One of the reasons
why I love going around the Philippines
is because I love getting lost. Ah! Don't kill me! Not just geographically
but culturally as well. I travelled extensively
around the country, yet each time I visit
a new province, I realized that I still have
a lot to learn when it comes to Filipino food. We tend to eat
what we grew up eating and after that,
what our friends eat and what is deemed popular. - Oh my god! - Unless we expose ourselves
to different flavors, we will never really know
our roots, because in the Philippines,
each dish can tell you a little bit about our history. Recently named
the country's first UNESCO city of gastronomy,
Iloilo was a revelation to me on my first visit. So what does
the shiny title mean? It's given to cities
that use indigenous ingredients, represent cooking traditions,
support sustainable production practices,
have a gastronomic community, and overall, respect
and promote local cuisine. Iloilo city does all
of the above. Delve deeper in the province
and you'll find a treasure trove of dishes that are cherished
by its people who have passionately
and invigoratingly encourage you to try them all. You're going to see me speechless
quite a bit in this episode. I say "Wow"and "Oh my god"
countless of times. My brain could not manage
all the new information that I was learning
and my body barely made it through all the food we ate. This is probably one
of the best places to come if you want a good snapshot
of Western Visayan cuisine. Iloilo is a young, dynamic city
that has so much potential, filled with food lovers. No wonder
it's constantly braided as one of the most livable cities
in the Philippines. The urban planning here
makes sense. You still have
some historic architecture and you're not far
from some of the country's best beaches. The province has an abundance
of beautiful produce and their cuisine
is resourceful, comforting, steeped in history,
having been influenced by both the Spanish colonization
and Chinese trading, yet it remains uncomplicated
and lets the ingredients shine. I needed a guide
to help me figure this all out, so we reached out
to Chef Tibong, a staunch advocate
of Ilonggo cuisine and author
of the recently released Flavors of Iloilo cookbook. Like any good food tour,
we started off by looking
at the local produce in the market. - This is called "Bukaka." We call it Bukaka,
the red one. - [Erwan] Really? - [Tibong] Yeah.
We call it Bukaka because it's opening. It's sweet. - And you just eat it
like a fruit, right? It's very nice.
It's kind of like... - [Tibong] It's earthy, but... - Like a light guyabano
(soursoup). - But it's earthy. - And people eat this
as a snack 'cause I've seen this a few times.
[Tibong] Yes. So this is the vegetable area. It's really spicy. - 'Cause a lot of these
now are the ones that come from Taiwan.
Yes. And that's the Batwan. - Ah, yes. Of course. You guys use Batwan
quite a bit also? - Yes. For our souring ingredient, because what's best
with Batwan is that it's not so sour. So this is the meat section. - And what would you say
is the primary protein that people eat here? - [Tibon] Native chicken. The Ilonggos are fond
with native chicken. We used to have
our stall there. So almost our family
have meat. - Ah, okay. So you know
how to butcher everything? - [Tibong] Yes. But my dad would scold me
if I touched a knife or something,
you know. - Hello. Good morning! - [Erwan] Good morning! - Good morning, sir! You're so handsome! - After a tour of the market,
it was time to try an amazing eatery next
to the river. Can you tell me
about where we are now? - [Tibong] We're now
at Nora's Eatery. They started from 1969.
This is the second generation owner already. This is a well-known place,
especially for office workers and the people
who travel from out of town. They would have
their breakfast or brunch at Nora's Eatery. - [Erwan] What's your
favorite thing? - Usually they have
this "Inadobadong" catfish or alimusan. - Oh, wow. Okay, nice. - Yeah. It's really good.
You know? And of course,
the inihaw na baboy (grilled pork). And of course,
these are just traditional way of cooking. - [Erwan] You have
some Tagalog ones, some grilled ones,
but some Ilonggo dishes also, right?
Yes. And the only good part
of our grilling is we only use salt. - [Erwan] Okay. - [Tibong] We don't marinate them
thoroughly so that we would be able to... - [Erwan] Really taste
the food. This is what I love
about coming to the province, like I never know
where to start 'cause there's always
so much. - Let's start with soup. (giggles) - Let's start with soup? Okay. Let's start with soup. - Usually we call
our soup here "Sinabawan." - [Erwan] Sinabawan. - [Tibong] Yeah.
That's with Batwan and tomatoes only. - The fish is very fatty, and it's the eyes, right?
It's the head part. It's just Sinabawan. So it's not too sour. - Not at all. So what would you say
is kind of like the... the signature of Ilonggo food? - It's never complex.
Our food is never complex. Like you could see
the flavor of the fish is there. Simply cooked, traditional. - So there's a real,
like what we saw in the market, there's a real pride
behind the ingredients, I feel? - We always would appreciate
our fisher folks and even farmers. - [Erwan] So after soup,
what would you recommend? - [Tibong] We call this
Pinamalhan. - [Erwan] Pinamalhan. - [Tibong] Pinamal— - [Erwan] Pinamal— - [Tibong] —han. - [Erwan] —han.
Pinamalhan. - It's paksiw. - Okay. - But it's made
from ginger... Abo is a kind of fish
that doesn't taste anything. It really has no taste. But you have to sun-dry it
until it gets rotten. - Rotten? Really? - [Tibong] Yes. And it becomes
the most flavorful fish. - That's where all
the complexity comes from. - Because of the fermentation.
Self-fermentation. - Now I'm really curious. - It's soft and delicate. - [Erwan] So this is,
you said, cooked with ginger. - Yes. And as usual,
tuba vinegar (coconut sap vinegar). - Oh! The texture,
it's extremely surprising. So that definitely comes
from decomposition, so it's like almost
powdery, grainy. - [Tibong] And this one
is Paklay. It's from coconut pith. Sometimes they use
the souring ingredient which is kamias
(cucumber tree). But it's really good. Crunchy. - Some sugar in there. - The food of Ilonggo,
it's typically just cooked almost the same,
except that they just add a few, but it's not a fusion thing. - But I think
what's important here to note is
it's extremely well-cooked. - Yes. - Like it's not
overcooked vegetables, it's really cooked right.
