Manga-on Ta! (Let's Eat)

  Mangaon Ta, CDO! GrabFood invites Kagay-anons to celebrate their food at the Grab Caravan BIGA10 Festival! The Grab BIGA10 celebration is now taking over the Golden City of Friendship, Cagayan de Oro by bringing together Kagay-anons to celebrate friendship, food, and a lot more on July 16 at SM Downtown Premier.  Cagayan de Oro, Philippines, July 2022  — Grab, Southeast Asia's leading superapp, continues the celebration of its 10th anniversary by bringing the  Grab Caravan BIGA10 Festival  to the Golden City of Friendship,  Cagayan de Oro on July 16, 2022 ! After successfully taking over Rizal, Cavite, and Iloilo, the celebration will now be heading towards CDO to bring together Kagay-anons and celebrate their love for food by bringing all their local food favorites all in one place! The festivities for the Grab Caravan BIGA10 Festival will be happening in  SM CDO Downtown Premier Roofdeck on July 16 from 10 AM to 8 PM ! Joining the fun are some of C...

Kikilo (Spotted Scat or Scatophagus argus ) is a freshwater fish that can also be found here in Cagayan de Oro city only after floods - yep you read right, after floods. They are flashed down to sea water from fresh water that's why they get caught during those times - as what my mom said and our laundry woman who's husband is a fisherman. But my mom told me they have cultured this fish in the city for continous supply like the Tilapia's . We know an old resident chinese in the city, who owns one of the oldest stores here too, who has their own farm for this fish. Mom usually cooks this Tausi style - with black beans or in soy sauce with lotsa ginger. It has white meat with very soft texture and delicious taste. Below are photos of it cooked in soy sauce. We didn't have any black beans on hand when this was sold to us by our fisherman neighbor, thus the soy sauce recipe. This only costed 50pesos (half kilo).

Tabas or Bilong-bilong or Chabita or Kadis - with English name Moonfish of the family Menidae is one of the available fishes here in Cagayan de Oro City and one of our favorites. It is colored silver and is usually cooked paksiw style in vinegar, ginger, and onions - but we love it deep fried cause you can eat every part of it. hehe. Here's some picture of it when cooked deep fried. And some pics of Mom's little assistant, Zaza , almost finishing them off, eating it together with Champorado / Tsamporado which is Sweet Chocolate Rice Porridge in English. Champorado is soft-boiled rice with cocoa powder or tablea (blocks of cocoa powder made from cacao beans) - Mom uses the latter cause she says it tastes much better. Tablea can also be used to make hot chocolate. Mom prefers the brand Maestrado Tablea from Mambajao, Camiguin - which is also available here in Cagayan de Oro City - because of it's "orig" taste. At the back of their packing is also steps ...

Kinason is what we call this kind of clam in the picture below. It is usually cooked as a soup with Malunggay and spices. But here, Mom mixed it with Okra , Kamote Tops/Leaves , Sili Leaves/Saluyot (Jute Leaves) , Kamatis (Tomatoes) , Luy-a (Ginger) , Sibuyas Dahon (Scallion/Spring Onions) , Tanglad (Lemon Grass) and some salt to taste. When this soup is cooked, it'll be a bit thick/slimy looking because of the okra and saluyot leaves cooked together. Galunggong or Mackerel Scad (Decapterus macarellus) can grow up to a foot in length and has a dark somewhat oily but tasty flesh. This fish is an extremely common fish in Philippine waters and markets. It is usually cooked fried or grilled. Below is a picture of how it looks like when it's fried. This is what we had today :) The clams only worth 20 pesos, the galunggong 50 pesos, all the vegetables 30 pesos. So for a total of 100 pesos, this could feed about 5 people for 2-3meals depending on their consumption :) We'v...

Is what we're having today. :) Chow Fan (Chaa Peung) - Fried Rice in Chinese is cooked in different ways, this is one of them. Usually its much better/tastes better if left over rice is used with it. I don't know why, it just is. My Mom - Susan Lim - also known as MamSue or Mamsuy by her friends, cooks really good food but only cooks these kinda good food whenever she wants - whenever she feels like it. If I had her talent and if I could just clone myself, one would be cooking in my own restaurant, one would be doing my current job, and the other taking care of Zaza. So anyway, back to the Chow Fan. Mom made use of leftover rice from last night, scrambled eggs, spring onion, bell pepper, and some seasonings to add color and taste . I was up late lastnight working so I woke up a bit late, Zaza was already up and helped mom cook this. He woke me up and said it was time for us to eat breakfast, so I stood up and ate with him. Here's a photo of Mom's little helper, Zaza, r...

Is what we had for lunch today and what we'll have for dinner tonight. Binas-oy or Bas-oy is a vegetable soup usually mixed with Malunggay (Horseradish Tree) , Alugbati (Malabar Nightshade) , Okra , Kalabasa (Squash) , Kamote Tops/Leaves , String Beans, Tanglad (Lemon Grass) , Kamatis (Tomatoes) , and Luy-a (Ginger) . Some mix it with more veggies and some with Fried/Grilled Fish but I like it this way and this is our recipe - actually my mom's , but I usually request that no fish be added so it'll only be just veggies. I usually have these cooked when I feel sick and it does work wonders. This is also highly recommended for lactating mothers and sickly children. Kutob is a common salt water fish that's always readily available in most wet markets here in Cagayan de Oro. Mom says there's no season for availability for this fish. I can't seem to find any picture of live Kutob nor information about it. I also forgot to take a photo before it was fried, i'll...

A long line of customers savor the sweet, mouth-watering smell of roasted chicken, cooked to tenderness by Sr. Pedro’s helpers, as they wait for their order along a busy road in Lapasan, Cagayan de Oro City. That chicken, the prodigious lechon manok (roasted chicken) that captured the Pinoy palate by storm, is most sought by average people who, as one of its loyal patrons says, just want to get a taste of Sr. Pedro’s blessing. Now with 250 outlets scattered around Metro Manila and key cities nationwide, Ang Lechon Manok ni Sr. Pedro has taken a giant stride to culinary fame and fortune. Peter Unabia, founder of Anakciano Inc. that owns Sr. Pedro, talks of their next project after 16 years of enjoying phenomenal success -- to return the blessings they have received. This, Peter, or Pedro to his friends, has been doing, along with his 10 other siblings, for the past four years. “We organized a foundation, called the Anaktering Foundation, in honor of my mother Tering who was very religi...