Philippine Foodventure pt. 4 - Pagsanjan/Liliw

One of the days we took an afternoon drive to Pagsanjan, Laguna, north-east of Nagcarlan, after we dropped off two of my cousins at the bus depot. They were headed back into Manila because they had work the next day. There was this little shop called Aling Taleng's Halo-Halo.

This halo-halo consisted of ube jam, buko (young coconut), beans. Topped with shaved ice sugar and evaporated milk with a coconut nub.

The best way to enjoy this is to mix it all up so you can as much of everything as possible. Very delicious and refreshing on a hot-humid day. Halo-halo (meaning mix-mix) is bascially a traditional Filipino dessert  as long as it has shaved ice, evaporated milk, sugar as the base ingredients you can pretty much add whatever you want into it. It's like a "kitchen sink" dessert.

 We had them with some barquillos (wafer rolls)
I crushed several of them into the glass to give it s nice crunchy texture. Oh, you have one of these, you can't stop eating them.

Side note...it was interesting to see two Americans all the way out in the province. I think they may be backpackers. Found it a little funny as it's not often that foreigners head south into the provinces. At least from what I've seen and remember.

Can you see the two Americans on the left?

My cousin's arm, my mom (on the left), my aunt Olet (her sister), aunt Agie (my mom's cousin) enjoying their halo-halo

I found this interesting as we took a joy ride around Manila de Bay.
A bunch of kids hitching a ride on the truck full of buko (young coconuts)

View of Manila de Bay

We had also taken a trip to Liliw, Laguna. -- Next town to the east of Nagcarlan  If you ever need cheap sandals or slippers, you'd go here because this is what they are famous for. They even have a fiesta celebrating the sandal. It's not just one store, it a two full big blocks worth of stores. 

We went tsenelas shopping!!! (Meaning slippers pronounced like the Spanish word chinela) 

There were also you little stands and food carts littering the crowded streets. It was the middle of the afternoon so that mean it was merienda time. Just like how the British have tea time. Filipinos have afternoon snack. It can be anything from bbq on a stick to cookies as long as it's edible you have it.

 Little snack pasalubongs (meaning take away snacks)

Yes, my mom and I brought many pasalubongs back to the states. Have I mentioned that we've been snack on them since we came back? But we also gave several away to friends and family, who are homesick for the motherland.

Lady selling fresh suha (pomelo fruit) from Davao.

While my mom and aunt were inside one of the shops my mom spotted this lady selling some pomelo fruit. She only had a couple and they look just about ripe, so my mom decided to huy a couple. They lady peeled and removed the white bitter parts for us right on the steps of the store. 

We bought two whole ones. It was juicey and delicious just like a grapefruit.

Further down the road, my mom and aunt shopping for the perfect slipper, my cousin and I treated ourselves to a couple of snack.

Kikiam and chicken balls

 Freshly fried

It's a Chinese (que-kiam) delicacy that that has since been adopted into the Filipino cuisine. If you haven't notice by now, Philippine food is largely influence by Spanish and Chinese cuisine. Kikiam is ground pork and vegetables wrapped in bean curd sheets and deep-fried until golden brown and serve with a sweet or spicy sauce. I had mine with a sweet sauce. It's interesting to see up close. I wonder if been curd sheets can be found here in the US. Hmmm...I must investigate that.

I have my cousin to thank for this photo. :)

Then there's the all toooooo delicious dirty ice cream (again). As it is also called "sorbetes." Remember that big canister I showed during the San Rafael fiesta post?

Ice cream vendors have that attached to their carts and stand on street corners, ringing their little bell calling out, waiting for people to come for a treat. The usual flavors are cheese and ube. As much as I love ube, for this I prefer the cheese. I think some vendors have additional flavors now. It's known as "dirty ice cream" as it is exposed to the elements on how it is made and served compared to big factory creameries, these are locally made. But it's really tasty and cheap with little chunks of cheese. It's a nice savory flavor. You can definitely taste a cheddar-y flavor to it. Mmmmm... It's served in small cups, waffle cones, wafer cones and even in hamburger-sized buns. Yes, you read that last part correct. I don't know any other country that serves its ice cream in buns.

Mmmmm... I wish I had some right now. Summer's here and I want me some ice cream!!!

Come back tomorrow for part 5.