There's a bit of crunch to it, a bite. It's really important.
I like that a lot. - You could try their version
of the chicken pork adobo with atsuete (annatto). - [Erwan] Same process, right?
Vinegar, laurel leaves, garlic. - [Tibong] Yes. Everything, except with annatto oil. - [Erwan] So start
with annatto oil? And more particularly,
it's native chicken, right? - [Tibong] Yes,
it's native chicken. - [Erwan] So why the love
of native chicken? - Well, because basically
it's abundant. - This for me is calling me
'cause I love stuff like this. - [Tibong] It's Ensalada Nga
Puso Sang Saging. Very good appetizer. - Yeah. - There's a sweetness
but not too sweet. - It opens everything up. And then, there's a nice... I mean the tuba vinegar
is the key. - And it bursts
with good flavor. - [Erwan] This is
what you're saying you come here for. - [Tibong] Yes. Inihaw na baboy (grilled pork). - I mean, simple,
but when well-done, it changes everything. Okay. Last bite. - [Tibong] That's another appetizer. - Let's try that. - Me and my pork. - This is labanos (radish),
right? Labanos and ampalaya
(bitter gourd). - [Tibong] Yeah. - Very nice. They pair perfectly
with fatty food. And you like want
to keep going with some fat
to balance it out with some vinegar. So the fish, same as the pork,
is grilled with salt. What's the name of this dish? - Dalupani. - Dalupani. - Yes. - [Erwan] It's the first time
I actually tried that. - [Tibong] It's really good, right? - [Erwan] It's really good. Filipino food lives
in extremes, right? Sometimes very salty,
sometimes very vinegary, sometimes I feel like
there's an over appreciation for something
that's incredibly sour and something
that's incredibly salty. But I've always been
a fan of cuisines that kind of live
in the middle, and I feel like... - It's a balance.
It's really well-balanced. Like it's also very coherent,
how the dishes all come together. Wow. - [Tibong] It's really good. - I mean, this is... Thank you for such
a great... a great start to the day. - This is just the first stop.
I know. I know. - You'll have more. - I'm going to try
to keep some space. After a very fresh introduction
to the cuisine, Tibong brought me to one
of his childhood favorites. His father had a butchery
in the market, so this was a quick,
hearty meal that people who work
around here gravitate towards. Owned by the Igbante family
since 1969, the spaces stand into
the central market's outskirts. It's a smoky spot
that emits an aroma that tells you
what's cooking inside even from the sidewalk. So what was your first memory
coming here to Cyril's? - [Tibong] Well, in the '70s,
my dad brought me here and we had pork chop. - What's this? - That's Arroz Valenciana. - [Erwan] Ah. Really? - [Tibong] Yes. - [Erwan] All right.
So tell me about this place. - [Tibong] They've been open
since 1969. My first experience
was with my dad. So because this
is my dad's friend also. I mean, almost all
the Ilonggos come here. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Basically they have
this Biga-Biga they're famous for. Their Linaga. And then, the pork chop
which we would usually use... - Banana ketchup. - Banana ketchup. - I'm all for it. - Yes. - I'm all for it. - It's always banana ketchup. - [Erwan] And then, Arroz... - [Tibong] Arroz Valenciana. - [Erwan] And okoy? - [Tibong] Yes.
But this is Lobo-Lobo. It's a very small fish. It's like silvery fish, then you just put... - Like the fish patty?
Ah, okay. - Then, you dip it
with the Sinamak. - Okay. Nilaga first. Beautiful. - [Tibong] Simple.
I mean, simple. The salt in the broth
really comes through. - [Tibong] And very soft meat. - The meat is extremely tender. And there's
no residual fattiness. It's a very clean broth. - [Tibong] This one
is Biga-Biga. It's rectum.
[Erwan] Oh, rectum. This is not even the butt,
it's inside of the butt. - [Tibong] Inside of the butt. - [Erwan] What animal? - [Tibong] Pork. - [Erwan] Okay. - [Tibong] Really good. - No awful flavor,
no aftertaste, no clinging oiliness. Like really nice and clean. Arroz Valenciana. - [Tibong] Yes. - [Erwan] This makes me smile
to see this out of many just 'cause it showcases
Spanish heritage in the most conspicuous
of ways, right? It's kind of like
in a carinderia, you have Arroz Valenciana. - [Tibong] And this is not
strong flavored so that you can eat it
with the dishes. So it's simple but... - So lots of turmeric
in there. With liver. - [Tibong] Yeah. Liver,
chicken, anything you want. - [Erwan] Okay. I'm going
to try the paksiw. - [Tibong] Lechon Paksiw.
It's so good. - Wow. - [Tibong] And the way
it makes the paksiw, right? And you know what, Erwan... - I grew up eating
the paksiw that's like drenched
in Mang Tomas. - [Tibong] Yes. And this one,
ever since we would eat here, you know what's the best part
with the eateries here in Iloilo? 10 years ago,
when you come back, it's still the same. They've maintained
their flavors, that's why they were able
to sustain their business, because of the way
they cook it. So it's passed on
from one generation to the other. The Lobo-Lobo. - It's actually
whitebait silver fish. - [Tibong] It's good, right? - A little bit of flour. This is pork chop
with banana ketchup. I mean, I can tell
why you kind of keep coming here. It kind of has
an experience to it. What I love about this
is it's a very different array of dishes from the last one in terms of how they cook it,
in terms of the flavor, how they developed
the flavors. That one was plain
with a lot of acid, a lot of subtlety, this one's a bit more bold,
earthy, kind of like meaty flavors.
[Tibong] They have their own distinct flavors. - [Erwan] So this is
all the dried fish. - [Tibong] Yes, dried fish.
