Rare Native Dishes for the Ilocano Balikbayan

"A prodigal son I atone for my past;
join, for the world's a stage of fun." 

Dr Abe V Rotor

Caliente, ox hide. Hide is cleaned, and softened under low fire for hours, sliced thinly, spiced heavily with onion and pepper, and salt.

Favorite goat recipes: kilawin (left) or medium rare; and pinapa-itan (soup made of entrails and chyme, which gives the bitter taste. Chyme is extracted from the partially digested grass, and heated to pasteurization temperature, around 70 degrees Celsius. Gall is often used as substitute.)

Let me go back to my origin
with old folks of my time;
only then can I claim myself a GI, 
and all the world's mine. 

I live in the past with pinapa-itan,
jumping salad and ipusan
caliente, pulutan and basi wine
my version of Bacchanalian.

With the vernacular Bannawag,
live the great  Angalo and Lam-ang,
heroes always are to the Ilocano,
with pinakbet and pinulpugan.

Ay, kakabsat, take a break just now,
I am your kail-lian, a balikbayan;
a prodigal son I atone for my past;
join, for the world's a stage of fun.  ~
 ---------------------

• GI - Genuine Ilocano
• Jumping salad - live shrimps served on the table with salt and calamansi
• Ipusan - long tail guppies caught on the river
• Caliente - oxhide (carabao hide) softened with prolong coiling, garnished with red pepper, Ilocos vinegar, chopped onions and ginger, and a dash of refined salt (asin ti Ilocos).
• Pulutan - appetizer that goes well with basi (Ilocano wine)
• Bannawag (Dawn) - weekly magazine in Ilocano language read locally and internationally.
• pinakbet - a potpourri of native vegetables notably eggplant, ampalaya, with sweet potato (camote) to thicken the soup. Cooked with bagoong (fish paste) and topped with bagnet (lechon kawali - roasted pork in kettle)  
• pinulpugan (imbaliktad) - medium rare fresh meat or large fish, such as dalag (snakehead)
• Bacchanalian - lavish feast in honor of Greek God Bacchus   
• Angalo, Lam-ang - Ilocano epic heroes 
• Kabsat - brother in a brotherhood perspective
• Balikbayan - an overseas resident or transient visiting his homeland
• Kail-lian - town mate