My Family Health Blog

Committed Family Healer's Research

Live Raw Ants Eggs: A Yummy Delicacy of Ilocos Norte

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I remember my in laws saying ants eggs were a delicacy, lip smacking good from Ilocos Norte. We just came from Pagudpud beach on the way down and found myself stopping by at the wet market at Bangui. I first got myself some of the famous traditional Ilocos garlic at only 120 pesos per kilo, then I asked for ants eggs and yes they did have it! Actually, 2 vendors had it!

Ants eggs were a delicacy all right, expensive stuff. 300 pesos per kilo in this far provincial town. At those prices only the rich in these parts can afford that. Good thing I come from Manila, I can afford it. I bought almost 2 kilos of raw live ants eggs, with live ants in them too.

Why wait to cook it? What for? I started eating small hand fulls in the car. Creamy yummy. The ones familiar with it said they wanted it with the live ants because that added a different wonderful dimension to it.

Most people I asked cooked the stuff. I think they resort to cooking it to stop the ants from hatching as that keeps better… maybe… or they are just squeamish at eating live ants.

Well later in the day we did cook a good amount of ants eggs ginisa style, some salt, some onions, some garlic in some virgin coconut oil. Taste? It didn’t taste any different from the raw ants eggs. It’s just that the live ants are dead and they are easier to eat without biting you.

We arrived in Vigan and met my sister in law for dinner. Gave her some cooked ants eggs. She and her friend loved it and ate it all for dinner. I asked if she liked these ants eggs better than the ants eggs she had a few days ago. She said the ants eggs she and her friend ate a few days ago tasted so much better. They were the ones who gathered the ants eggs and they got bitten so many times when they finally were able to sit down for a meal, those ants eggs tasted really great given the effort and the bites they had to endure.

The next time you are in Ilocos Norte, look in the wet markets and get yourselves some nutritious, delicious, exotic ants eggs!

Ants eggs spoil easily. You must let the ants eggs breath. Sealing it in plastic and they die and they don’t taste good anymore even if you cook them, the 2nd batch came out that way the following day.

Just like any meat again, raw and alive just tastes better and is probably far more nutritious. Let go of your squeamishness and just be human. Eat those ants eggs raw and alive. I must plan for a return to this place and establish a contact who will send me some on a regular basis.

Traditional Ilocano Dish: Raw Beef Kinilaw – Ceviche

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Raw Beef Kinilaw

Kabigan Falls, Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte. We had breakfast in this area. As I was having my raw beef tapa (in coconut vinegar with pepper and garlic), the nice ladies offered me some freshly butchered raw beef at a nearby food stall in Kabigan Falls.

They offered me some slabs of fresh raw beef. Then I noticed a small pot with simple raw beef ceviche / kinilaw. This sold for 50 pesos per little plate. I asked if I could buy the entire pot which they estimated to have 5 servings, the shop owner said yes!

Then I saw the decapitated head of beef, I asked if I could buy the brain. They said they can only sell me half of the brain because they were going to use the other half of the brain to make another traditional Ilocano dish called Dinakdakan.

So I got half a raw brain. Of course it tasted great. We mixed the brain in with the raw beef ceviche. This Ilocos Norte traditional raw beef kinilaw is made with thin slices of raw beef plus calamansi and onions. It is that unbelievably simple.

I wanted this beef ceviche style because it keeps. Currently me and my family are on travel and this goes inside my trusty plastic container and has to keep and not stink. We have no ice.

We had lunch in Laoag with my wife’s Auntie who is an MD anesthesiologist and she was also familiar with this traditional raw beef kinilaw / ceviche. We were in a fine dining restaurant and she and I shared in this glorious fresh concoction which she has fond memories in her youth, she ate a lot of it, said it was fresh and very good.

The waiter in the fine dining place said they had dinakdakan on the menu but said they used mayonnaise instead of raw brain because mayonnaise had less of a smell? I call that BS reasoning. But that is what the waiter said.

What I think is that beef brains are small and there aren’t really enough of it to go around serving dinakdakan in the quantities they sell.

I find it very hard to get hold of raw beef brain in Marikina and Quezon City markets because it is in such great demand.