That comes from Estancia, from Carles. These are all products
of them. This is Labahita. That's the best substitute
for Bakalaw. - They use that
in Cavite a lot, the Bakalaw. - And this one is the Kalkag
which is usually used for vegetables. - And that's the Ginamos? - Yeah. That's the Ginamos. - [Erwan] So just raw like this? - [Tibong] Yes. - [Erwan] I've never actually
tried raw. - [Tibong] Small one. Not the whole thing. See? It gives
a distinct flavor. It's not too salty. It's good for your pakbet. You have to bring this home. - It has a... I kind put my finger on it. - This is what makes batchoy
very good. - There's a certain kind
of like... I can't put my finger
on it, but... - It's fermented
but not too strong, and the flavor is not... - It's not coying. - Yes. - I mean, it's very,
very powerful. - Yeah. Powerful. Especially in the mouth,
but it does not... - Yeah. It doesn't stay. So these are what? - Small oysters. Sisi. - [Erwan] Ah, Sisi. - [Tibong] Remember you ate
the small ones. - [Erwan] And this is
with vinegar. - Yeah. It's vinegar
or salted water. - Got it. - So here we also have
different... This is tocino. - I've actually never seen that. - Yeah. It's a tocino. It's Salmonete
used for paksiw. - [Erwan] Okay. - But this time they fillet it
and put some caramel in it. - Ah. And this is
just eaten as... Can it be eaten
as a snack also or...? - Yeah. You just fry it. Can this be eaten raw? No? You really have to fry it. - I don't think if you realize
how incredibly organized this dried fishes. It is almost imma... Like if you look
at the packaging at the top, it's immaculate. Color-coordinated almost. And it's not just in this stall,
it's every stall. When you walk through here,
it's a nice experience. Like it actually feels
like something you want to buy a lot from. Not something like,
"Oh, it smells like dried fish, I want to get out of here." You take time. And for me,
just like the patterns like of how the dried fish
were made and everything, it's just gorgeous. Look at that. - Yes. It's beautiful. - It's beautiful. Especially that,
it looks like little flowers. It's time for chicken,
and Rawit's is the place to be. Their stall in the market
has been selling dressed native chicken
called Darag for the last 35 years. A decade ago,
owners Jesus Janeo Jr. and wife Evangeline
decided to start serving their lechon manok
and I am so thankful for that. The already tastier
native chicken is meticulously cleaned
before being rubbed in a paste of spices,
salt, and lemongrass. Marinated in vinegar
and calamansi then stuffed
with more lemongrass before being dowsed
in a flavorful atsuete oil. It's a masterpiece
and when paired with the drama
of the market, a feast for all the senses. Honestly, one of the best
chicken dishes in the country. - Okay. - So this is really
how it's served? No utensils. - Yes. So there we go
with the Sinamak. Look at that. - Beautiful. - Yes. It's an old... - Filtered already. So usually how old
do these go for? That's one of my questions. - If you want this color
or the peppers to stay long, you have to refill it.
Don't let it dry up. Do the honor. Just break it.
It's still hot. - So just hold. I might need your help here.
There we go. And then dip? - Yeah, dip.
Cool. - If you want, you can try it
without dipping it so that you can distinguish it. - Super tender. - It's really good chicken. - I mean, the chicken itself
makes an amazing difference. The lemongrass is there
but not in crazy amounts. The marinade... - It's not too much. - It's not like acidic
or anything. It keeps it nice and juicy. I would personally eat this
over any other grilled chicken. It's really tasty. You can probably eat one
of these alone, easy, 'cause it's not
like that much meat also. So this is open all day? - Yeah. By around four o'clock,
they would serve beer and they would like
serve grilled food. It's like a paluto (cooking service). - A true meeting place
of people. That's amazing. - And this is where I do
by Tabuan before. I would set up the place
and give them this, have different dishes
prepared here. - I'm literally pulling it off
and right away it exposes the lemongrass. So this shows you
what little meat there is. It's extremely flavorful. Man, it's like 10:30 a.m. - This is our... - It's our third stop, right? Sometimes tourists
around the country have a hard time finding
good food. Just like any other city,
you can find good and bad, but Iloilo proves itself
as a place where good food is all over
and always accessible. Another must try is Beige Eatery. Put up by a former OFW
with a love for cooking and perfection,
the place gets packed because of its consistency,
heritage Ilonggo dishes, and fresh seafood. - I'm Bruce Buenafe, the cook and owner
of Beige Eatery. How did I end up
establishing this eatery? I was an OFW before,
a trailer driver in Saudi Arabia. I was getting tired back then
so I thought of going home. They said that I'm knowledgeable
in cooking that's why I started cooking
little by little. I started working small
until it became this big. The advantage
when you're the owner and cook is that you know
what you want. You don't depend on others. Like the fish,
it should always be fresh, you always pick
the freshest meat, pork, and everything else
like the condiments. That's why it's better
that you're the one who cooks, you're the one who buys
the ingredients, and at the same time,
you're also the owner, because you know
how to run the business. That's why if you want
to start a business, just start it already. If it's an eatery,
you should know how to cook. If it's a barber shop,
you should know how to cut hair. What if your employees
are always absent, like this? (laughter in the background) Your business will be ruined
if you're not really in line. - Fourth stop. Why is Iloilo seen
as kind of like really popular for its seafood? - Basically we have
where the bounties of the seas
are surrounded, the island of Panay
is surrounded by all things. And Roxas, being
the seafood capital of the Philippines,
has also a lot of abundant seafood. - How far is Roxas
from here? - It's around two hours
of drive. - Okay. - It's just two hours. - Okay. So what do we have
in front of us here? - [Tibong] Well, let's start
with this. This is the Linutik. You just boil the squash, cook it with shrimp,
and we put the malunggay and sitaw (beans). - Yum. And then, this is the scallops. - [Tibong] The scallops,
you just sauté it. Well, of course,
now they use oyster sauce, possibly. It's like inadobo
without the atsuete. - And would you say
all the seafood's kind of interchangeable? - Yes. I think so. - This is the first thing
I've tried today that taste more
in the Chinese side. - Because of the influence
of the Chinese. This one is the unborn egg
and intestine of the chicken. Chicken Biga-Biga. It's inadobo in atsuete oil. - I have a hard time picturing
what an unborn... So it's not like balut
or anything like that? - [Tibong] No, it's really
like an ova thing that's clear wherein
you can see the yolk. It's quite delicate. And then when you cook it,
it just hardens like a hard-boiled egg. So this is very exotic
for some people. But it's quite good, though. - The flavor's really good. I mean, the adobo style sauce... - So you have the liking
of the adobo Ilonggo? - Yeah, I do. - It's a wrong notion
that our food is sweet. Sometimes they use sugar
because they don't want to use MSG. - Is this something like, would you say kind
of like the younger generation, are they also really
into kind of the local food? - Yeah. You know, my grand niece, you know what she likes
to eat? Linaga, local cuisines. - [Erwan] At this point,
I couldn't realy eat much anymore, so Tibong thought
it would be nice and a good idea
to eat some cakes to reset our palates, and Maridel's
is the place to be. Everyone I talked to
about going to Iloilo... By the way, you've become
an institution. He's a little camera shy. Everyone told me
to come by here for two specific things. The first being
the duck pao. And then, a lot of people
actually talked about the guava pie
which we'll get tomorrow, but also the snicker's pie. Let's try this. - It's banoffee. - Ah, this is the banoffee. - This is snicker's pie. Try the banoffee. - Mmm! The banana's almost
ice cream like. And you freeze it. It's so nice. - [Maridel You have
to eat it frozen. Snicker's pie. This looks incredible. This is sugar-free, right? - No. Sugarful. - That's rich.
