I'm back! Both back in Dubai and back to blogging after my month-long vacation to my beloved country, the Philippines.

Going back home after a little more than a year surely made me miss a lot about home. But if there's one thing that I definitely missed, it's the food! I was raised in a household where eating breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner together is a must (especially on weekends), regardless of our different personal schedules within the day, so I'm still struggling up to now being all by myself in Dubai as I'm not really used to eating alone.


So when I got back home, Daddy made sure to fill in all the longings that I had for the past year with no less than his specialties! Let me share them with you one by one. You must be warned though that this will be photo-heavy and will make you drool a lot! Oh I have an idea, let's play a game. I dare you to make it up to the end of this post without drooling! Game? Game! :D

Breakfast
My dad always gets up early in the morning to prepare a yummy breakfast for us. When it's ready to eat he would ring the bell to wake us up and prompt us to go to our dining area outside the house. Yup, we always have our breakfast al fresco style. :)

For my first breakfast at home, we had Vigan Longganisa, Lomo, scrambled eggs, Pan de sal, and fried rice.

Pan de sal - a staple Filipino food for breakfast, this one is a bread roll made of flour, eggs, yeast, sugar, and salt. It is yummy as is especially when eaten straight from the oven, but it also goes well with butter, cheese, and all other fillings that you can imagine. :D


Lomo - another Ilocano dish made of pork meat and pig innards, this dish doubles as a soup and an entrée and is best eaten hot with steamed rice. An important ingredient is pig's brain where the distinct flavor comes. It can be made without the brain, but of course it won't taste the same.

Vigan Longganisa - Filipino version of sausages. There are a lot of versions of this within the region, but Vigan's version has this distinct pungent garlicky aroma and is also tangy, a bit spicy, and salty. This is cooked stir-fried on its own rendered fat and goes well with eggs, fried rice, and tomatoes. This is one of my favorite Ilocano food that even if it's usually served for breakfast, I also enjoy eating it for lunch and dinner.


Dried Food - Filipinos are also known for our love for dried food. My favorites are the dried pusit (squid) and dried dilis (anchovies). They are cooked fried and I love eating them with fried egg and fried rice, plus some soy-vinegar-sugar dip! Yum!



Tinapa - is a Filipino term that usually refers to fish cooked and preserved through the process of smoking. It is a native Philippine delicacy which is usually made from galunggong (blackfin scad). It is best eaten with fresh tomatoes and steamed rice.


Taho - usually eaten for breakfast, this Filipino street food is made of fresh soft/silken tofu, arnibal (sugar syrup), and sago (tapioca). I vividly recall how excited we would always get whenever we hear manong shout "Tahoooooo!". We would rush to get some coins to make sure to catch manong before he leaves the gate. :p


Already drooling, eh? I warned you! :p Now lets go to what I had for lunch and dinner over the past month. :D

Lunch and Dinner
Fish is the least of my favorites, but believe it or not, this is what I requested for in my first lunch at home. We had pritong tilapia (fried tilapia), pritong talong (fried eggplant), and ensaladang kamias (bilimbi fruit salad) for lunch. The ensaladang kamias is new to me, I'm used to having ensaladang mangga (green mango salad), but this one is equally delicious especially with alamang (shrimp paste).


Friday is Monggo Day, in our household at least. We always pair it with fried food such as daing na bangus and bagnet.

Ginisang Monggo (Sauteed Mung Beans) - this is a popular dish in the Philippines, with mung beans as the main ingredient. It is sauteed in garlic and onions and it is usually cooked with pork and malunggay (moringa leaves).

Daing na Bangus - daing refers to sun-dried fish, but my Mommy's version is not actually sun-dried. Fresh bangus (milkfish) is used and split-open and marinated in vinegar and garlic and then cooked fried. It goes well with a soy-vinegar-onion-sugar dip.


Nilagang Baka (Beef Stew) - this is a flavorful beef soup with beef tenderloin, pechay, cabbage, potatoes, corn, and plantains. It best served hot and eaten with steamed rice. I also love eating it with soy sauce and calamansi.


Pink Salmon and Shrimp Sinigang - I'm no fan of fish, as I said, let alone fish soups, but this one is an exemption. This is the only fish soup dish that I love. Especially with shrimps in it plus it's tangy and flavorful soup plus kangkong and string beans, this is one healthy dish.


Speaking of seafood, another personal favorite is my dad's ginataang alimango at hipon (crabs and shrimps in coconut milk). You can check the recipe here.



Ginataang Kuhol (Snails in Coconut Milk) - I love anything with coconut milk, even those that are not usually eaten by many, just like my dad's ginataang kuhol which is another personal favorite.

I've already requested for this dish even prior to my flight back home. But since it was mostly raining during my stay, no snails can be found in markets and grocery stores for weeks. Good thing the weather cooperated and Daddy finally got to buy snails one fine weekend. They come in round and fat or thin and pointed variants, but both are equally yummy!


Seafood Kare-kare - Daddy's seafood kare-kare is also to die for! It's the same kare-kare base made of peanuts but with mussels, squid, shrimps, and crab replacing the usual beef, ox tail, or pork chunks. Oh I'm craving for them now! You can check the recipe here.

Chicken Feet - I've been craving for this so much which is why it's no surprise that it's also included in my requests to my dad. :D This is not really a Filipino food, but a Chinese delicacy, which you can find in Filipino feasts.