Anyway, back to the Ilocano traditional raw beef kinilaw… is no exaggeration, it is what it is because it is served in the turo-turo by traditional Ilocano people.

Jumping Shrimp Salad: A Traditional Ilocano Way of Eating Raw Shrimp

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My previous post discussed about how we caught and cooked the live river shrimp from Kabigan falls in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte. This morning we had breakfast in Kabigan falls. Found out from conversation with 2 women that their usual, traditional Ilocano way of eating those live river shrimp is raw! Yes, a traditional raw paleo diet meal.

How to make Ilocano Jumping Shrimp Salad technique:

1. Sprinkle salt on live shrimp to “kill” them.
2. Remove shells from shrimp.
3. Dip in freshly squeezed calamansi juice.

Eat.

And by the way, even if my 2 younger kids gorged on the cooked shrimp at lunch time, for the very first time, absolutely no allergies came out of their skin.

Which proves that shrimp store toxins if they come from polluted waters. Say a polluted lake, polluted ocean, polluted fish pond. These Kabigan Falls shrimps are so very very very clean.

River Shrimp Paleo Diet: Live from Pristine Waters of Kabigan Falls in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte

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Kabigan Falls

Kabigan Falls

We are staying in a resort in the beaches of Pagudpud. Yesterday late afternoon the family went to Kabigan falls. Kabigan falls is a pristine impressive waterfall. Our tour guide for the afternoon was Rey.

Kabigan falls is a nice nature trip. The people live at the opening part where the highway is. Then inside the people have planted rice fields and vegetables and grow their own roaming native chicken. You will notice a stream flowing down the middle of everything, a clear clean stream.

Follow that stream and you get to the beginning… Kabigan Falls. Very nice, very cool. The people have tapped the top most source for their drinking water for all their households. Rey says there are some 2000 people who live in these parts.

cooked river shrimp

cooked river shrimp

I asked Rey about what common food they have in these parts, if they had shrimp or fish in their mini-river. He said they usually caught river shrimp for their meals. Aha! Good idea. I made a deal with Rey for him and his buddy to catch me some 2 kilos of live river shrimp for our family breakfast the next day. Rey agreed for a price both of us were happy.

The following day I was prompt at 6:30am and I did get what I ordered. 2 kilos of live river shrimp. They kept the shrimp alive by putting them in a porous basket and dunked in the stream. So when I got to their village, the shrimp were jumping alive. They called this kind of shrimp UDANG.

I came back to the beach and went to my chosen cooking hut and showed the lady my catch and that I wanted them to cook it GISADO. She was wide eyed impressed by my catch, she knew what it was but was puzzled where I could get such a prize.

I fetched my kids and they played around with the river shrimp for a few minutes before we proceeded to cook them. I was there to watch every step they took so we could have a clean breakfast. They had sea salt, onions, coconut oil, onions… and the extra special 7-Up softdrink that when it evaporates in the pot gives good flavor… it’s an old chef’s trick with shrimp.

They suggested margarine 2 times but I turned them down both times. Let’s keep this paleo diet guys.

Finally, the 2 kilos of river shrimp were done and served to excited children. Normally, my 2nd son and my daughter are allergic to shrimp, but I figured these were absolutely clean shrimp from the most pristine natural waters, so let’s take the risk. They initially had only 2 shrimp each at breakfast, but lunch time they just chowed down on the shrimp.

This nutritious paleo diet was brought to you by parent ingenuity. This dish is not available in any menu of any resort or cooking outfit in the Pagudpud beaches. With deliberate paleo diet “hunting”, we get food that’s best.

I had to drive some 15 minutes from Pagudpud beach to Kabigan falls and back and had them cooked just the way I liked and watching over the shrimp so they did it right. Parental labor of love.

If you are in Pagudpud and would like to catch some live river shrimp, call on Rey at 0930-5591605

Raw Wild Honey in Such High Demand and Expensive In Ifugao

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On this road trip, our first leg took us to Ifugao province. We took the Nueva Ecija to Bayombong and up route. In every w et market I stopped and asked for honey, pulot in the local language. Always no honey. In Lagawe I asked for honey, no honey either. The young lady said to me I should go there on Sunday market day and even then I’d have to go real early because people just snap up raw honey.