Really delicious. It actually does feel like
a much better snicker. And this is the duck pao. - That's my favorite,
the duck pao. It should be eaten
with a big bite. - Should I? Okay. - [Tibong] Their bread... - Wow. This one's made
with lots of bread crumbs and margarine. - He wasn't just smiling
because I can imagine it's so good. Even the bread. - Yeah. The bread's
really nice. I'm being spoiled here. Just when you thought
it was over, the city keeps on giving. A food trip would
not be complete without passing by
Breakthrough. Started in the '80s,
it is now a shining light in the region, presenting the best seafood dishes
from the area in both traditional
and modern ways. You can't come to Iloilo
without passing through Breakthrough.
And this bread was insane. This is intense. I mean, I think everything
has been intense today. - This is Imbaw. - Imbaw. Yes. I actually caught
some Imbaw in Basilan but they were not this big. Very garlicky broth. Very clean. I think everyone
has to just admire the size of this. Oh, it's like a one bite thing. - Yeah. - This is huge. Wow. - And if you don't know
how to cook Imbaw, it's going to be tough. - That's perfectly cooked. - It's going to be too chewy.
This one is just right. - Melting. When you break
through the screen, you kind of get
that release of flavor. Wow. - I want you to try
this one first. So this is fresh bagoong
(shrimp paste). - Okay. - It's just... - This is Balayan also? - Yeah. The small shrimp,
fresh, then they just put calamansi in it. - And some chili. Wow. So this is used
as a condiment? I think people
at this point will see that I'm visibly struggling. This has been an amazing day
of eating, and I love that you still have
restaurants that are kind of like just by the beach
and you kind of think you're really far away
from the city but you're literally
an 8-minute drive away. Let's try to eat Balayan
with the rice. What I like about
the Aligue rice, it's not just the crab fat
as well, it's kind of anything
that goes around it, too, right? - It's garlicky. - [Erwan] Raw lobster. - [Tibong] Raw lobster. Sashimi. You can have... - [Erwan] A bit of wasabi.
[Tibong] Wasabi. - [Erwan] Some soy sauce. It's so tender. And how do you guys
eat your Diwal? - Just open it simply and it's just steamed. Then, all you have to do
is just get its thing from the shell and eat it. - [Erwan] And the dipping sauce is? - [Tibong] Sometimes peanut butter
or sometimes none at all. Just the flavor
of the Diwal itself is really good. - [Erwan] So this is just
like a Diwal broth, right? - The Diwal by itself
is really good. - Really clean. - Although you may find this
in any part of the country, but it's... - Not as often as you'd want to,
for sure. - By accident.
But it's in Roxas and in Negros,
they have this. - You see it abundant. - By season.
Ah, by season. - This is famous
because they always usually would start serving it. - And then everyone
starts doing it? - Yes. They're the trend setter. And take the fat,
it's really good. - So this is a... - Managat. - Managat. - That's the in thing. Before it's Diwal,
now it's Managat. - Really? Managat's
like the trendy fish? - Yes. - Very fatty. Wow. That fat is almost meaty. It's almost like way fattier
than like Bangus. - Yes. Then, that's the duck. - [Erwan] So this is kind
of like the outlier, right? Everything is seafood. It's 3:00 p.m. now,
so we've been eating non-stop for close to 10 hours. Is that... I think there's an understanding
of what balance and equilibrium
should be in dishes, which I think is very kind
of like a hallmark, from what I understand
just from today in terms of Ilonggo cuisine
of just, like you said,
respecting the main ingredient, making sure that
it's not outshined by anything else in the dish
and making sure that everything kind
of plays well together. It kind of reminds me
of how they, you know, they call this the city of hearts,
the city of love. - [Tibong] There's a lot
of titles. - Yeah. There's like
a light touch to the food. Like it's an affectionate touch
to the food in terms of making sure
you're taking care of it as you would a loved one
which I think is really great. It has a soul. Correct. Yeah. - An Ilonggo soul. - I was maybe particularly
ignorant about it but I never really heard much. When you come to Iloilo,
yes, you know, go after the well sought out
popular dishes that you've probably heard
and read about a thousand times and they're probably
very well recorded in guide books and online websites
and things, but feel free to kind
of stray away from them as well in terms
of going for the vegetable dishes, the salads, the innards,
the offal, because I feel like
those are really what paint a true picture
of the everyday kind of dishes that people
really truly appreciate here. So I mean, hopefully this guide
was useful to people who are watching it
and I hopefully people get to try everything
we've tried today. But not in one day. Don't do it in one day. Do it in five days
and you'll be way better off. - Do it in a week.
