Romblon and Sibuyan Islands in the Philippines

Cresta de Gallo Islet, San Fernando, Sibuyan Island  (Photo taken by Jan Levent - courtesy of Romblon Tourism Office)

I found myself with a few days free and I had nothing planned.  With just an ordinary school-size backpack of basics and an extra set of clothing, I took the 30 minute cab to the port of Manila on a balmy afternoon, walked in from one passenger shipping company to the next, asking if there was a sailing the very same day anywhere.  By the third time, I lucked out - a departure was scheduled for the islands of Romblon.  Within an hour, I was on board.  And to my surprise, I had the whole four-bunk bed (two on each side) cabin by myself at P600.00 or US$30.00 at that time.    I saw other similar cabins later that night with full occupancy.  The lady clerk at the Ticketing Office was nice to me.

Mary the Queen left Pier 10 promptly at 5 pm. As I stood on the highest deck, right beside the bridge, I felt like a boy filled with delight in riding a big boat.  Westward towards the mouth of Manila Bay, we cruised.  The fiery golden Manila Bay sunset gave a spectacular show.  The breeze became stronger and for almost an hour, it was heavenly.  As we came closer to the shores of Southern Bataan meeting the promontory point of Cavite, there was an ominous blackness in the distance.  The gap between the two lands end looked like an entrance to a black hole.  Within 10 minutes, it was total darkness. 

I headed to the ship’s cafeteria where dinner was an excellent barbecued chicken.  But Mary the Queen was rocking giving you that uncomfortable seasickness.  I returned to my cabin with very clean sheets.  After doing my toiletries, I lay down, luxuriously solitary, and found myself being rocked, more like being rolled left and right, to sleep.  I dozed off giddy with what tomorrow might bring.

At around 3 a.m. I awoke, too excited to go on slumbering.  Walking to the stern, it was still pitch black but there appears to be a cluster of lights in the horizon.  The gentle punches of the wind on my face were pleasurable.  I found out it was a turbulent night with the weather but in my deep REM, I slept through it all. 

The Romblon Province is composed of three major islands Tablas, Sibuyan and Romblon.  Mary the Queen will call on the center island Romblon first where the capital with the same name is, and then Sibuyan skipping altogether Tablas.

Half an hour later, we berthed at Romblon Bay.  Two-thirds of the passengers disembarked and cargo unloaded: vegetables, boxes, cabinets, sofas, a car and a van.  There was not much to see further beyond the dock because it was still dark.  Including layover time, I had two hours or so more to go before my destination: the port of Cajidiocan in the island of Sibuyan.

As dawn rose on our starboard side, Mt. Guiting-Guiting loomed in the horizon seemingly hiding King Kong.  Sibuyan has that Pacific look.  Am I hearing Bali Hai?

Around the bend of Agutay, we quickly made our way to the single protruding dock of Cajidiocan, which from a distance, looked clean and had that South Pacific look. 

The beauty of Sibuyan is its rawness and virginity, untouched by manufacturing – just agriculture.  I hired a motorbike with a late teenish driver to do the 90 kilometer or so coastal circle road called Sibuyan Circumferential Road.  

Pawala River, Tampayan, Magdiwang, Romblon

With no helmets, the exhilaration of a bike ride was more intense with the streaming wind on my hair.   We went through pastoral sights of verdant rice fields, postcard coves, beaches and placid rivers.  The whole island is amazingly clean.  No trash nor plastic litter anywhere.  And those tiny villages hold some architectural surprises.  Blue-painted cottages with thatched roofs and flowery gardens,  imperial trimmed brushes of what the residents call Malacañang Grass alongside luxuriant columns of banana plants – Sibuyan is beguiling.

To my surprise, there is a growing German community who live long-term in the island.  A number of them live in a gate compound facing the sea. No wonder some of the passengers in Mary the Queen had a German accent.  They did not quite look like backpackers.  See  Friendly Germans Open Their Doors

At Sibuyan I stayed overnight with a high school teacher who was renting out a room in her house. What she did not tell me is she had another sideline - she would show movies in her living room television to her neighbors for a fee.  It was one of those guns and chase films and it lasted close to midnight.  With a flimsy wall and loud speakers, it was certainly a late night for me.   The following day the teacher did connect me with a local businessman who had a private boat that will make the hour trip to the capital of Romblon in Romblon Island.  The boat was also taking the owners’ kids to school for the week.  It was a small vessel and there were five other passengers.  On the way, the waves became bigger and I wanted to throw up.  The teen daughter and son of the owner were sitting in the bow in front of the standing shelter.  How did they manage?   They did look alright once we got in Romblon Bay.

Chipping Marble Quarry

It is in Romblon Island where the famous marbles are quarried.  I did buy a few pieces: a mortar and pestle, and a cheese board.  I wonder where are they now?  Romblon Island seems much more elevated than Sibuyan.  

Biniray Festival celebrating the miraculous Senor Santo Nino de Romblon - in Romblon Island

At the very spartan hotel, I was invited by a group of three, a college professor and her students to join them on a boat trip to one of the smaller islands. 

