Ilocano Foods, Try it!

If you are in Ilocos, you cannot forget to taste these Ilocano delicacies.

Dinengdeng

It is also called as inabraw and is classified as a bagoong soup based dish. It is similar to pinakbet but it has less vegetables and contains more bagoong as its soup base. The vegetables that Ilocanos usually include in the dish are: bitter melon, squash, sweet potato, string beans, sayote, eggplant, chili, banana blossoms, corn, okra, winter melon (upo), mushrooms, cassava, taro and so much more. Some even add leftover fried fish, or other meats, to the dish.

Pinakbet

Pinakbet is a popular Filipno dish that originated in Ilocos. Pinakbet comes from the Ilocano word “pinakebbet” which means “withered” or “dried up”. There are a lot of ingredients for pinakbet. Most of these are vegetables such as okra, eggplant, chili pepper, tomato, eggplant, string beans, bitter melon, etc. This dish is usually flavored with garlic, onion and also ginger. It is considered a very healthy Ilocano cuisine but this dish is more than that. It is a lasting symbol of the Ilocano taste and a clear demonstration of the Ilocanos’ history of contestations and struggles with the physical and social environment. The recipe intertwines intimations of the cultural productions of the Ilokanos’ transaction to their dry and less productive land.

Empanadas

If you are in Ilocos, you cannot miss to taste their empanadas. This food is a bright orange pastry wrapper (which was made of rice flour) stuffed with diced longganisa, whole egg, and few papaya and mango sprouts. We suggest that you go to Glomy’s in Batac since they have been making Ilocano delicacies since 1983.

Bagnet

Bagnet is a delicacy that originated from Ilocos and is similar to lechon kawali. The extremely blistered skin which literally transforms the pork skin into crackling is what differs Bagnet from lechon kawali and any other pork dishes. This is also a tourist favorite.

Bagoong Monamon

Bagoong Monamon has many names. In Ilocano, it is called bugguong monamon. In other areas in the Philippines, it is simply called bagoong. It is a common ingredient in Northern Ilocano cuisine. To make this bagoong, salted anchovies are being fermented. This bagoong is used as a flavor enhancing ingredient alongside with salt, soy sauce and many others. It is also used as a base for many Ilocano dishes such as pinakbet and dinengdeng. Bagoong can also be a dressing the dish called kinilnat or ensalada.

Ilocano Versions of Pizza
We all know that pizzas are a part of the Western cuisines, right? We have probably tasted pizza with flavors such as Hawaiian, peperoni, cheese and many others? How about go to Ilocos and try these pizzas with its unique Ilocano flavor?

Pinakbet Pizza

Feel free to taste the Pinakbet Pizza at Saramsam. This pizza has is topped with bitter melon, string beans, tomato and onion which are the common ingredients of pinakbet. It was even drizzled with bagoong for a pure pinakbet taste.

Poqui-Poqui Pizza with Bagnet

This pizza has a Mediterranean taste with all the grilled eggplants, basil, onions and tomatoes. This pizza is so delicious and the bagnet, Ilocos’ signature food, made the taste more luscious. For you to grab a bite of this pizza, you can go to Bistro Candon which is a three-hour drive from Laoag. 

Sunny Vigan Longganisa Pizza

At first glance, you would notice that this pizza has quail egg yolks on top that would form like little sunshine. It looks like it was topped with tiny smile faces. These are the reasons why it was called sunny. This pizza has a taste of garlic because of the Vigan Longganisa. There are also other ingredients such as vegetables and peppers which symbolizes a true Ilocano dish.

EXOTIC FOODS

The delicacies that you have seen above are only some of the foods that you can try when you’re in Ilocos. But if you are looking for thrill through foods, then try to eat these very odd delicacies of Ilocos!

Inadobo a Tukak

   

This is actually just like the usual adobo that we often eat. The process of cooking it is the same. However, unlike pork and chicken as the main ingredient, Inadobo a Tukak has freshly caught frogs serve as the adobo’s meat.

Bogi Ti Ikan

Bogi Ti Ikan is actually fish roes that are seasoned. But, what are fish roes? Well, according to Wikipedia, fish roes are egg masses found in the ovaries of certain sea creatures like fishes and shrimps.  This delicacy, being cooked with fish eggs, is really something that’s very unusual to eat.

Adobo Nga Abuos

This dish is truly exotic! It’s definitely an alien to all of us! Who would have imagined that Ilocanos would eat this Adobo Nga Abuos which is cooked with mountain ant larvae?! These ant larvaes were even harvested from the tropical rainforests of Abra. Despite its strange ingredient, this dish would also have the usual adobo flavor but with a slightly buttery and nutty taste.This is also a seasonal dish which usually available during summer.

Ballaiba

Ballaiba is basically an aquatic plant. It is commonly seen as “grass” in an aquarium. In Ilocos, it is used as a salad or kinilaw. It is eaten raw but it is usually flavored with calamansi and rock salt.

Tabtaba

In different places, tabtaba is also called as bakbakasi, barbaradio, dodol-dodol, bilbildong, kulatlat and bakatel. But hey, we are all familiar with this. Tabtaba is blue green algae that we often see when we go to beaches or open seas. These are the plants that often float on water. Guys, tabtaba is what we call LUMOT. And since Ilocanos have really brilliant but somehow strange minds, they made these algaes into a salad.

Ararawan

In foreign countries such as China, crickets are considered as street foods. Well, the Ilocanos has their own version for that. Kinirog Nga Ararawan is fried mole crickets. In Ilocos, mole crickets or field crickets can be seen in plowed rice field during rainy season. Ilocanos enjoy chasing ararawans so they could cook it afterwards.

The foods mentioned above are only some of the delicacy that you can try on Ilocos. Surely, there’s a lot more that waits for you once you go to Ilocos. Please stay tune on our website and we will always keep you updated.