Stay in Iloilo for a week. - After exploring the subtleties
and varieties of Ilonggo cuisine in Iloilo
with Chef Tibong, Martin and I stuffed
ourselves crazy with some of the best eats
in the city where locals love to eat. Can you feel the ridges
of the tongue? - Yes. - [Martin] Blessed
with brackish waters, Iloilo is abundant
in seafood. With talabahan
or oyster stands selling the freshest
and most affordable ones, we just had to give
the crowd favorite Coning's Talabahan a try. - [Erwan] First meal: steamed oysters and Lison fish, I believe. Lison. L-I-S-O-N. This looks actually
perfectly grilled. And then, you've got... - [Martin] The soup. (Erwan chuckles) - Of the Lison. Not paying attention at all. - [Martin] Sinigang na Lison. Let me serve you, my friend. - [Erwan] Oh, thank you so much.
It's so kind of you. Yum. So this is a start
of our whole Iloilo adventures, and there's lots
of roadside eateries over here with talaba (oysters). - [Martin] This street also has
some really good lechon spots
but only open one day a week. At Coning's,
oysters and Lison take center stage. The oysters are fresh
and steamed to perfection to give you a juicy bite
that burst with the flavors of the sea, but you can also get them raw
if you like. But I've always preferred steam
or grilled locally. The overflowing Lison fish
are usually dried in Iloilo, but we had to try it grilled
and simply seasoned with soy sauce and calamansi. It's really perfectly cooked. It's so cool.
It's not dry. - That's good! That was so well grilled. Super tender. So much smokiness in there. So these were steamed
slightly just to open them up. And then, that dipped
in the Sinamak. I made Kinilaw
using oysters and that's kind of the vibe
I'm getting here, right? Thank you very much! We got a bottle of Sinamak. Ah, don't kill me! Time for a bowl of innards
that will send you in a spin and keep you full
until the next day. Salam-Ukan is a gem. It's owner, Boyet,
was cooking a traditional Filipino nilaga
when he accidentally spilled a citrus soda in his dish. This accident turned
blessing in disguise birth the Salam-Ukan
or Pata Linaga. The winning dish
is a bowl of spicy and comforting carabao
meat stew with beef tendon,
heart, brain, and tripe with a slight sourness to it. It takes four hours
of boiling to make this hearty bowl. So you can imagine
how everything in this dish comes together. Salam-Ukan directly means
"to choke" in English. The saying goes,
"It's so delicious, it'll make you want
to choke," which I don't really
understand 100% but I'll take it. It looks super pretty,
though. I mean, this is something
that's been cooked for hours, we can tell. - [Martin] Yeah, man. Do you feel like
after eating this, you'll have the energy? - To have sex? - I don't know. To work. I mean, not everything
has to be... I feel like I'll be
very sleepy. - Yeah, me too. (giggles) Lot of fat,
lot of collagen. The innards, though,
are really well-cooked. Like look at that. - That's the brain, right? - That's the brain. Creamy. You have the sweet breads
in there as well. That beef is kind
of like falling off the bone. Yum. A little bit of acidity
there and there. - Can you say,
like this is a thicker version of Gotong Batangas? - [Erwan] This is the eye. - [Martin] There. - [Erwan] I haven't had
an eye in a while. That eye socket
has so much kind of like of that gelatin. It's pure collagen. Literal eyes. I think after this
we need some coffee. and some snacks before we hit the next meal. Okay. Next one's
pretty far from here, so... - [Martin] Oh my god. For a quick break,
we headed to Iloilo Coffee House. The specialty cafe
has been been serving good coffee since 2017
in the Villa District. And this area feels
very different from the rest of the city. - [Erwan] So we just walk
like we don't know each other. - [Martin] After taking it slow
to explore the faces and beauty of Iloilo,
we went to the Neighbor Cafe, and Erwan had to try
their famous Orecano and their classic
Spanish Latte. - [Erwan] I was not ready
for this siopao. In the streets
of Calle Real stands Roberto's Siopao,
the oldest and tastiest siopao in Iloilo. The business started
as a small Chinese restaurant in 1978 and gradually rose
to fame because of their unusual
but delicious siopao fillings. Their reigning, largest,
and most popular dish is Roberto's Queen Siopao,
filled with Chinese sausage, chicken pork adobo,
bacon, and eggs. Just one bite
and you'll know why Roberto's secured
its spot as an Iloilo icon. - Oh, dude.
It's like kikiam. - It's really spongey. Chunks of onion in there,
lots of pork. That's really good. Roberto's is considered
an institution apparently here. So many people told us
to come here mainly for their siopao. - [Martin] Siopao sometimes
can be very heavy and dense, but this one is okay. - [Erwan] Look at that. - Boom. Oh my god! - Holy crap. I haven't had
a really good siopao in a long, long time. - Yeah. For me,
sometimes the siopao that you get,
it's so pastey it turns into paste, but this one
it's still spongey, soft, it's still bread. - Yet, the filling retains
so much sauce. I mean, I think
that's why the bottom was kind of like sticking
a little bit because it's filled
with lots of sauce. - But it's so good. - This is probably one
of the best things I've eaten today,
honestly. Honestly,
this is next level siopao. If you do come to Iloilo City,
you need to try out this place. So our next stop
is not far from here. It's a place called Buhoy? - Buho. - We're terrible
with names today. So we're done here,
we're going to go over to Buho Bakery. - [Martin] Buho Bakery
is literally a hole in the wall in the dark street
with nothing else on it. Started off as a nameless bakery
in the 1960s where you had to talk
to the staff through a tiny hole in the wall,
earning its name "Buho" or hole in English. Through time, the owners
started opening its stores to dine-in customers,
delivering on the promise of serving daily Filipino bread
and pastries hot from the oven. - I'm here, too! - And Erwan's here. - [Erwan] By the way,
if you're wondering... - Oh, god. Ah! - [Erwan] This is
an electrical bike. - [Martin] Yeah, we're in an e-bike.
