By Izah Morales
INQUIRER.net

GONE are the days when you would hear a vendor shouting “Balut, Penoy!” in the streets in Manila early in the morning or late in the afternoon. In Pateros, which is known as the Balut capital of the Philippines, the scene just described remains.

“It’s a legacy of Pateros. And that’s what we’re trying to preserve,” said Menandro Concio, president of Concio’s Food Corporation.

Having been in the balut-making industry for 30 years, Concio wanted to save the striving industry of balut. In 2004, he introduced balut to the market in another form, which is the bottled balut or gourmet balut.

Balut is a duck’s egg with a nearly-developed embryo inside that is boiled and eaten in the shell. It is delicacy in the Philippines.

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INQUIRER.NET multimedia reporter Izah Morales visits the town of Nagcarlan to see how espasol, one of Laguna’s famous delicacies, is made. She interviews Ester Almanzor, daughter of Belen Castelo, who established Aling Belen’s Special Espasol.

Video taken by INQUIRER.net online videographer Janie Christine Octia in Laguna, Philippines.

MANG Larry, who sells the famous isaw at the University of the Philippines Diliman campus, talks about what makes his isaw different and why Filipinos love to eat street food.

Interview conducted by INQUIRER.net multimedia reporter Izah Morales. Video taken by INQUIRER.net online videographer Janie Christine Octia.

INQUIRER.NET multimedia reporter Erika Tapalla is in the US now, and while driving around she saw a very familiar restaurant and decided to pay a visit.

Goldilocks public relations manager Marisse G. Abelgas gave Erika a tour, while head waiter James Casem talked about the Pinoy favorites halfway across the world.

KARE-KARE is one of my favorite dishes. Nope, I don’t know how to cook (OK, I can fry stuff but that’s it), but here’s a video from YouTube user randyg1977 that shows you how kare-kare is made.

How about you, what’s your favorite Filipino food?

By Micky Fenix
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines–So what’s Filipino food like?

The question was begging to be answered in Iowa. Not with words but by cooking.

Thank goodness we had with us Myrna Segismundo (shown in photo with Virgith Buena and Ramona Singian), a chef who could decide on the menu and, of course, take the helm in the kitchen.

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By TJ Burgonio
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines–In business, it pays to go green, to embrace one’s roots, and to engage small communities.

Ask the owner of Binalot, a fast-food chain famous for its low-budget Pinoy meals wrapped in banana leaves harvested in a poor farmers’ community in Laguna, a neighboring province of Metro Manila.

As it continues to make good business through its 35 outlets, mostly inside malls in Metro Manila, the young company is starting to gain international recognition.

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By Gabriel Cardinoza
Inquirer

DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines–It’s now a lot easier to spot the bangus (milkfish) grown in Pangasinan.

They are now labeled either “Dagupan bangus” or “Pangasinan bangus.” Those without these labels are considered “alien bangus,” or grown somewhere else, according to city agriculturist Emma Molina.

“We have to act fast because we cannot ignore and set aside the perception of our consumers,” Molina said.

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By Carla Gomez
Inquirer

BACOLOD CITY–Negros’ muscovado sugar, which is gaining popularity in the growing health-conscious global market, is synonymous with those mouth-watering pastries only its people can make best.

The dark brown, slightly coarse, unrefined sugar, which still contains the minerals and vitamins originally found in sugarcane, has a pleasant bitter-sour taste from molasses not found in regular sugar, says pastry reinventor Millie Kilayko.

It is also this sugar that makes Negrense pastries delightfully different, bringing back memories of the old days of leisure and long lunches.

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