Enjoy Food (and Chicharon) in Carcar City, Cebu, Philippines

Chicharon = pork crackling

I recently came from a research study in Carcar City, Cebu. We stayed eight days in the said city. I enjoyed my stay and I enjoyed eating a lot. I enjoyed eating pork there. To me, Carcar is the pork capital. It is also a chicharon capital of Cebu and of the Philippines as well.

Lechon in Carcar City

Carcar is home to a wide array of food products. First, lechon. The local hog raising industry supplies the demand for lechon. Lechon or roasted pig is from a one and a half months old pig. We have talked with Kuya Jessie, whose house is located in General Luna St.. His family has been into lechon business for more than 30 years already. They have stalls for lechon in Carcar City Public Market.

Puso, rice in heart-shaped leaves of coconut.

Puso. It is rice cooked inside coconut leaves. Shaped like a heart (puso), it is a very delightful presentation for a cooked rice aside from plain rice in a cooker. A small puso costs only about five pesos.

Packs of ampao side-by-side chicharon

Ampao. Imagine eating halo halo without ampao? There is missing ingredient for halo halo if there is no ampao. Ampao is popped rice, famous in Carcar, as well. You can buy these in small pieces as low as 20 pesos.

Of Chicharon 

Chicharon. Most famous of them all, Carcar is the chicharon capital. Chicharon is pork crackling. It can be sold from factory price as low as 20 pesos per pack and for retailers as low as 30 to 35 pesos per pack. Made from kubal or pork skin, the numerous chicharon makers in Carcar have different secrets for making chicharon tastier from another. Mat Mat is one of the oldest chicharon makers. Stalls for chicharon and all other food products are located within the Rotonda. In that area, there are about a hundred street vendors aside from the stores. The street vendors, mostly women, can be found from bus terminals to the whole stretch of the Rotonda and the downtown. 

We have visited a chicharon factory in Barangay Bolinawan. Thanks to the hospitality of Punong Barangay Michelle Gador, who accompanied us to the factory. The factory of D' Sisters Chicharon is owned by Councilor Ruben Ortiz of Bolinawan. They produce chicharon for local market and send chicharon orders to other parts of Visayas and Mindanao including Iloilo, Tacloban, Davao and Zamboanga. For orders, please contact 0928-481-8498 and (032) 487-2017.

What is every interesting in Carcar is that its chicharon industry is dependent on imported pork skin. We have identified seven suppliers of pork skin to Carcar and all of these suppliers have offices and storage facilities in Mandaue City. We visited a storage house in Mandaue City and found out that these suppliers are importers of meat products and supply the same to Visayas and Mindanao area.

In every rural barangay in Carcar City, I saw hog raising and back yard raising almost everywhere. However, the harvests from these backyard hog raising are not for chicharon purposes but for local consumption. Carcar City Public Market caters to residents of Barili, Sibonga and San Fernando as well, neighboring towns of Carcar. We also discovered a huge commercial pig farm in Carcar, BEFCO, but these farm is supplying for local consumption of pork, not for purposes of chicharon.

So amazing that Carcar has established a brand name for chicharon however its local hog industry is not supplying anymore for this raw material. In fact, I don't know if the local government knows that two years ago, chicharon industry in Carcar, already became a billion peso industry. In fact, for one supplier of imported pork skin, it is able to deliver about 100 metric tons of pork skin to Carcar City to about more than 80 chicaron makers - factory and household.

I could say that for every chicharon that I would eat in Carcar, its raw material comes from other parts of the globe. I have seen carton packs and labels of pork skin that come from France and Spain. Generally, the imported pork skin being delivered to Carcar City come from Canada, USA and Europe.

Think about exporting the same chicharon to other parts of the world like Canada, USA and Europe. Then think of teaching Filipinos in those parts of the globe to make chicharon instead of importing chicharon from the Philippines. Then what about the local chicharon industry in Carcar City - will it continue to depend on imported raw material? 

Bokarilyo. My first encounter with bokarilyo was in Carcar. It is a sweetened coconut meat. Usually light food coloring is added. When I asked one of the makers of bokarilyo, she said that the colored bokarilyo are the ones taken ahead than the uncolored bokarilyo. However, I still prefer the uncolored bokarilyo. How to obtain uncolored bokarilyo? According to my interviewee, you have to order it because it is specially made.