[Erwan] How cool is that? I'm going to start
with the Panso. She mentioned that
this was their bestseller but usually the bigger one. And it's still warm. This is the one
she just took out. - [Martin] There's Panso big
and Panso small. - Kind of like Pan de Regla. - Ah. The bread's so good. - Yeah. Very Filipino flavor
in terms of the texture, the consistency, but it's something
that we... I personally grew up eating. It's really tasty actually. This is Pande... It looks like a Pan de Leche. Ah, this is the Pogi. - [Martin] Really?
No, I think that's the Leche. This one's the Pogi. - Mmm! I like that. This one's cool.
Kind of like a little heart shape. Monay. Classic. But look at that.
That's been sitting there for a while and it just... - [Martin] So moist. Crazy. - Very well done. Yeah. This one... Ooh. Really crusty. - I think that's Pogi. - Ah, this is the Pogi. This is my favorite one. There's something to it. It's like almost
like a creamy pastillas. - It's a mix of margarine,
sugar, some milk, powder, and bread crumbs,
for sure. - It's 6:00 p.m. A lot of people
will probably say this video feels
incredibly incomplete. If you're in this region,
barbeque has to be on your list. Both Bacolod and Iloilo
have Inasal. There's a slight difference
in taste and presentation, though. Iloilo is usually a whole chicken
and slightly sweeter but not always. Lines get increasingly blurred now
with how information is shared, and it's hard
to determine who started what. The place to go
is at Fort San Pedro. But we found the busy street
of Valeria and it's a barbeque wonderland. In Iloilo, I realized
that people also prefer to call it barbeque,
whereas in Bacolod, they call it Inasal. Semantics. For something of it
more adventurous, go for the pork tongue
and maskara. The barbeque stalls
at Valeria will not disappoint you at night. What do we have?
What do we have? - Of course, we have
to get the chicken. - [Erwan] Two? - [Martin] Just one, man. Okay. Okay. - [Erwan] Liempo. - [Martin] Yes. - And then, pork mask. - Where is pork mask? I feel like we should
live a little, Marts, and go for some pork tongue. - [Martin] Okay. - Have you ever had
pork tongue? I've never had pork tongue. - Me too. - [Erwan] Where do you want
to start? Let's start with the tongue.
This is maskara. - I'm a tongue guy. - Okay. - Can you feel the ridges
of the tongue? - Yes. (both laugh) - What's wrong with you? - The texture's kind of weird. - So you can really taste
how sour it is. Like the acid
has completely permeated through the barbeque. This is the pork liempo
which became tiny. - Try the dip.
It's pretty nice. Try the vinegar. - [Erwan] The whole point
of today's video is to kind of try places
where locals go, and as you can tell,
it's absolutely packed over here. - [Martin] There's a lot
of people. - Shout-out to
the native chicken. - [Martin] I want to try it
'cause it was raw. It wasn't like pre-boiled.
[Erwan] Exactly. - [Martin] It's going
to be impressive if it doesn't fight back
too much. - Most chicken you'll have
is either fried chicken or in soups
or stuff like that. - I love this one. - Not chewy. - High heat. - Oh my god. - I love it. This is great. - That was really good. This is probably one
of the few cities I've seen in the Philippines
where at night they illuminate
the monument. If you walk by the riverside
or by the old capital or by the plaza
that they have over there, the church, the buildings
are really nicely lit. And because I think
it's such a walkable city, 'cause they've won
so many awards and they're kind of like one
of the cleanest cities, tourism cities. I really appreciate kind
of like how they care about that image. - [Martin] Right. It's really amazing
'cause the streets are so busy,
but they still maintain the cleanliness,
orderliness. - So this is to show you guys
it's possible. - [Martin] An Iloilo food trip
wouldn't be complete without its signature dish,
the Pancit Molo. Similar to Chinese wanton,
Pancit Molo is a comforting soup
with flavorful Molo balls. before we headed back
to Manila, we asked the locals
for their best Pancit Molo spots and find out why the soup
is on top of Iloilo's gastronomic choices. As always, just go
to a popular spot like Kap Ising's operating
since the 1920s, but we were after
something a bit more homey, and we were sent
to Kalan PH, an unassuming restaurant
that serves hand-made Pancit Molo and burgers. This unlikely combination
might just be our next go-to meal. - And we heard about this place
called Kalan PH where they serve both burgers
and Molos. Extremely strange combination
but why not. And apparently,
the Molo here is really authentic,
really legit. You can tell it's a nice,
clear broth. The shrimp heads
are kind of like mashed into there. The dumplings are made fresh. And then, they added
wanton wrappers. - [Martin] And they make it fresh
every order. They don't have
like a big batch running. And even the Molos,
they wrap it like every morning. - [Erwan] Oh my god. You can tell the dumpling's
really fresh. It's bouncy,
perfect amount, have like a filling. The broth is clear
but so flavorful. - This reminds me
of the happy days. - The people who don't know
Pancit Molo obviously originated here
in Molo, Iloilo. Probably inspired her,
influenced by Chinese traders that came to the city
at one point through the riverways. There's no actual pancit
or noodles, but you do put kind
of like the dried ones on wrappers cut thinly. Kind of looks
like noodles, right? It's the first time
I've ever seen a whole head of shrimp. Last minute.
But it really daoes add a lot of flavor to it. I'm happy we decided
to come here. It feels homey. It feels homey
and that's a huge. huge difference. - [Martin] Right. - Excuse us. We only have one camera
since the rest of the team is still in Guimaras. The burgers
were the random part. But it's so prominent
on the menu. - [Martin] Yeah. I mean,
the logo is a burger. - [Erwan] Most of the places
that we kind of featured in our crawl
were very much the OG kind of local spot,
so a lot of go-to, not necessarily
all Ilonggo food with very
Ilonggo experience. But let's not forget
that Iloilo has probably thousands of restaurants.
