Bicolano Cuisine in the Philippines
Text and Photos by Khursheed Dinshaw
“Chili ice cream, or sili ice cream, is our signature ice cream made with heavy cream, coconut milk, sugar and red colored siling labuyo chilli peppers,” says Rowena Aspe of 1st Colonial Grill.
“Can I please order one Volcano Extreme,” I asked the lady at the counter of 1st Colonial Grill in the province of Albay in Philippines. A slight frown appeared on her brow as she replied, “Volcano extreme is Level 4 of our chili ice cream, and it is the spiciest. Would you like to try a milder level instead?”
I smiled. “I am from India and can take the spice,” I told her.
As I relished my Volcano Extreme, I was joined by Rowena Aspe, the proprietor of 1st Colonial Grill, which is a pioneer of ice cream flavors.
“Chili ice cream, or sili ice cream, is our signature ice cream made with heavy cream, coconut milk, sugar and red colored siling labuyo chilli peppers,” says Aspe, who has created Gabi ice cream that is made from taro, Salabat ice cream that is made from ginger, pipino ice cream that is made from cucumber and malunggay ice cream made from malunggay leaves.
After polishing off my sili ice cream, which has the apt tagline of “I’m hotter than you think,” I enjoyed a delicious scoop of carmelado ice cream made from cow and water buffalo milk. Tummy full, I couldn’t sample the ice cream made from burnt rice, even though I was intrigued when Aspe told me that older generations used burnt rice to make coffee.
This was the sweet and fiery note on which I started my initiation into Bicolano cuisine, which is the cuisine of the Bicol region in Philippines. While this cuisine makes ample use of chiles and coconut milk, or gata, as it is known in Bicol, hardly any meal is complete without rice.
Steamed taro leaves filled with fish are another common dish, with tender taro leaves preferred, since they have more flavor. Often, the fish inside is tilapia.
Fried rice, known as adobo rice, is made with rice, soya sauce, vinegar and chicken or pork. In the Philippines, when poultry or fish is marinated and stewed in soya sauce and vinegar with a dash of spices, it is referred to as adobo.
“This was and continues to be a traditional way of preserving food,” says Liziel Mascarinas, a local resident and my tourist guide in Bicol. “The Spanish occupation of Philippines resulted in the coining of the word adobo, which translates to marinade in Spanish,”
Chicken adobado is perhaps the favorite, and the local twist is the addition of the gourd chayote, called sayote in Philippines. Sayote is low in calories, adds flavor and crunch, and it garnishes chicken adobado with vitamins C and K. The tangy dish is eaten with rice. Seeing a raw gourd placed near the dish for presentation reminded me of the first time I had eaten it in Mauritius in a salad, similar in taste to cucumber.
For kinunot, stingray is finely shredded and delicately cooked with chiles, coconut cream and ginger.
The Bicolano affinity for chiles continued with Bicol express, which is a spicy dish eaten with steamed white rice. It is perhaps named after the iconic Bicol Express train which used to transport passengers from Manila to Naga Cityovera duration of 10 hours. The spice quotient of this dish challenged my friend who was accompanying me and who prides herself on eating fiery food. It was a rare sight to see her nose turn red and eyes water. She jotted down the recipe and mentioned that Bicol express would be the star dish at her next Sunday family meal.
The dish is made with pork, coconut cream, coconut milk, chiles and salted shrimp, or balaw, that are used in the form of a paste. For making this paste, tiny shrimp are marinated with salt for close to a month. This culinary tip shared by the chef is perhaps what gave the dish it’s interesting flavor. The first hit of spice is followed by a salty taste. There are other versions of Bicol Express that are prepared with beef and seafood like squid.
For the creamy and spicy tasting kinunot, stingray is finely shredded and delicately cooked with chiles, coconut cream and ginger. Though traditionally stingray is preferred, it can be substituted with shark. This dish was heavy on the belly and reminded us of Sri Lanka, where coconut cream and stingray are also used in cooking. At a cookery interaction in Sri Lanka, the rather smelly fish was cleaned by removing the scales and rubbing salt on it.
“To enhance the taste and nutritive value of the dish, malunggay leaves are added. Kunot refers to flake in Bikol which is the language spoken in Bicol,” says Ryan Afable, who prepares kinunot at The Oriental Legazpi.
Halo-halo refers to something that’s a mixture or mixed. Over the years, it evolved, as more and more ingredients were added.
My sweet tooth was happy when it was time to relish a Filipino dessert, the rather interesting looking layered dessert called halo-halo or haluhalo. I eagerly walked to the counter where the ingredients for this dessert were kept. In bowls, there was fresh milk, grated cheese, sago, sugar, corn kernels, jack fruit, banana, shaved ice, jelly cubes, ice cream and ube jam that is produced from purple yams.
Halo-halo refers to something that’s a mixture or mixed, and it’s a colorful cold dessert that originally began with red beans. Over the years, it evolved, as more and more ingredients were added. Perhaps influenced by the Japanese people who lived in Manila, the dessert has a set order in which the ingredients are layered.
Grated cheese, ube jam and sago are placed on top. The bottom layer has fruits and jelly cubes, while the middle part of halo-halo has corn kernels, shaved ice, sugar and fresh milk. In order to eat it, I had to take the spoon and mix the ingredients together for the burst of flavors in this dessert.
I continued to be in dessert heaven with the delightful flavors, colors and textures of sapin-sapin—a multicolored rice cake made with coconut milk—as well asaja blanca and cassava cake.
“The word sapin refers to layers and this layered sweet dish is topped with shaved desiccated coconut,” says Affable. “Each layer can have its own distinct taste. The purple color of one layer comes from purple yams and depending on one’s preference, jackfruit known as langka can also be used for preparing it.”
Maja blanca is similar to panna cotta.
“The dessert traces its origins to Spain,” says Mascarinas. “While the Spanish word for pound is Maja, white means Blanca. This sweet dish is made with corn kernels or Maja Mais and is a must have on our menu for holidays and festivals.”
It is common to see cassava growing in Philippines. The crop in Bicol is used to make a cassava cake using cassava, eggs, coconut milk and sugar. This traditional Filipino cake that is baked in tin molds was my last dessert for the day.
Between sightseeing, Mascarinas took me to buy a native nut called pili, which grows abundantly in the volcanic rich soil of the region. Two famous volcanoes of Bicol are the perfectly coned Mount Mayon and Mount Bulusan whose craters complement its hot springs. The raw green pili fruit turns purplish black on ripening.
The kernel inside is brown and bigger than an almond. Two machines used in manufacturing pili are a nutcracker and dehydrating machine. While the nut cracker breaks the outer shell, the dehydrating machine adds crunch to the nut before it is processed.
“Since the flesh of pili is bland in taste, we season it with soya sauce,” says Corazon Noveno, who learned from her in-laws how to make pili candies and sells them under the brand Noveno. Sometimes, we also add fish sauce. Another use of the flesh is to thicken our curries. Kids’ love the pulp when sugar is added to it.”
For making candies, the nuts are deep fried, then caramelized. Some people also coat the candy with sesame seeds for a nutty punch after caramelization while others prefer to stick to their spicy legacy with the addition of chili powder.
As I munched on a packet of pili, my taste buds transported me to the gastronomic journey that started with spicy ice cream and continued with spicy and creamy main course dishes. The riot of colourful desserts made by locals who welcomed me inside their homes reminded me of the Indian philosophy of Atithi Devo Bhava which translates to guest is God.
