Comments on: Ginataang Talong with Tinapang Galunggong & Bicol Express…

By: carlos a cortes jr

carlos a cortes jr — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 23:02:03 +0000

hello i was just browsing and chance upon your item on bicol express. i am from naga city and living in chicago. i cook bicol express here for my filipino friends using ingredients which are readily available. the alamang in bottle can be used as substitute for the fresh balao(salted small shrimps). just let fresh water run over it for a few seconds. the thai coco milk in can is okay to use. for siling labuyo you can the mexican small pepper and just sliced it. for your meat requirement, the adobo cut is available in the filipino store.just slice it too into small pieces. the procedure for cooking is the same all anywhere in bicol. in naga there is bikol express always in naga garden restaurant located near the plaza rizal. for the more adventurous every night sidewalk vendors also sell bicol expressm near the plaza

By: s.anne

s.anne — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 09:27:39 +0000

MM, it’s been a while that i wasn’t able to check your post. Am now @Abu Dhabi for almost 2 months and still adjusting(with the weather, food and the smell ;). Am glad i have internet connection here @ work or else my day is incomplete without reading your post. I always enjoy every post here, even if am not familiar with some food terms and not tried cooking them.

By: Kate

Kate — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 18:22:25 +0000

When I stilled live in RP, in a city next to the sea, I bought my own fresh alamang, layered it in sea salt and kept the garapon in the fridge. That was my balao. Now I’m reduced to choosing the lesser of the pink-tinted evils on the Asian market shelves. Sigh…won’t anyone go into business there and produce an unadorned, natural balao or bagoong? Pleeeeease…

By: Marketman

Marketman — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 13:46:02 +0000

I am convinced that the color proclivity is recent…it makes up for the utter lack of quality in most cases. Think the more economical breads at the corner bakery…instead of jam, they put red food coloring with some sugar or instead of ube, purple food coloring. As the average buying power of the consumer declines, all manner of visual enhancement is sought…

By: Apicio

Apicio — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 13:26:11 +0000

Is it a Filipino thing, to tint food insanely with extranatural colours that render them totally revolting. Bagoong alamang that looks like jaleang ubi, gruesome tocino and lurid longaniza not to mention agar-agar, kaong and pearl tapioca with the most garish colours since the infancy of anniline dye synthesis.

By: Marketman

Marketman — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 13:05:12 +0000

stef, sorry, I buy it in the market unbranded. In Bicol, they come in huge vats and you buy it buy the plastic bag full… Perhaps some Indonesian or Thai products might approximate it where you are?

By: stef

stef — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 12:58:20 +0000

marketman, what’s the brand of your uncolored bagoong? i’ve been in search here forever for a filipino brand, but everything that’s available is the familiar pink — ick! so i’ve often resorted to other countries’ products just to avoid that artificial coloring. i’d love to patronize pinoy, but health comes first — would love to have the name of the company that makes it, maybe i could write them and beg them to consider exporting. your readers who share the same concerns may wish to do the same.

By: lee

lee — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 00:32:29 +0000

have not heard of bacolod express yet. will try to ask around.

By: Apicio

Apicio — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 11:10:12 +0000

The ever so tentative suggestion of entrusting the promotion of regional cuisines to beaureaucrats just makes my skin crawl. It brings back all too vividly the memory of scientists in the then National Science Development Board chopping up ramie fibre â€œto cottonize it,â€ a reverse alchemy not at all different from copperizing gold.

By: Marketman

Marketman — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 09:48:20 +0000

Doddie, I actually have a fondness and some experience with the most common Korean dishes… one of my college roommates was Korean and I have spent several months up in Seoul for work before… but I haven’t cooked much korean food thus far!