Ilocos is known for its vintage setting. Do you know that it is also known for its food? “Kuripot” may be their term for Ilocanos, but in reality, they are all just practical. They learn to use their resources and not put anything to waste. Take a pig for example, once they slaughter it, no part of it will be put to waste. Do you also know that the Ilocanos are attached to their vegetables?
Here are 10 delicious dishes that are known to be made special by Ilocanos:
1. Bagnet
Bagnet came from the word ‘bagnetin;, which means “preserve the pork”. This Ilocano dish is a pork-belly that is boiled and deep fried to the perfection of being crispy. It is a cross between a crispy pata and a lechon kawali. Due to the popularity of the dish, the mayor organized a festival for it which is celebrated a week before Christmas.
2. Empanada
Ilocos’ empanada is the perfect merienda for you. It is stuffed with longganisa, vegetables and egg. It is deep friend until crispy and you can dip it into Ilokano’s vinegar for a better taste. Although these are the usual ingredients and procedures, the empanada still has two kinds namely; Batac Empanada and Vigan Empanada. The Batac Empanada is orange as it is made with achuete while the Vigan Empanada is thinner and crunchier. In terms of longganisa, Batac’s longganisa is saltier than Vigan’s. These Ilocos Empanadas are now exported to other countries, most especially in Hawaii, as there are a lot of Ilocanos there.
3. Pinakbet
Pinakbet came from the word ‘pinakebet’ which means “to shrink”. It is a dish that contains a lot of chopped vegetables. Usually, Ilocanos put ampalaya, sitaw, talong, okra and kalabasa on their pinakbet while it’s being cooked with fish bagoong sauce. The secret to a good Pinakbet is a delicious bagoong sauce as it is being cooked in it.
4. Dinengdeng
Dinengdeng is also known as inabraw. It is almost the same as pinakbet except that it has less vegetable and more bagoong monamon that makes it a soup based dish. It is also cooked with fermented fish. Its vegetables can be anything as long as it is freshly picked.
5. Longganisa
The longganisa in Ilocos is unlike the native longganisa which tastes sweet. It tastes spicy, salty and tangy, making it taste a whole lot better when dipped into white vinegar. Like Bagnet, Longganisa also has its own festival. The Vigan Longganisa festival is celebrated every January and is used as a fundraiser for improving the packaging of the exported Longganisas.
6. Dinardaraan
Dinardaraan is what we call dinuguan in Tagalog. This is pig’s meat and liver stewed in its own blood. It is usually served with white rice or with puto. Unlike the usual dinuguan around the Philippines, the Ilocos’ version is dry and crispy, making it another unique specialty of theirs.
7. Dinakdakan
This is an old dish that goes a long way back of our ancestors. This dish consists of grilled pig’s head parts and its offal while being mixed with the steamed pig’s brain. It is considered as a finger food in Ilocos which is usually served on their drinking sessions.
8. Igado
Igado is an Ilocano dish that is believed to come from the Spaniards’ Higado which means liver. Ilocos’ Igado has strips of meat, liver and internal organs in it. The dish is like menudo, but instead of using tomato sauce, it is cooked with soy sauce, vinegar and fish sauce.
9. Poqui-poqui
Poqui-poqui is a scrambled egg except that it has a lot of twists. The dish has vegetables namely roasted eggplants and tomatoes. The vegetables are sautéed before adding the beaten egg.
10. Sinanglao
Sinanglao is a soup-based dish. It consists of beef lungs, intestines and boiled blood. It is flavored with kamias and bile. This dish is often served as a pulutan in a drinking session or a viand.
These are just 10 of the delicious foods in Ilocos! What's stopping you from going there? Philbooking is here to help you achieve your dream foodtrip!
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