THERE is another version of the traditional blood stew dish dinuguan in Isabela besides Barangay Captain Rodolfo dela Cruz’s Siniwsiwan, and it’s called Serkele. Popular in the Northeastern province of Isabela, Serkele is enjoyed by the common people, as it is readily available in roadside eateries. For a taste of good Serkele, they often go to restaurants and eateries that specialize in it, such as Aling Luring’s Gotohan and Serkele in Cauayan City. So that’s where our media group – me and my husband Raff, Angelo Comsti, Ige Ramos, Nana Caragay, Tata Mapa, Paul Jeffric del Rosario and Pam Santos – went for breakfast on Day 3 of our four-day Isabela food tour last May (2014).
Aside from Serkele, which is best paired with Puto, other simple but satisfyingdishes that we tried at Aling Luring’s for breakfast included Goto, Pancit Palabok (the crushed chicharon or crispy pork rind sprinkled on top of the noodle dish can be replaced with crispy tofu bits if you don’t want the chicharon), Okoy and Fried Lumpia.
Aling Luring’s place is simple, with walls, windows and stools made of wood, and the dining setup is typical of a turo-turo restaurant. It’s clean and orderly, and the food is affordable and good. Nothing fancy, no pretenses.
GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH FROGS
From Aling Luring’s Gotohan and Serkele, the service van took us to Cauayan Public Market upon the group’s request, as we wanted to check out the produce and see if there were things we could find that were unique to Isabela. We dropped in on Aling Belen Recometa Holgado, who’s popular for her delicious longganisa, in her stall in the wet market as we went around, and she was so happy to see us. As with other wet markets that we have visited in different parts of the country, the Cauayan Public Market showcased the bountiful produce of the country. Frogs were perhaps the only unique merchandise we saw in the Cauayan Public Market. These edible frogs were dead, of course, and skinned to make them ready to cook, and were sold alongside tilapia fish.
From the market, we went straight to house of Isabela Governor Bojie Dy in Cauayan City. We watched the Governor’s staff cook Adobong Palaka in the kitchen and we got to try it afterwards. It’s the most exotic dish that we tried during our Isabela food tour, but, for me, it wasn’t so exotic at all. I had eaten frog as a child on summer vacation in my mom’s hometown of Tayug, Pangasinan, so I had no qualms about eating frog. Raff, though, wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole, and it was amusing to watch the reaction of Nana as she bravely picked up a frog and took a bite.
THE HOME OF MORIECOS
Next stop before lunch was at Francing’s Moriecos in Cabatuan. As with other kakanins or native delicacies in Isabela and other provinces, Isabela’s Moriecos was a family backyard industry. Moriecos is a type of suman made with galapong (ground glutinous rice mixed with water) with a latik type sweet filling. The filling, made with coconut milk and brown sugar, is pre-cooked until paste-like and then allowed to cool down before it is wrapped in glutinous rice balls into fat cylinders and then steamed.
Credited for having invented the Moriecos was Aling Francing Antonio Recto, whose Moriecos-making backyard we visited. She has been making Moriecos for 25 years now, assisted by her husband Felix Recto, who used to work in Saudi Arabia. They make Moriecos by order and sell them for Php20 per piece, and because it has become a favorite pasalubong item from Isabela, she already has boxes made to pack exact numbers of Moriecos for air or land travel.
Moriecos is good because when you bite into it, you get a well-rounded taste of the suman and the sweet filling inside.
A MONGGO FEAST
From Cabatuan, we proceeded to San Mateo to make a courtesy call on Mayor Crispina Agcaoili and Vice Mayor Roberto Agcaoili at the Municipal Hall of San Mateo. The couple highlighted the importance of monggo (mung beans) in the economy of San Mateo. Considered “the black gold” of San Mateo, monggo is one of the major produce of the agricultural municipality aside from rice and corn. San Mateo is not just the Monggo Capital of the Philippines but also the No. 1 producer of rice in Cagayan Valley, accounting for a significant production of black rice and brown rice. Mayor Agcaoili also proudly announced that San Mateo now produces a lot of monggo products, including monggo flour, monggo grits, monggo noodles, monggo coffee and delicacies like monggo polvoron and monggo chips.
