Traveling The Philippines & KCC Challenge: Diniguan & Pinakbet Pizza

I'm sitting here in my Lola's living room... the breeze of a swaying fan keeping me cool-ish on this hot and humid evening. I missed this, and uncomfortably endure the 94°F with a smile. I've been in the Philippines for about two weeks now, and finally have a moment to sit down and write a little something. I've seen, experienced, and EATEN so much already! My journal is exploding with random impressions, scribbled recipes, and spur-of-the-moment sentences. I can't imagine how much I will end up writing about this trip.

I'm starting off with the 4-day road trip I just took with my family. Thirteen-deep in one van. 12 hours of driving. Lots of pee breaks. Not to mention the 6 who followed in a second van, and lastly our cousin who took the overnight bus to meet up with everyone for only one day. Whew.

We drove from Manila to the Ilocos Norte region of the Philippines. It's where my "true roots" stem from, with Sarrat as my family's hometown. We passed by all of my Lola's properties in Sarrat, and even visited the now demolished lot (right across the street from the Marcos Museum) where my great grandfather's house once stood.

We had lunch above the river where my mom, aunt, and uncles used to play in and bathe when they were younger.

Munching on Filipino empanadas and tupig - an Ilocano rice cake made by cooking a mixture of glutinous rice, buko (young coconut), coconut milk, and sugar inside a banana leaf - we beat the blazing heat by relaxing in the coolness of the flowing river.

One of the stops along our 12-hour road trip up to Ilocos Norte was in Paoay. I'm skipping to this point in my Philippine travels because it ties in perfectly with this month's Kulinarya Cooking Club theme. One of the main attractions of Paoay is Paoay Church, an over 300 year old, virtually impenetrable mass of brick and coral. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this church boasts nearly 2-meter thick stone walls and 24 massive buttresses that classify its architectural style as "Earthquake Baroque". Seriously, this thing is solid. 

This month's KCC Challenge is brought to us by Lala at This Little Piggy, and April's theme is: DECADENCE. A few words immediately come to mind: over-indulgent, luxurious, gluttonous. Filipino food has been widely categorized by Western cultures as a cuisine rich in meat and rice. While there certainly hasn’t been a lack of meat and rice during my past two weeks here, there has been a wide abundance of vegetables and fruits. 

To give a glimpse into both sides of the Filipino health spectrum, I give you something good and something bad, but dually decadent. Across the street from Paoay church was Herencia Café, where our herd of 20 hungry road-trippers stopped to have some dinner. The house specialty: Pinakbet Pizza.

Since my last KCC post just-so-happened to be pinakbet – this was a perfect dish to up the ante and take it to the next level. Between 7 cousins we ordered two pinakbet pizzas.

The pizza was better than we all imagined. Green beans, eggplant, okra, and tomatoes all cooked until shriveled and then piled atop a thin crispy crust and smothered with cheese.

To balance out all the “healthiness” we also ordered another over-the-top specialty, Diniguan Pizza. Diniguan is traditional Filipino dish made by stewing pig parts in it’s own blood. It may sound a little, um, how should I put it… - different - to many, and trust me, even my aunt (who is American) loved it… until we told her exactly what it was. Oops. Hehe.

The diniguan pizza was just damn naughty. A thick layer of pig’s blood was slathered over the crispy crust, topped with the stewed pork bits, melted cheese, and a healthy (haha) sprinkling of chicharonnes (crispy pork skin). I got weak in the knees before I even took a bite. I think we all went a little nuts. Everyone at the table with a camera started snapping away as if we were the paparazzi. 

Final verdict? We all agreed; the pinakbet pizza was much tastier than the diniguan pizza, but both rightfully earned their spot in the decadence category.

Kulinarya Cooking Club Members:

Kath – http://www.acupcakeortwo.com/
Trisha – http://sugarlace.com/
Trissa – http://trissalicious.com/
Olive – http://www.latestrecipes.net/
Caroline – http://whenadobometfeijoada.blogspot.com/
Ninette – http://bigboldbeautifulfood.blogspot.com/
Peach- http://www.thepeachkitchen.com/
Althea- http://www.busogsarap.com/
Asha – http://forkspoonnknife.blogspot.com/
Malou – http://www.skiptomalou.net/
Cherrie – http://www.sweetcherriepie.com
Acdee – http://acdee.blogspot.com/
Valerie – http://www.acanadianfoodie.com/
Sheryl – http://crispywaffle.com/
Divina – http://www.sense-serendipity.com/
Anna – http://www.anniesfoodjournal.blogspot.com/
Dahlia – http://www.energychef.blogspot.com/
Joy – http://joyjoycreativeoutlet.blogspot.com/
Maribel – http://www.foodgeek.webs.com/
Tressa
Jen – http://www.jen-at-work.blogspot.com/
Pia – http://bisayajudkaayo.blogspot.com/
Malaka – http://thegrandinternational.com.
Mimi – http://lapinchecocinera.blogspot.com
Erika – http://ivoryhut.com/
Kat – http://twitter.com/alanokat
Lala – http://thislittlepiggywenttothemarket.blogspot.com/
Selfie – http://eats.sefiebee.com/
Connie Veneracion - http://homecookingrocks.com/
Oggi - http://oggi-icandothat.blogspot.com/
Katrina - http://lardonmyfrench.blogspot.com/
Rochelle Ryan - http://www.whydiss.blogspot.com/
Marica – http://cuppycreme.blogspot.com
Diona – http://titaflips.blogspot.com/
Rowena - http://saraplicious.blogspot.com
Theodore – http://chefbyday.wordpress.com/
Gianna – http://the-empty-fridge.blogspot.com/
Mireille – http://dirtyicecreaminyourlunchbox.blogspot.com/
Marishka – http://rishka.multiply.com/
Annapet – http://moonglowgardens.wordpress.com/
Boyet – http://reelandgrill.blogspot.com/
Adora – http://adorasbox.net
Yaz – http://whoatemytomato.wordpress.com
Marvin – http://www.eatmarvin.com