Foot and Fire

It's a wonderful blessing to find seaweeds these days. They seem so sparse today in our wet market. This iodine-rich salad is always a joy to serve in our table.  1/2 kilo Seaweeds of choice or available 1 cup Vinegar 1 small cucumber cubed 1 small head lettuce, cubed 1 small carrots, cubed 1 small onions cubed Chili peppers Pepper & salt A pinch of sugar or drops of honey Wash seaweeds & remove shells and other impurities. Place in a glass bowl. Add hot water and let steep for 3 minutes. Color changes are expected and the seaweed must still be crunchy. Drain. Add vinegar and all ingredients. Mix well and chill until serving. Best as appetizer and side dish. 

Amik looks like bihon (our local dried noodle made of cassava or corn) but more fragile. It is crunchy, sweet and oily. According to the locals, this is the food of the Muslims when it is Ramadan. ***  We bought one piece to sample "Amik," a food prepared with so much care as according to our host, Sir Roger de la Cruz, it will never form in oil like this if the one who cooks is a sinner. Well, as an aspiring cook, I am challenged to do this some time. ***  Seaweeds abound Samal and one should not leave the island without tasting at least this kind  that has the soft jelly texture. *** This seaweed is my favorite because it has the crunch, a perfect characteristic for salad. *** Panga ng Tuna or Tuna Jaw is best accompanied by these two seaweed salad.  Courtesy of our host, Sir Roger. *** I can't leave Samal without sampling the Isda sa Bato, fishes that are colored when in water and looks like they should go to the aquarium rather than in my bowl. *** *** Yes, Just ...

By GERLIE M. UY Food needs no introduction. It speaks so well where were we: in the islands of Coron where seafoods abound. Yehey... Sharing to you the bounty. (This is P200/pax with drinks and water). I Love this Lato seaweed... Just dipped it in the vinegar. *** Approve! ***

By GERLIE M. UY Eating worm is not that bad as I thought it would be. The texture of Tamilok is soft just like that of talaba or oyster. There is no strong fishy smell too when soaked in vinegar. Tamilok is taken from the dead wood of some mangrove trees. It sells a bit pricey because the process of extracting it from the deed wood is quite hard... Lato is a grape-like shape seaweeds. The green color is vibrant and it is just washed and served with vinegar. When eaten, Lato has a rhythmic crunch and the saltwater is evident in its taste. Chao long is a vietnamese influence to the delicacy of the Palawenos. However, it did not pass my taste test. It has some very sweet flavor when in fact I had a beef stew noodles. No chili taste despite its reddish color. I also don't like its coarse big strand of noodles... But I love the french bread that accompanies the noodles so much. They can also be ordered with some meat sandwich...

The beach is not only about waters. It is all about life within the ecosystem too. Sandugan beach area of Larena, Siquijor is not without any offering in this department. Here are my takes of the life in the fine white sand of Siquijor Island from starfishes as wide as my hand to urchins of many hues from black to blue... This is the part II of Mystery of Syquijor Unravelled blog ... Black sea urchins Black sea urchins joined by a red orange one... red orange hue ... some weeds weeds? must be seaweeds... starfish as big as my palm seaweed another sea urchin? like im in a hundred islands corals and starfish interesting organism seaweed colorful sea urchin... Residents gather the yellow content of the sea urchin and use it in an omelette or boil the shell whole and use the soup.... fishes black and orange-blue hue... No sunset but still smiling... sand formation... refined sand, wh...