Like I don't think I've ever seen
this many restaurants in such a small vicinity. Like a lot of people
eat out a lot. And so, that means
there's probably also really good kind
of like international food, not just... which is why I wanted
to try these burgers. This one has a vibe
to it, right? - Yeah. - Perfect example
of use the list that we provided you
as a starting guide. Don't be afraid
to check out new places. There's a bunch of like
modern Ilonggo food places popping up also. Unfortunately, we didn't have
enough time, but we did feature some
of these kind of like very popular
local joints. Marts featured
the best of batchoy, the best batchoy places
in the city. And I did a ridiculous food crawl of Ilonggo dishes
and seafood. I don't even know
how I'm still eating, but all in all,
I think it's been a fairly successful trip. - Right. And one thing I learned
from Erwan, going around with Erwan
and Kleo, it's always a great idea
to walk around, 'cause that's
when you see like, you know,
when you're meant to go to Biscocho Haus
and then you see a nice cafe beside it, we gave it a try,
it turns out it's great. And this one,
this is a great example of it. - It is very different
from where we were with going to like big streets
and everything. Coming to this area,
smaller streets, a bit more local
in terms of vibe. - [Martin] A lot of students. - Delicious. Of course, you can't say
you've been to Iloilo if you didn't get to enjoy
a savory bowl of Batchoy. Naturally, Martin had to try
some of the best ones in the city and he tried
not just one, but five versions
of this local favorite. There are some variations
to the dish but essentially,
Batchoy is a soup dish made with pork offal,
crushed pork cracklings, pork broth, beef loin,
deep-fried garlic, spring onions,
and round noodles. Its most popular version
can be traced from the district
of Lapaz in Iloilo, hence its name "Lapaz Batchoy." There are multiple accounts
that allude to the inventor of this aromatic soup,
but none of them have been conclusive. One version credits
Domingo "Inggo" Lozada who supposedly invented
the dish in 1920 after being inspired
by Chinese peddlers who sold the noodle soup. Another credits
Federico Guillergan Sr. who started Deco's Batchoy
in 1938 for the second World War. There's also
Teodorico "Ted" Lepura who sold his Batchoy
at the Lapaz public market in 1945. And then, there's some
who say that the dish can be traced back
to the Chinese community in Lapaz since the word Batchoy
is maybe derived from the Hokkien
Chinese word "bah-chui," which means "meat soup." One thing remains
to be clear, this dish has held
a special spot in the culinary
and cultural heritage for not just the province
of Iloilo but of the Philippines
as a whole. And having said that,
I was so excited to devour my first bowl
of Batchoy at Deco's. - When my grandfather
started here at Lapaz Public Market, it was only Php0.10-Php0.20
per bowl. The only difference
between us and other Batchoy is that our recipe,
from then until now, hasn't changed. - For you, what should be
the quality of a Batchoy? - In the broth. The true taste of Batchoy
is when sweetness and saltiness
are really balanced. - They said the broth
should be clear. - That's right. - It's also really important. It tastes very clean. It's like even if it's hot,
it's still okay. I also immediately noticed
that the entrail has no aftertaste,
and it's incredibly tender. You know, this is just
the first stop, but it seems like I'm going
to finish it. Starting off strong. We're now done here
at Deco's. Of course, we also need
to find other Lapaz Batchoy. Let's now try the one here
in Netong's that's so far.
It's so hot here outside. Located just a few steps
from Deco's, Netong's was founded
by Leonito "Netong" Guillergan in 1948. Yes, not only
are the founders of Deco's and Netong's related,
they're also both managed by the third generation today. So for our second stop,
it's Netong's. The owner's actually
the brother, the great grandfather of Chan,
the current manager of Deco's. So the difference
that I see, they put in some raw eggs. It was mentioned
that one of the things that you look for
in Batchoy is clear broth. This one, it becomes murky,
slightly thick because of the eggs. It's definitely going
to be a bit different. So overall, this has
a stronger garlic flavor. Of course, it's richer
because of the egg yolks and the egg whites. Soup's great.
It tastes clean. I don't know
if it's just this bowl but it doesn't have
that much intestines like the last one. Overall, still very good. We asked around
why this place, Netong's, has aircon. It's because
they're currently renovating the main market
and I heard that's going to take a few years,
like 2-3 years. So if you want
a more comfortable setting, ones with airconditioning,
then Netong's would be good. For our next stop,
we headed to Ted's Oldtimer Lapaz Batchoy. 78 years since its conception,
Ted's continues to be one of the go-to places
for those craving for a bowl of authentic Batchoy. Though, of course,
I had to try their version. You give it a bit
of a taste, soup first. It's a bit sweet. It's balanced out
with the sweetness. And as for the broth,
it's not the usual clear and I feel like
it's from the color of the noodles, too. Noodles. Honestly, I like
how they cooked the noodles. There's a good bite. It's not like pastey
or like overcooked like some of the noodles
that we tasted so far. Overall, okay. - Chef Marts! Chef Marts, can I have
a picture with you? I'm a big fan of yours. - Hi! - As we continued
our search for the best Batchoy in the city,
we found ourselves at Popoy's. We are at our fourth stop,
it's Popoy's Batchoy. Fun fact, they actually won
best Batchoy in the first Iloilo
Batchoy Festival. The soup's pretty good. Perfect blend of sweet
and salty. The garlic isn't
too overpowering and I think it's perfect. So what really sets apart
the Batchoys here from the ones that we get
in the city is they use this thing
called a Ginamos. It's also fermented shrimp paste
but it's finer and it tends to be drier than the usual
oily bagoong that we have. - Are you full? - Yes. But happy. - Show me how happy you are. - After four servings
of Batchoy, I was stuffed. But the team wanted
to make sure we made the most out
of this Batchoy crawl, and so, we went
to Alicia's Restaurant. So we're here
at Alicia's Special Batchoy. This is the last stop
but I'm still super excited to taste what they have. All right. What's this? - Chili sauce.
Oh. They even have chili sauce. All right.
So let's get to it. Eating can also be tiring. Honestly... (giggles) It's super good. I like it
'cause it's not too sweet. Some of the Batchoy
that we tasted was slightly sweet
for my taste. Let's try the entrails. You know, the offals
are still very soft but cooked
the whole way through. That's great. This also has intestines. Like the last three Batchoys
that I had didn't have it, but still
it was cooked perfectly. Everyone else
served pepper or white pepper, but they have chili sauce.
