Dumaguete food

Hello Rhoody,
I refute your statement that our foods are traditionally deadly overcooked meat and vegetables. As a full bloodied Dumaguetenio, I am proud of our food. Negros Oriental foods are simillar but distinctively unique from other regions including Negros Occidental.
If your stomach will hold, try some of these:
1. Kilawin kanding (with apapa-it, optional)
2. Halang Halang manok ( with coconut milk with assorted local vegetables, kalamungay, young papaya, dahon sili, kayote)
3. Nilobihan alimangyo
4. Ba-ong aning bugas(newly harvested rice, red rice is the best, if you can find one)
5. Binak-haw( fish seviche, mam-sa or tulingan just to name a few)
6. Tugnos or Mala-langsi ( another fish saviche, usually very fresh in late afternoon or pan fried with egg, ala pan cake)

 

Jose,I hear you, understand what you say and don't even disagree, but it is not about what people here would be able to cook, it is actually what they DO cook and that is in Negros not different to the other regions in the PI, no matter what the ingredients are.... cooked to death.

And don't be concerned about my stomach, I visited about 20 countries in Asia and ate wild stuff (from Rat to cockroaches , worms and raw warm monkey-brain) where the food here in the PI including all you mentioned is a walk in the park compared it

 

My wife has been in the US for over 20 years and she still cooks chicken and pork until dry. When i complain she generally explains that its the way they cook it back home.
Let me make an assumption and excuse me if i'm incorrect, i'm guessing that resources like refrigerators might not be available to all families. Thus when dealing with fresh meat you tend to overcook, to kill any possible chance of nasty things like salmonella?

 

what is still no reason to boil each vitamin out of a vegetable and let them "melt" to a undefinable mass of something ...

 

LOL, you got me there.

That i agree seems to be a standard food approach with vegetables as well.
Probably why i don't eat those dishes. I'm ok with fish, chicken , pork, and even other things like dinuguan. But overcooked veggies is not my bag. I prefer firm crisp veggies.

 

Thank you Jose for that detailed list. Some of the dishes sound really tasty and we sure will try them. Last year my wife and I have been to China and we were impressed by the sights but also by the huge amounts of cookshops. The smell on the markets was gorgeous and we tried some of the cookshops and were delighted. That’s why I asked about food in this forum. We are looking forward to try the street food and to compare it to the Chinese food.

 

Hi,

In Dumaguete, you should try to Lab-as. I would recommend the Dumaguete express which is a mixture of local vegetables cooked in coconut milk. You could also try the banana blossom salad There is a variety of vegetable dishes in their menu. If they have a sea weed salad try it too.

They have a good selection of seafood dishes, go for their fish escabeche,their steamed fish or their shrimp dishes. For meat, try their adobo, caldereta, or the lechon kawali or broiled pork . They have authentic Filipino cooking.

For chinese filipino food , you may try Rosante. Street food is not good in the Philippines. Majority of Filipinos don't eat street food or in the market because of sanitation concerns. Eating out is not an everyday thing for us. We mostly eat at home.

Of course, home cooking is still the best , but if one is a tourist, that is not a possibility.

 

Thanks Felisa,
I need a refresher. Have not been back for 23 years, but been traveling to other countries, New Zealand, Dominican Republic, Australia, Hawaii, etc. Shame on me.
La Cavitenia, is also good. Somebody told me. I know they have the best puto cuchinta. I eat them when I was a kid. They use to be near Holy Child.
I can't wait to eat foods that I missed. Lagot, lato, lukot, Sinugba'ng Kitong, etc. Lambay, fresh Bangos, sugba, tula, kilaw.
Jose

 

Hi Jose,

You are welcome. Yes, La Cavitena still exists, it is now on Silliman Ave. it is now mostly Turo-turo. They still have their cuchinta and Bibingka Royal. If my memory serves me well it was better when the older Mr and Mrs Loague ran it as it was very personalized. They are a much bigger operation now, and they are mostly into catering big parties.

I am Tanjayanon myself ,four years ago we retired back in Tanjay.

As an add on to food info, there is a good cafeteria at the Bethel Hotel; Don Atilano on the Boulevard serves Spanish Filipino food. The quality seems to have gone down some, last we went, but I hope they have brought it back to par.

If one is in a low low budget, I guess, the Silliman Cafeteria should be adequate or the eateries around the area, like Opena's.

I am just trying to provide a local perspective in this forum. It seems the expat's world does not seem to merge with ours.

I realize that the local guys like to brag about eating at the market, my cousins do, but I suspect it is mainly to brag that you guys have strong stomachs. I don't think you do it often.

FYI , we are in New Jersey now. We Tanjayanons are going to have a 3 day bash in LA to celebrate our fiesta on July 25th weekend. As always, Tanjayanons know how to make merry! Lots of other Negrenses join us. Mamyesta ta!

Felisa
!