Two weeks after arriving in Manila and back home for good, I found about this month’s Lasang Pinoy 9 theme, Lamang-Loob [ Odd Guts and Cuts ], from Iska via one of our regular online chats.
After reading Cia’s announcement at pabulum.ext212, there was a big question on whether I’d be able to participate or not!
The main reason and biggest challenge was that my flat has not been set up with a kitchen or even a kitchenette at all! When I did an inspection of the unit three months ago and decided on it, cooking was immediately ruled out!
Since I couldn’t cook in the flat, my food blog has remained in semi-hiatus mode and hasn’t really caused me trouble [ food-wise that is ] in the one month that I’ve been back. With my location — just a five-minute walk to and from one of Makati’s busiest malls, eating out was the easiest solution, aside from the fact that I could also walk over to my “adoptive†family’s place nearby.
After a month of eating out, I have managed to try most [ if not all ] outlets at the Greenbelt resto strip! Though I am not really keen on doing reviews of the outlets I’ve dined in, it may not be a remote possibility in the future — concentrating perhaps on interesting dishes! It is in one of these resto-hoppings that I realized I might have something for an entry — one that won’t require me to cook! At least for now . . .
Growing up as a kid, a dish made out of lamang-loob [ innards or offal ] was something I almost wouldn’t touch if one was served on the table! My favourite lamang-loob though would be liver [chicken and pork livers] cooked ala-adobo or steak-style and on occasion, chicken gizzard, as well as bopis. I also used to eat dinuguan [ pork blood stew ] but stopped before I went to design school donkeys of years ago and haven’t eaten again since then . . .
I learned to eat bopis because of my lola who used to cook this yummy and spicy dish on special occasions — big family occasions when it would be customary to slaughter a pig or two, or even a cow! The innards are then cooked into exciting treats and served along with the different dishes cooked with and from the other meats.
A BOPISTICATED ENTRY!
Walking back to my flat after a movie one Sunday afternoon, I discovered this small Pinoy foodie place called Binalot along Legaspi Street at Greenbelt 1 . . . I walked in out of curiosity and there it was! My salvation and entry to Lasang Pinoy 9 — Bopis ala balot-balot! They’ve even named it BOPISTICATED!
Binalot offers a wide array of delectable popular Pinoy dishes along with really wacky names attached to them. Just a sampling: BOPISTICATED [ Bopis ] which becomes my entry, SISIG NA MAKISIG [ Sisig ], YOU BET PINAKBET [ Pinakbet ], ALONG CAME TALONG WITH BAGOONG [ Eggplant with Shrimp Paste ] . . . and each dish comes in combo with rice at very affordable prices ranging from PHP55.00 to PHP77.00 per serving!
Binalot takes its name from the word “balot†or “binalot†meaning wrapped. All items in the menu [ except for the drinks . . . tee hee . . . ] are served double-wrapped, in banana leaf and brown paper, with the restaurant’s logo. So if the outlet’s dining area is full [ which is normal during peak hours ], you simply ask for a takeaway bag and off you go . . . a “binalot†food in its real essence . . .
Above: Binalot’s balot-balot packaging . . .
Above: Binalot’s Bopisticated Bopis as topping on rice . . .
That afternoon, I walked off happily with my entry . . . and since I didn’t cook this one, I am using the bopis recipe and photograph from one of my posts last year, which makes this entry a rehash . . . tee hee . . .
Here it is . . . I am posting it again in the original form it was written [ in Tagalog ] by my ex-colleague in Brunei, Wilbert Sta Maria who hails from Bulacan. Wilbert is attached to the engineering department and is known as the ‘bopis king’ in the pinoy community of The Empire Hotel & Country Club . . .
Above: Wilbert’s version of Bopis . . .
BOPIS
Mga Rekado:
Baga ng baboy, labanos na hiniwa ng pino, carrots na hiniwa ng pino, dinikdik na bawang, sibuyas na hiniwa ng pino, sili na hiniwa ng pino, dinurog na paminta, suka, atsuwete na ibinabad sa tubig, patis o asin na pampalasa.
Paraan ng Pagluluto:
Ilaga ang baga ng baboy. Hanguin at hiwain ng pino. Igisa ang bawang, sibuyas at sili sa mantika. Isunod ang carrots at baga ng baboy. Timplahan ng patis at pamintang durog. Isunod ang labanos, haluin at lagyan ng kaunting tubig. Lutuin hanggang lumambot ang carrots at labanos. Timplahan ng suka sa katamtamang asim at isunod ang tubig na pinagbabaran ng atsuwete. Lutuin hanggang mawala ang tubig.
There you go — Pinoy na Pinoy! For the benefit of non-Filipinos, the recipe in English follows below. You might have also noticed that there are no given quantities or measurements for the ingredients. Wilbert explained that he does not rely on fixed or exact quantities and measurements when he is preparing a particular dish. He’s such an expert that he is often asked to cook for Pinoy birthdays and other occasions . . . In fact, he cooked bopis for the last farewell dinner given to me a night before I left Brunei . . . Maraming salamat, Wilbert!
Bopis Recipe [ English Version ]
Ingredients: Pig’s lungs, finely chopped white radish, finely chopped carrots, crushed garlic, finely chopped onions, minced chilies, crushed black pepper, vinegar, annatto seeds soaked in a small amount of water, salt or fish sauce to taste.
Method: Boil pig’s lungs. Remove from water and chop finely. In a large pot, sautee garlic, onions and chilies in oil. Add carrots and chopped pig’s lungs. Season with fish sauce and black pepper. Add radish and a small amount of water. Simmer until carrots and radish are cooked. Add vinegar and water from the soaked annatto seeds. Simmer until all liquid ingredients evaporate.
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