The Ifugao locals all know the value of raw honey as medicine. They keep raw honey for their children. The formula is to mix a tablespoon of raw honey with a tablespoon of raw calamansi juice. Just like the candy combination of honey-lemon. Or is that the westerner’s staple honey-lemon remedy. Seems it is the same for the Ifugao.

Finally in Lagawe, the big town capital of Ifugao I found raw honey. A big square bottle of gin. 600 pesos per bottle. And no discounts. And that is the local price, not tourist prices. Only 2 bottles left. Of course it tasted like the real thing. Unique. Unlike any other honey I’ve tasted.

This honey is so expensive and fabled to be medicinal when I go back to Manila I’m keeping these 2 bottles as medicine for my children. I’m not bringing this out as food. It will be in my personal stash of medicines.

I think I’ll try the honey lemon combo now. It is said to be used for kids’ coughs. Well, I haven’t had any coughs since I turned raw paleo diet. But whatever, let’s try it before we give it to the kids.

Banaue Rice Terraces So Very Much Recommended Tourist Guide

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Our first day in Banaue Rice Terraces took us to Travellers Inn in the remote, under construction dangerous roads by the cliff. Breath taking place, but there is the very real risk of being stranded in case of landslides. We conversed with a jeep driver who turned out to be a top notch tourist guide by himself, the name is Lambert, call 0935-2185607.

The following day we called up Lambert to fetch us and guide us through the very dangerous 1 lane cliff hanging muddy road as it was raining. We succeeded in coming back to Banaue town proper and we then proceeded to tour Banaue through the different terraces view points. We also got to the museum. We then checked in at Banaue Hotel. The only “real” hotel in Banaue.

Lambert took us to his favorite restaurant, Las Vegas, we had dinner there. Lunch we wanted chicken pinikpikan, but it was unavailable so we went to a turo-turo which had it.

Banaue is such a small town of few people, everyone knew everyone. Lambert even helped us ship stuff we bought via Bus. Lambert is also an expert packer. We packed in a big box one sack of their sacred mountain red rice and some
furniture souvenirs. He knew the bus conductor and my driver in Manila successfully picked up our package.

Having Lambert along was such a joy, he also chews and spits Nga nga, Moma. He is an authentic Ifugao, Born from a father that was an expert wood carver. Their yellow family residence is on a cliff just like everyone else. His wife is Ifugao and his children are Ifugao.

Lambert used to study as a mechanic in Manila so he knows the difference between Manila life and Banaue life. Hey, you have to pay for chlorinated water in Manila! But water in Banaue rice terraces is totally free! All you can drink and bathe in.

Lambert is a professional tour driver and has toured the mountains in kalinga, baguio, sagada and has gone around central and northern luzon.

What I like about Lambert is he is a genuine person all his own. Not some factory trained tour guide.

So if you are thinking about going to Banaue Rice Terraces soon, call up Lambert at 0935-2185607.

Banaue to Sagada Road Impassable Due to Landslide, Driving towards Pagudpud via Isabela

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We cut short our stay at the Travellers Inn in Hapao. The road is wet, muddy, unfinished, narrow. We decided to go back to Banaue and just stay there overnight. Found out later on that our planned trip to Sagada will now have to be cancelled due to a landslide that makes our route impassable. We were thinking of passing through sagada, on to the Cervantes road and into Ilocos Sur then up to Pagudpud.

Change of plans. This morning, we went down from the Banaue Hotel to the Tam-An village where we mingled with the Ifugao and shopped. Then at 10 am we set off for Tuguegarao. Nice 2 way “highway”, must overtake the pesky slow motorbikes, tricylcles, jeeps and carabaos.

Gosh, Isabela hills are all shamelessly nude. Seems logging to everything, every single tree. It’s so boring in this route.

Saw a lot of mono culture fields of crops, some cows, some carabaos, some goats.

We finally arrived in Tuguegarao. Billeted ourselves in a nice hotel with closed garage. Heard carnapping was pretty rampant in this city.

First thing in the morning tomorrow and we are off to Pagudpud.