PINAKBET

Pinakbet  is an indigenous Filipino dish from the northern regions of the Philippines. Pinakbet is made from mixed vegetables steamed in fish or shrimp sauce. The word is the contracted form of the Ilokano word pinakebbet, meaning "shrunk" or "shriveled". The original Ilocano pinakbet uses bagoong, of fermented monamon or other fish, for seasoning sauce, while further south, bagoong alamang is used. The dish usually includes bitter melon (ampalaya). Other vegetables used include eggplant, tomato, okra, string beans, chili peppers, parda, winged beans and others. Root crops and some beans like camote, patani, kadios are also optionally added. For those who intend to have a meaty flavor to their pakbet, the famous bagnet is also added to have a richer taste.

DINENGDENG

 One of the more popular and authentic dishes of Ilocanos is the soup based dish called the Dinengdeng (also called Inabraw).Dinengdeng is very much similar with the more known Pinakbet. While Pinakbet is cooked with fermented shrimp, to make an authentic dinengdeng, the cook should use fermented fish instead. It is also soupy unlike Pinakbet which is more at the saucy side.

This staple bagoong based vegetable stew for the Ilocanos is best topped with grilled fish like milkfish and tilapia. The vegetables used can also be adjusted to your liking.

BAGNET

One of the most favorite Ilacano dish is the Bagnet. Bagnet, to put it simply, is crispy fried pork belly, a cross between Chicharon and Lechon Kawali, where the lean meat is crispy but not dry and the pork skin with all the pork fat is fried to a crisp.

Though not like Chicharon -- which is merely crispy pork skin, and unlike Lechon Kawali -- where a whole liempo is fried and cut into cubes so the only crispy portion is the pork skin,  bagnet is crispy from the skin, fat and the lean meat.

It is usually served with a dipping sauce of Fish Paste (Bagoong Isda) with chopped red or white onion, tomatoes and green onions.

PINAKBET PIZZA

Pizza,though a favorite snack of most of us, is considered as an unhealthy food. So, the Ilocanos of the north have innovated and have arrived to infuse the healthy Ilocano food with pizza, hence,the creation of the pinakbet pizza.  In simplicity, its a pizza topped with the usual pinakbet vegetables. Amazing how that vegetable dish and bagoong went perfectly well with cheese. The cheese makes the vegetables taste all creamy and the bagoong was just like the good ol’ anchovies of the Italian dishes. 

ADAM'S BUGNAY WINE

Bugnay, by the way, is the Ilocano name of the berry-bearing tree that is widely known as bignay in other parts of the country. Its botanic name is Antidesma bunius. This fruit bearing plant is commonly found in the tiny municipality of Adams. Adams is about the smallest town of Ilocos Norte but it has become well known because of its bugnay wine. Would you believe that the town only has a population of 2,700? Yet not just one but 65 of the families have become commercial bugnay wine makers, forming their own association. The bugnay wine has this quirky but pleasant taste and aroma which is likened to a grape wine hence preferred by consumers. It is reddish to purplish in color, resembling like any other red wines. Truly, elegance can now be as simple as having a supply of bugnay wine in the house. The wine tasted a little like sherry, making it an excellent aperitif.