Linabog nga Bisaya nga Manok

When I searched for Linabog in th web, I can see entries on Linabog but using a different souring agent and usually the fish called "pagi" is used. Also, they attribute Linabog to the Cebuanos and there is one video which explained that the word means "throw away" because the parts used in the dish are parts which are usually to be thrown away, like the bony "pagi." Meanwhile, there is also a "kinunot" way of cooking which means "hinimay" or flaked for the Luzon. The name was also coined for leftover parts of fish or chicken. In Hiligaynon, the word "labog" means forcefully thrown away. 

This surprised me because when I was small, I heard from my father and his friends about this linabog and they used the leaves of labog plant. So I grew up having some idea of what linabog cooking means and definitely, the Cebuanos' definition of Linabog dish is far from my Ilonggo definition.

And yes, Ilonggos have Batuan as its main souring favorite and then there is this roselle leaves and Iba or kamias. I must collate my local resources on souring agents because I heard a lot of other souring agents that we use. 

Anyway, given that backdrop, on the second week of our National Heroes' Day Cookfest, I decided to prepare Linabog nga Bisaya nga Manok in honor of Labog, a shrub which is abundant in Visayas and used as souring agent for cooking. Labog or Roselle is honored by  Calinog in Iloilo Province by conducting a Linabogan Cooking Competition in time for their Tourism month celebrated in September. This may not be a specific hero but then there is a great chance (and I willingly bet on this) that many of our local heroes in Panay and Negros had tasted this linabog dish.

In 2015, I had a chance to visit and stay for five days with the Panay Bukidnons of Calinog and one of the cookings that they were telling me was the Linabog. When the PB described their cooking process, they said that their chicken linabog is placed inside a bamboo section and cooked it in an open fire. I don't have bamboos around but to have an indigenous touch and enhanced aroma of the food, I laid banana leaves on my casserole.  Here is my recipe:

Linabog nga Bisaya nga Manok

Grated Coconut
Banana leaves
1 whole native chicken, cut to chunks
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 medium red onions, diced
4 Taud ilahas chili, cut into two
1 thumb-sized ginger, sliced
3 thumb-sized langkawas, sliced
6 sets of stalks of spring onions, 1 inch cut
2 handful of labog or roselle leaves
Salt to taste

In a deep basin, put the grated coconut, fill with a glass of hot water. Let cool and hand press so that the milk will come out. Strain the first cocomilk and set aside in a container. Add about a liter of water to the grated coconut and handpress again. Strain the cocomilk and collect in a separate container and set aside.

Clean the banana leaves and place at the bottom of the casserole. Leave some leaves to place with the lid. Put the chicken and all spices and add salt to taste. Arrange labog or roselle on the edges of the mixture. Add the second squeeze of coco milk.

Place in the stove at high heat for 30 to 45 minutes or until the milk is reduce to half and the chicken is tender. Add the first squeeze of cocomilk and let simmer at low heat for 10 minutes. Remove from fire and let cool a bit and serve with rice.