On the island, I talked with a man in his twenties who said boredom was a main problem.  Other than fishing, without electricity there was nothing to do.  I guess white sand, crystal-clear water and panoramic sunsets do not give bliss forever.

Finally, it was the night to go back.  I took a ship to the Port of Batangas overnight instead of Manila.   No private cabins this time but a huge room with double-decker beds - like in a penitentiary. I managed to snooze.

It was astonishing to see how many ships were plying the same route back and forth at night.  With their headlights, it was a busy water highway. 

At Batangas City the next morning, we were met by public buses, no AC, to make the two-hour trip back to Manila.   After an enjoyable trip, the bus ride was such a downer.  The heat and humidity made me pine for Sibuyan.

Good Blogs re Romblon  see 

Travel Guide to Romblon

Hiking Mt. Guiting-Guiting

Lumpia or Veggie Spring Roll Philippine Style

Gheremy Padua, still in high school in Vancouver BC Canada was a student trainee at the recent Rotary Burnaby International Food Festival last April 8^th, 2016.

He was in the Philippine booth where he was deep-frying the lumpia (LUM -PI-YA with a short i) – a vegetable spring roll popular in Filipino cuisine as a snack, appetizer or a side dish.  Although his parents are from the Ilocos region of the Philippines, another Filipina coached him on how to make lumpia for the Food Festival.  However Gheremy said he tweaked the formula a bit unbeknownst to his coach and his take was a hit – a major one especially with a picky non-Filipino 13 year old boy who had four lumpia rolls that night.

I requested Gheremy for his lumpia recipe.  He e-mailed:

Here's the ratios I used for the lumpia.

3 sweet potatoes 1 cm dice (not too big really)
1 pack of tofu (same with the sweet potato)

Pan fry those two so the sweet potatoes are semi soft
(If the tofu breaks during this hats okay don't worry)

Salt and pepper the mix.
2 cups of finely shredded carrots, celery and onions.
Mix in as much beansprouts as you want (it's mainly there to flesh it out and make it seem full)
Finally salt and pepper again to taste then
Roll it in large lumpia wrap and shallow fry in a pan and make sure the heat isn't too hot. You can tell it's too hot by seeing if it's smoking or not.
I think that's all there is to it I snuck in a few sprinkles of cinnamon when I made it but that was just to build internal heat and aid the sweet and spicy sauce.

Most supermarkets carry lumpia often labeled as spring roll wrappers (made from rice)

It is important that the carrots, celery and onions are finely shredded or diced (not minced) or julienned) for the right texture crunch.

The dish described here is technically lumpiyang gulay – or veggie spring roll.  As you know there are many kinds of spring rolls.

Also, Gheremy showed me the wooden toothpick test on how to tell how hot the cooking oil is. If you dip a wooden toothpick or spoon in the frying oil and it begins to create white bubbles – then the oil is too hot for the lumpia.

What Makes The Greatest Spaghetti?

Well the answer could be many but having had the dish all over the world, some from highly-starred chefs – I think I have a clue.

I have seen people from many countries exclaim how delightful Filipino style is.  So what makes?  Two things among so many:  the presence of hot dogs (also called wieners) and the addition of sugar to counter the acridity of tomato sauce.  The outcome?  The most delectable spaghetti which will make you wanting for more.   

I tried doing one on my own, even using packaged Filipino style spaghetti sauce, but it was lackluster.  But this time, I used 2 cups of canned crushed tomatoes with a tablespoon of tomato catsup, a tablespoon of brown sugar, a teaspoon of salt, and a cup of meat broth.

To this red sauce, I added ½ cup of sautéed garlic (more if you wish), 1 cup of caramelized onion, 2 cups of lightly-oiled toasted red bell pepper, 2 tablespoons of dried oregano, and a tablespoon of dried basil, lots of ground black pepper.

Brown sugar on the bigger spoon then salt then black pepper on the plate

Of course, by this time you are already boiling your spaghetti noodles al dente.

In a separate pan, brown around 2 cups of ground beef (spiced with 2 tablespoon of garlic powder) until dry and crunchy.  Decant the watery fluid released at the start while heating the meat - you can pour this into the noodle pot to add taste, or later mixed with the red sauce.   

Already pre-cut into half-inches, fry the six or more hotdogs (Philippine-made are vivacious) or wieners (Grimm’s European available at Costco is an alternative).  Then drop both well-cooked ground beef and hot dogs into the red sauce.  

Doing above separate steps of cooking the meats will give a pleasing animated texture countering the inherent snooze of noodles.

For all frying above, I used 100% avocado oil.

Of course, by this time you are already boiling your spaghetti noodles al dente.

Serve with grated cheese on top – either parmesan or cheddar or mozzarella strips or any hard/semi-firm cheese of your preference.

As a coup-de-grace, lightly smother the dish with light olive oil and/or dribble hot sauce – I used Frank’s RedHot.  A hit with non-Filipino guests who had seconds and thirds until gone.  

The ADOBO SMELLER

It was a good adobo so I had to ask Edwin how he prepared it.  He mentioned an unusual set of ingredients (for me anyway).  There are a million ways to cook Adobo and just like any good recipe I wanted to be able to do it myself anywhere anytime.