We're going to try it. It's very spicy. So Alicia's Restaurant,
they actually offer a lot of things. They have seafood paluto, they also have
like other savory food. But of course,
we're here for the Batchoy. And so far, so good. We're in Mamaca,
finishing the day off with some frozen yogurt. They only have this
in Iloilo. This is called
like the Iloilo Special, I think. So we went
through five places that served
the best Batchoys here in Iloilo. I love them all,
but if I were to say my favorite,
number one would be Deco's 'cause they were able
to find that great balance between sweetness
and saltiness. Most of them were
a little bit too sweet for me. Again, this is just for me. Number two would be Alicia's. It must have been the noodles,
the way it was cooked, but all in all,
super great. Now the point of best of
will always be to show you the best Batchoys,
not the best Batchoy. - [Erwan] The secrets
of a good Batchoy, as with any dish,
lies in the balance of flavors. To achieve that,
one ingredient stands out—salt. No flavor without salt. We went to Miagao
to check out a rare bamboo salt known
as Budbud and spoke with Lorlie
who at the time of our filming was the last woman asindero
(salt farmer) practicing the tradition
in this area. Located in
the province of Iloilo, Miagao is a coastal town
with a salt-making tradition that dates back
as early as 1823. In its glory days,
the town produce up to 10,000 sacks
of "Budbud" or salt anually in the salt farms
spread across the coastline of its 21 villages. Always, the heirloom tradition
would be a sight to behold, a process that cannot be seen
anywhere else in the world. Today, Miagao
salt making tradition is on the verge of becoming
a distant memory. Several asinderos
have turned their backs on it after shorelines
have become more sparse because of climate change
and the establishment of seawalls. The younger generation
also lost interest in the art due to its laborious process. 195 years have since passed
after Miagao began harvesting salt. Today, only one woman remains
to take the helm in reviving the town's
dying Budbud sea salt industry. - I'm Lorlie Paguntalan Noblezada,
a registered social worker, 47 years old,
I live in Miagao, Iloilo, and now I'm a salt maker,
where I produce Budbud sea salt. The Miagao or Budbud salt
started in the 1820s. We are still engaged
in barter trade up to this day. For example,
"Lor, we have corn and bananas, can we exchange them for salt?"
and I agree with it. For instance,
salangkugi and balunos, those are just barter items.
They simply give us salangkugi and balunos,
so the exchange for that is salt. With my spouse,
they were salt makers in the olden days. He still has salt-making
in mind. It's fascinating because,
even though it dates back to the 1820s without any books,
you're still able to preserve and revive the culture
and tradition of salt-making. We, the elderlies
and loving mothers, organized ourselves,
so I submitted a proposal to Chancellor Minda Formacion
to inquire if we could use a property of UP. In 2018, UP called me to meet
with Ma'am Bebot Privilegio, who asked me,
"Lor, we saw your proposal. Do you still want
to make salt?" So I grabbed the opportunity.
I chose salt-making because I saw that
if you engage in salt production, you live a long life
since you don't have any illnesses, right? You're healthy here
because you're always immersed in seawater. I want to emphasize
that we need to revive and preserve it. As a salt maker,
it should start with you. Your passion is there,
and you're really committed to doing it. But if you're only
after money, it won't last. Our process
of making Budbud salt starts with a thorough cleaning
of the entire area in the first 2-3 months,
removing rocks, debris and everything else.
After that, we build a fence. We place flaglets
to let people know that this area is a salt field.
And then, this is the actual sand
that we need to irrigate with seawater. And after that,
after one week, we bring a row of sand
to the filtration house. In the filtration house,
that's where we wash it with seawater. So now, due to innovation,
there's a faucet there to wash the sand with seawater
and it gets filtered. From there, it goes
to the depository we call "kam-aw." That's where we collect it
and place it in the blue drums. Then, from the blue drums,
we take it and put it on bamboo beds. After 1-2 days,
depending on the heat of the sun and the wind,
it matters too. When the wind is
from the north and it's hot, it's really good for the salt. But when the weather
is overcast and the wind is from the south,
it won't solidify. So it's really important
that you're very observant as a salt maker,
and you'll know if we will have
a harvest today or not. From the bamboo beds
or duyduyan, we will proceed to harvest. After harvesting,
we place it in the depository for the whole night
because it's still wet. Then, after a day,
we put it in the drying facility with nets, and it stays there
for one day. Afterward, we go
to the roasting house. Before, we didn't have
a roasting house. But because of our training
in food safety, it's really necessary
to roast the salt to eliminate impurities. And then we proceed
with the packaging there. The 500 grams
is priced at Php100. When we started in 2018,
there were still people making Budbud salt
in Barangay Guibongan. However, in their case,
by 2023, it seems like their salt-making
is declining because in their area, there's already a seawall,
so they no longer have a shoreline for salt production. The sand plays
a very significant role for us because it filters seawater. And in the towns
of Baybay Norte and Baybay Sur, where salt-making used
to be common, they also stopped due
to the shortened shoreline and the presence of seawall. Before, during summer,
the heat was continuous. But now, it's not like
that anymore. It can be scorching hot
in the morning, and then in the afternoon,
it will rain. So you really can't control it
like it's summer anymore, For me, I felt challenged
on how to innovate if I want to revive
and preserve it while still keeping
the traditional way of making salt. I'm also consulting
with professors from the University of the Philippines
in the Visayas, DTI, DOST, Coastline 5023,
discussing what's possible and exploring options. I've also heard the news
about us still importing salt. All I can say is that
the salt-making industry can truly be revived,
even in other parts of the Philippines. For example,
through collaboration, I hope salt makers
can come together to bring it back. And maybe
the government's focus, sometimes, is "Why produce salt
when we can just buy it from other countries." Perhaps they have
that kind of mindset. But in my opinion, through LGUs
(Local Government Units), they can collaborate
to support and assist salt producers in other areas. As a registered social worker,
this is really my life. I truly want to be a salt maker
because my passion lies here. This salt-making place
provides us with an avenue to revive a dying industry,
pass it on to the next generation,
and create a social impact. I'm really proud
and it's a privilege to be a salt maker.