Tapa. Seasoned meat products and famous as a part of a Filipinos breakfast, Carcar City is also home for its tasty tapa. I bought two kilograms of tapa, one kilo of pork tapa and another kilo of beef tapa. It costs to about 620 pesos per kilo. I bought it from Mat Mat, the same company that also produces chicharon.

Halo halo at Acasia Grill

Fine dining, cheaper here

Restaurants and fastfoods. There are few fast food chains in Carcar. The nearest to my hotel was Jollibee. There are also two Gaisano malls, where Mang Inasal and other food stalls are located. There are carenderias and small kitchenettes as well but the nicest fine dining restaurant is Acasia Grill located in Barangay Valladolid. We ate there for several times because comparing the price of food therein with Greenbelt - Makati, it's a big difference. I asked for official receipt for our lunch in Acasia Grill and the receipt says of the owner is Mrs Apura, who according to our interviews, is the mayor's wife. My wish when I go back to Carcar City is to have several other fine dining restaurants rather than having only one.

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Pepper and Paper

There is both pepper and paper in Pepper Lunch Express. Pepper is for the sizzling plate of Japanese classics and steak and combo, all of which, with rice. 

I always thought then why we had to eat there from time to time. I did not like eating too hot foods in a sizzling plate because of my low tolerance to heat. However, I had to abide with a companion's favorite. 

Pepper, well, I love pepper. Whenever there is pepper in food, I think that there is spicy something along the way. I like spicy food though but not that too hot from a sizzling plate. While one enjoys eating, a plasma screen shows how the food is being prepared. 

Well, for Pepper Lunch Express, there are shakes, salads, Japanese classics and steak and combo meals. While the sizzling plate is sprinkled with pepper, it is literally circled with a piece of paper. See it and try for yourself while it's hot. 

Under the Same Sun

The sun cannot simply shut an empty gut.

Weather is too hot. Sun is up to its peak. You are hungry. You only ate few loaves of bread in the morning. Then, you'd been bombarded with lots of mind-boggling activities like group work, essays-to-submit and many more. A hungry trainee you become.

Though open, dining is still fun here.

You feel like going home but you cannot do so. You feel like eating in your own dining table but you cannot do so. You feel like cooking your own food but you still can't. A regimented life inside the camp.

The real meaning of eating outside.

What about dining under the sun? 

Good idea. Break free and drive to a nearby area. Dine under the sun in Paseo de Sta. Rosa, a commercial hub in  Sta. Rosa City, Laguna. Fresh from the effects of recent typhoon Glenda, some structures aren't restored yet. Some shelters had been flown by strong winds brought about by the gustiness of the previous storm. 

Then, weather is going back to normal. People are in the usual mood of dining, shopping and going around.

When you cannot afford expensive fine dining in the area, go to this place at the back portion of the Paseo. Although it looks like an open space (and obviously it is), the food is nice and less expensive.  This looks like an open space Dampa.

Top Five Food Adventures in Sapporo

Photo source: http://sapporobeer.com/our-beers.html

I stayed in Sapporo, Japan for a short period of time. The word 'short' means a lot to me. It means that my stay was never enough to discover everything about Sapporo. The word also means to me to make the most of my stay as I may never be able to go back to Sapporo again. The Philippines is geographically closer to Japan but going to Japan is an expensive thing to do. Sapporo makes a difference because there are no direct flights to Sapporo from Manila. It takes two air travels to reach destination - ours, we traveled to Korea and from Korea to Sapporo.

In my sojourn, Sapporo will always be memorable to me. I am sharing my top five food adventures while I was there. 

If cannot read and write Nihongo, be sure to ask about the costs before ordering.

1. Eating Japanese foods. Literally means, entering a Japanese restaurant and ordering Japanese foods. When in Japan, be Japanese. For me eating Japanese foods encompasses doing the right things in Japan especially during meal time. I am no stranger to eating Japanese foods as there is plentiful of Japanese restaurants in the Philippines. Eating the Japanese way also include the right etiquette while eating. The hardest thing for me to do is the chopstick 101. I am raised with the spoon and fork culture. I tried my best but I felt inferior in my chopsticks skills. In our regular breakfast buffet, I had to request for spoon and fork aside from having chopsticks with me. In case I can't make it, I have my spoon and fork. As a result, I practiced a lot of chopsticks eating when I went back to the Philippines.