Edwin told me to buy pork belly and ribs.  I called Beefway Butchery at Kingsway Street about their prices.  The lady said pork back ribs are more expensive than the side ribs because it is meatier.

I never did get a chance to go to Beefway. Two days before Canadian Thanksgiving, I saw what looked like high-quality meat at Osaka’s T&T Supermarket inside the Yaohan Mall in Richmond.  So I got both pork belly and back ribs.

The Sunday night before Thanksgiving, Edwin demonstrated his Adobo version.

For  around three kilos of chopped meat rinsed in water and drained, Edwin poured with restraint about five tablespoons of Heinz Apple Cider vinegar.  “You don’t want the mix to be too sour.”  He also said he prefers apple cider vinegar because it is less acidic than other types such as palm, coconut, or sugar cane vinegars.  Then around 10 tablespoons of Maggi Seasoning  (instead of the traditional Soy Sauce) which contains MSG.  On top of the meat he dropped about 8 cloves of pressed garlic, two medium sized yellow onions chunked, around one tablespoon of vetsin (MSG), two tablespoon of white refined sugar, and one tablespoons of ground black pepper.  Absolutely no salt as the Maggi is already sodium-laden, and no water as the meat will release plenty when heated.   Upon setting the pot on high heat, Edwin put in three small bay leaves (laurel).  Edwin said that he will definitely do some seasoning adjustment at some point.

Philippine cooking dictum dictates that one should not move, touch the contents in a pot when it is in a marinade of or  while stewing in vinegar until the liquid boils, or with some chefs until the meat is almost done.  I personally have in the past detected a less favorable taste when the ingredients are mixed prematurely.

So when the vinegary broth began to boil, Edwin tossed the pieces around, sideways, and up and down.   He said it didn’t smell quite right yet because our nostrils were detecting a strong whiff of vinegar.  Smell?  Edwin does not adjust his cooking on taste but rather on smell.  

He let the adobo boil for 10 minutes more in medium heat, and then came the reformulation.  To counter the sour tang, Edwin added one more tablespoon of white sugar (although Edwin remarked brown sugar is better if available).  Once the sugar was mixed, the aroma indeed changed from vinegary to a perfect ying yang balance of sour and sweet, pleasant to the nostrils.

By this time half of the meat was almost immersed in its juice. This is when we added about two cups of cubed potatoes.  Twenty minutes later, the lid was taken off to reduce the sauce.  The process of confit has begun.   After almost an hour of cooking, Edwin turned off the heat.  Throughout from start to finish, Edwin did not once taste test the dish – gauging only by the sense of smell.

Unlike other recipes which called for the meat to be hauled out, fried to make the skin crispier, and then reunited with the delicious sauce – with Edwin there was none of this.  The pork belly skin would remain flabby.

The longer the meat marinates in its sauce the tastier – no rocket science here.  The following day the Adobo was like a caterpillar that overnight became a butterfly.  It was good on its own and with steaming rice, it was incredible.  I did dip the meat in fish sauce to give it my personal preference of kick.

On my own I would drop the MSG, and  for the coup-de-grace fry the pork bellies to make the skin crunchy.  

It is a must on most meat dishes or seafood, or soup for that matter, the presence of bones which imparts flavor – a tip I learned from an elderly lady when I was in Southhaven, Mississippi.  She said the local catfish was best cooked with its bones as opposed to  a fillet.  So do your adobo with ribs.

What is your adobo recipe?   Please share at telljosephlopez@gmail.com

Malinamnam!

AHHH AHHH ADOBO

Served to my American friends while in school at Syracuse, New York – everyone and I mean everyone was enthralled by this Pilipino dish called Adobo specially cooked by my friend's mom.  The Mexican Adobo is a completely different fare.

From:	E de la Cruz (_____@attbi.com)
Sent:	Tue 9/03/02 9:31 AM
To:	J

joe,

here are the adobo recipes.....sorry late ako.

Adobong Manok

1 3 lb chicken cut in serving pieces

1 1/2 cups soy sauce   

3/4 cup white vinegar

1 or 2 heads  of garlic crushed

2 bay leaves

1/2 tablespoon peppercorn

salt to taste

Bring chicken to boil together with the soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, bay leaves and peppercorns and simmer for an hour.  transfer the pieces of garlic from the pot to a separate pan and fry in hot oil until brown 

Remove the chicken pieces from the pot and brown in skillet. let the sauce in the pot boil until it is reduced by half. Add salt to  taste.  then put browned chicken in the sauce and simmer for five minutes..

Adobong Baboy

1 lb pork loin 

 1 head of garlic crushed

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 cup white vinegar

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Place  the pork in a medium sized pot together with the garlic, soy sauce pepper and vinegar and let stand for 2 hours.  cook slowly in the same pot until pork is tender. about 30 minutes.  transfer the pieces of garlic from the pot to a separate pan and fry in hot oil until brown.  add the pork pieces to the garlic and then fry until brown. Drain. Add the broth to the fried pork and garlic and simmer for 10 minutes.

happy cooking!! call me if you have any questions.  i got these recipes from a cookbook....my mom makes her adobo exactly like these recipes.