Bread + Butter

There were a couple days when we stayed at the house and had meals there. Dishes cooked by my aunt. She even cooked a dish with one of my favorite veggies. The eggplant.

Sinigang and Crispy Pata

Crispy Pata with fried Tilapia

I ate several whole tilapia of these during my trip. These were still literally wriggling 1/2 hour before being cooked. It's that fresh.

Deep Fried Lechon

Eggplant Bistek (My Fav of all the dishes!!)

The eggplant is marinated like its beef counterpart and sauteed.

Chicken Sopas

Think chicken noodle soup

Ampalaya

made with bittermelon, eggs, onions

Cream of mushroom soup

Sinigang na buto buto (Sour soup with pork bones)

We did a little grilling, too.

Grilled spare ribs

Grilled Blue Marlin

We even helped celebrate one of the Grandma's 92nd birthday.

Tagalog Menudo (Filipino version of menudo) Kilawin (you can compare it to ceviche) ANe lumpiang shanghai

Kilawin is simiar to a type of ceviche. Marinated in vinegar or calaminsi juice with onions, garlic, tomato, ginger, and peppers.

Pancit canton sotanghon (a mix of the fat noodles with thing rice noodles)
There was also fried chicken and fried tilapia.

Snacking on some homemade banana sweet banana chips

Inipit from Eurobake. Someone had dropped off a box of these. It's sponge cake with a dulce de leche filling. It's sweet, but not too sweet.

One of the special treats I was able to have was some fresh buko straight from the tree while visiting my uncle property in another part of the province.

It doesn't get any fresher than that.

It takes a little skill to crack one those open

I wish I had a straw, so that I don't look like I drooled on myself.

Meat inside.

The improvised spoon you eat the buko meat with. Made from the buko shell

All gone. -- Yes. I ate one whole my myself.

Must not forget to mention that my breakfasts during those days consisted of freshly backed pandesal from a little bakeshop down the street with some butter, spam, strawberry jam, or by itself.

Filipino Breakfast of Champions!!!

Must not forget to mention the large amounts of cocacola I consumed while I was there. I guess the same would go for Coke Lite (Diet coke), Coke Zero, Pepsi Mex, and ice tea.

One of the restaurants we ate at in Nagcarlan was near the Municiple Hall called Ralphjoy's. This was where we'd have our final family dinner as well before heading into Manila.

It's a nice place not far from the house.

Sinigang with Salmon Belly

Spareribs -- off the bone tender!!!

Fish fillet with sweet and spicy sauce

Pancit

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Sisig

Come back tomorrow for Part 6.

More good eats from Nagcarlan!! Earlier this year, my cousin had opened up a little restaurant. There they served pastas, pizzas and a mix of Filipino flare. Using fresh local ingredients. You wouldn't normally find place like that in the town where traditional Filipino cuisine reigns supreme.

Comedor meaning dining room in Spanish.

Comedor window sign

The size is close to a small cafe, but don't be fooled by it. It's very welcoming with the subtle color green of the wall and I do love the sliding kitchen door, too. Stylish.

The menu

A couple of my relatives order the lasagna with meat sauce served with a couple slices of garlic bread. I had a nice big taste from my cousin. I liked it. Had a nice texture to it. It had a good balance of sauce and cheese, so it wasn't too overwhelming. The pasta was cooked just right.

I order, along with the rest of my relatives, Penne Pasta with Pesto. Also served with garlic bread. I'm a sucker for pesto, if you haven't guessed by now. Fresh basil in the pesto is a plus for me. Nice and creamy coating every piece of penne. I ate this one right up.

We also ordered 2 rounds of pepperoni pizza. I wanted the chef's choice pizza, but pepperoni won out. There's no arguing with family!! :)

It had a nice and crisp outer crust. The dough was cooked like bread should cook up. The pepperoni had a nice little crunch to it when you bit down. Cheese wasn't too stringy with a couple crispies on top. Yum.

I think these were called pesto bread. Again pesto is a plus in my book. Complimentary of the chef. Thanks cuz!!!

The chef aka my cousin with her sous chef and sister.

I guess one of the upsides about being related to the chef is you get to see their "office." It's a very very small space. Like the size of a closet, yet they cook up some really delicious food. Though, being related doesn't mean my being biased. Ok maybe a little, but I really enjoyed the meal. I wish her restaurant well.

The Nagcarlan Market

The market is open 7 days a week. The busiest, of course, being on Sunday. It just so happens during that time children are preparing to go back to school. To many of the stalls and stands are selling school supplies, clothing and other essentials needed for children. Here I'll show you a little photo tour of the market.

The outer stalls lined with clothing shops, eateries, and other necessities.

Each little shop has their own set of regular customers that keep them alive. Suki is the term used for that. Many sell the same items at competitive prices.

This ain't for the vegeratians. Fresh meats slaughter from the morning. can you see the guy posing in the middle of the picture? Did I mention Filipino like to pose it up for the camera? It's all in good fun. Below are fresh fish and poulty.

Must not forget the abundance of fresh produce as well.

Oh and the rice.

Homemade snacks

Fresh puto (steamed rice cake) made that morning.

Still warm when my uncle bought a nice hefty slice of it for us to share.

From outside the main market

Crowded walkways make up the large market.

It's almost like a maze just trying to find a specific stall.

This is my aunt's family store. It a one stop litte sari-sari store. I remember when I was a child before moving to America. I would play with the rice bins when I was there. It used to be larger and spacious back them until a fire burnt the market down in the 90s. When they rebuilt it the stalls were smaller and cramped.

Yellow and Indian mangoes

Fresh baked Pandesal

Fresh purple yam! This is what ube is made of. It's literally like a purple sweet potato

Sundays you'd see the extention of the market out in the street. Sort of like a farmer's market. Sometimes vendors set up the night before to stake out a good spot and sleep on the grounds to keep an eye on their produce. It's crowded. Full shoppers looking for their daily ingredients for meals or shopping for school supplies.

A man selling some ice pops. Frozen in cylindrical plastic baggies. You just rip open and lick.

You'll find many vendors selling dried fish like dilis (anchovy)

One of my other faves. Smoked fish. (tinapa)

I just thought these were cute. Little turtle and fishy toys for kids.

Street foods, too. Fish balls. Yum!!!

Fresh calamansi by the bucketful

More mangoes!! -- I practically ate 2-4 of these almost every day when I was there. It's that fresh juicy and delicious. They're really different from the mangoes you'd find in the States.

I love walking around the market. Seeing items and foods you wouldn't normally see. And mostly all for really cheap prices, too. You can't get that anywhere else.

Come back tomorrow for part 6!! :)