And because I'm in a Muslim country, pork is a no-no. But since Dubai is an open city, pork is allowed. Even so, I seldom find fresh pork from the grocery store (they're always frozen) and most of the pork dishes here do not even come close to what we have back home. So I still don't get to eat pork dishes here which is why my dad made sure to stuff me with all the pork dishes that I can eat when I was at home. Hahaha!

Bagnet - a deep fried crispy pork belly dish that is similar to lechon kawali. My dad's version uses pork face that is boiled first until tender and then deep fried twice. Bagnet is another Ilocano dish that has always been a family favorite!


Crispy Pata - this is just like bagnet, but using pork knuckles instead and is also best eaten with steamed rice and soy-vinegar-sugar-onion dip. You can check out how easy it's made here. :)


Lechon - a roasted suckling pig with crispy skin and tender flavorful meat that is totally hard to resist! The star of almost every Filipino feasts. Best eaten with lechon sauce that is made out of pork liver and some seasonings. Yum!

Embutido - this is a Filipino-style meatloaf. It is usually made of ground pork plus other ingredients like sausages, but my dad sticks to ground pork and adds ground banana blossom, and pickles and raisins for that sweet and tangy kick. This may be eaten right out of the steamer or may also be fried after.


Bopis - a piquant dish made of minced pork lungs and heart. My dad's version also has ground pork, minced liver, plus radish and carrots. Usually served as appetizer for alcoholic drinks, it is also best eaten with steamed rice.

Daddy also made sure that I get to have my other favorite Ilocano dishes too!

Igado - usually cooked using pork tenderloin chunks and pig innards such as liver, heart, and kidney, my dad uses ground pork and liver slices instead. I love the sweet and tangy taste brought about by the soy sauce and vinegar. Green peas are also combined for an added flavor and texture.


Papaitan - a soup dish made of of cow innards and is made to have a hint of bitterness because of the bile and a sour kick from kamias (bilimbi fruit). I must admit that I'm particular with eating only my dad's version as he has his way of making the soup not taste too bitter at all. The innards are first rubbed with vinegar and he also adds chunks of pork blood which makes it more delectable. :D

Miki - a noodle soup similar to mami and lomi, but with an orange color from achuete (annatto seeds). Best served hot and is perfect to warm the tummy especially on a cold day.


Pipian - which is very similar to the well-loved Filipino dish Kare-Kare. Chicken is mostly used to replace the Kare-Kare's ox tail and tripe, also with ground rice (minus the ground peanuts) as thickener. While Kare-Kare has that nutty and salty taste with a hint of sweetness, Pipian has that distinct tang and tartness which comes from kamias (bilimbi fruit) and pasotes (epazote leaves). You can check the recipe here.


Ilocos Empanada - It is very much different from the usual empanadas. The crust is made from rice flour. And for the filling, nowadays they use grated cabbage, mongo sprouts, and egg. But my dad, being a true blue Ilocano, said that authentic Vigan empanada's filling is originally made from grated unripe papaya. We bought the one in the photo below, but my dad has also made one before. You can find the recipe here.


Make sure to hold your horses as we are not yet done. I still have these yummy Filipino street food and snacks that I wish to share with you! :D

Snacks and Street Food
For my first snack back home, Daddy got me everything that I love! We had turon, banana cue, fries, kwek-kwek, and isaw! :D

Turon and Banana cue - both use plantains and brown as the main ingredients. They are also both fried. The only difference is that the turon is enveloped in a spring roll wrapper while banana cue is skewered in a bamboo stick.

Kwek-kwek - it's an egg tempura if you may call it, as a hard boiled quail egg is wrapped in an orange-colored seasoned batter before it gets dunk and fried in hot oil. This goes well with a spiced vinegar dip.


Isaw - this is a famous street food in the Philippines which is made from either pig or chicken intestines. They are usually barbecued but a battered fried version (as in the photo above) is equally enticing! A spiced vinegar dip makes them more irresistible!


Chicharon Bituka - also made of pig intestines, this one is deep fried to have a crunchy texture and is seasoned with salt. Best eaten when dipped in spiced vinegar.


Fishballs - fish paste and flour formed into balls and deep fried, I love them cooked thoroughly until they're crunchy and toasted. A special sauce made of soy sauce, vinegar, flour, and spices is it's perfect pair. It also goes well with a calamansi-vinegar-onion-sugar dip.


Balut - a developing duck embryo that is boiled and eaten in the shell. Admittedly, I haven't tasted the embryo part yet. I just can't take seeing, let alone eating, that teeny tiny duckling with those feet, beak, hair, and all; but I totally love the yolk (the yellow part), the white part, and its juice! :D


Karioka - this sweet treat made from glutinous rice and coconut, coated with candied brown sugar may be eaten as snack or dessert. But I love eating it for breakfast too! :D



And because I was home during the holidays, Puto Bumbong and Bibingka were definitely included in the list! :D

Both are made from glutinous rice and are brushed with butter, sprinkled with sugar, and topped with coconut shavings. Puto bumbong is cooked in a bamboo steamer and has that vibrant purple color. Bibingka (rice cake), on the other hand, is cooked in a clay pot lined with banana leaves, which also adds flavor to the cake.