet is some sort of a temptation. It’s good but it’s also bad for your health. So to those who want to eat this, beware. Too much cholesterol would be bad for your health. :)