After a filling lunch of Ginisang Munggo, pancit and Monggo Buchi, the group visited a monggo field by the roadside. Monggo sprouts in long beans on monggo plants, the people there explained, and when the beans turn brown, these beans are harvested. What the monggo farmers of San Mateo do is gather these long beans together by the roadside, release the monggo seeds within by hitting them with a wooden stick. The seeds are then gathered into bilaos to remove parts of the bean skin and other impurities that have been mixed into the monggo seeds.
MAGAT DAM
A quick tour of Magat Dam in Ramon, Isabela, followed. Built in 1982, the huge dam that supplies water for power and irrigation is bordered by Ramon, Isabela on one side, by Nueva Vizcaya on another side, and, finally, by the Municipality of Alfonso Lista in the Province of Ifugao, which belongs to the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).
ALL ABOUT RICE
Then we continued on our journey and made a stop at the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) office in Barangay Malasin, San Mateo, Isabela. Here, we got acquainted with the different rice varieties grown in the region, including Balatinao (black rice) from Kalinga, Imelda (white glutinous rice) from Nueva Vizcaya, Gallano (red rice) from Ifugao, Pinilisa (black rice) from Jones, Isabela, and other varieties such as Tapuy and Mestizo.
The PhilRice staff was obviously ready for us, since they laid out a merienda spread of Pancit Monggo, and Imelda and Balatinao Biko before us. We gladly obliged.
SIMPLE BUT GOURMET DINNER
Our last eating engagement for the day was dinner at Corlyn Farms sponsored by the Rural Bank of San Mateo (Isabela) Inc., PhilRice (San Mateo, Isabela Branch) and Amancio Dairy & Produce Farm. Dinner was prepared by Isabela-born international chef Cocoy Ventura, and it began with an appetizing dip of homemade bagoong served with Isabela mangoes and cucumber slices on the buffet table.
Dinner turned into a sit-down affair when the courses started coming, starting with Sinampalukang Tahong at Tulya (Green Mussels and River Petite Clams in Tamarind Blossom Broth); Tochong Labahita (surgeonfish with fermented black beans, sweet green chilis and squash); Smoked Tilapia (deep-fried, locally smoked, natural tilapia with tomato and green mango salad) and Calderetang Pato (Amancio free-range Peking duck braised in tomato sauce, liver sauce, pineapple, bell pepper, carrots and olives). A PhilRice Sampler rice platter composed of Mestizo 1, Mestizo 1 Brown, Gallano Red and Pinilisa steamed rice gave us a choice of what type of rice we wanted to enjoy the sumptuous dishes with.
Dessert came in the form of Imelda and Balatinao Puto Maya served with Corlyn Farms mangoes and mango membrillo as well as Flan de Leche ala Luisa, with Amancio coffee and tea rounding out the dinner. Chef Cocoy’s Tamarindo was such a refreshing way to wash down all the food.
After the memorable dinner in Chef Cocoy’s house, surrounded by sprawling green fields and highlighted by a breath-taking golden sunset, the group headed back for the Governor’s Mansion in Cauayan City. Some members of the media group who were heading back to Manila by land simply freshened up at the Governor’s Mansion and got on the way for the 8-hour ride back to Manila. They were leaving that evening to make it back to Manila by morning the following day; while the rest of us, who were going by plane via Tuguegarao Airport in Cagayan, hit the bed early.
The schedule the next day was light. Just a stopover at Josie’s Carinderia and Restaurant in Cabagan, Isabela, for brunch on the ride to Tuguegarao, Cagayan, for our flight back to Manila.
By van or by plane, we all brought home a good amount of Isabela longganisa, Moriecos, Inatata, Binallay, mung beans, pancit monggo, Chef Cocoy Ventura’s mango membrillo and PhilRice brown rice, plus loads of memories of our Isabela food tour that would last a long, long time.
– the end –