Kanpai! and lots of eating to be done.

2. Sapporo beer. Where else in the world is a place as famous as beer than Sapporo? Kanpai! You will miss everything about Sapporo if you have not tasted Sapporo beer. When we arrived at the airport, we were greeted with big posters about Sapporo beer. There are lots of 7/11 stores all over Japan including Sapporo (as 7/11 is Japanese company, right?). So if you find it expensive buying Sapporo beer in your high-end hotel, go out and visit 7/11.

3. Sapporo water. I learned that Sapporo water is the best water in Japan. Why? They told me this: Sapporo is closest to Siberia, where there is plenty of ice. Presumably, Sapporo could be one of the coldest parts of Japan if that is the case. Then, the melting of ice and the cold temperature brings about the best of Sapporo's water. Hence, water inside my hotel room is potable. I tasted it and tried it indeed. 

Shiroi Koibito Cookie Production Line. Reflection means we only see through glasses.

Inside Shiroi Koibito Chocolate Factory

4. Cookies and chocolates. When we say chocolates and cookies in Sapporo, I am referring to Shiroi Koibito. Shiroi Koibito is associated to the famed cookies and chocolates of Ishiya company. Today, Shiroi Koibito is a theme park where there is the chocolate factory. One can visit the park and be amazed by its amazing beauty and likewise enter the facility. The facility includes a real view of the production line, museum part and of course, taking home chocolates and cookies with you. For more information about Shiroi Koibito, their website is http://www.shiroikoibitopark.jp/

Not just my ordinary corn in Odori Park.

5. Street food. We are familiar in the Philippines with plenty of street foods such as those chicken feet, peanuts, barbecue and many more. How about visiting the park and try a different taste? I did. We visited the Odori Park and tried some corn. It may look similar corn with ours. Nothing could be different but the taste will make it unique. I can't explain the taste that it is so yummy. I did not ask of what they mix with the whole corn to have a very nice taste - somewhat combination of condiments. By the way, whole corn was bigger than our regular corn in the Philippines.

There rest of what I did, I also tried saki wine (rice wine) and the different kinds of tea in the buffet area. I didn't care about my stomach's reaction to foods different from what I am used to eat or drink in my country. Nothing bad happened, I enjoyed food - lots of them. I long to be back again in Sapporo. Aside from the foods I enjoyed, modesty aside, the Japanese are indeed courteous and disciplined people.

Photo credits: Supt Ricardo Perdigon, Fr. Benjie Ventajar and sapporobeer.com

Tugegarao City Dining Journey

Culinare's Pizza

In my recent visit to Tugegarao City where I tasted its local delicacies at my best, I came across with three restaurants. I am sharing these restaurants not simply to promote them but to share my story to provide a reference to would-be travelers and foodies in the Philippines' hottest city.

Inside Culinare

My regular breakfast, longganisang tugegarao with silvanas. (The sinabago in bamboo is mine)

1. Culinare. They say pizza, pasta and more. It is located in Hotel Camelita, where I stayed for four days. If you would like to taste pancit batil patong, then, theirs is so yummy. I also like their pizza. As I have said before, although Biano's Pizza in Mindanao is still my best, I liked Culinare's pizza taste. It is still different from so commercially prepared pizza in Metro Manila. I enjoyed silvanas (sweets) as side in my breakfasts. 

2. Feli-Citas. It is a fastfood and restaurant. One can choose to stay indoors with aircon or dine in those nipa huts outside the main restaurant building. When one is looking for a pancit cabagan try, then Feli-Citas deserves it.

3. Kainang Pinoy. They imbibe being sariling atin that offers Filipino foods. This is the cheapest eat-all-you-can so far. It opens at 10 a.m. for the unlimited lunch onward. Dinakdakan and sea weeds are noteworthy to me. I also liked their mango shake. There are small function rooms where one can reserve for a group dining.

Tropical drink, mango shake