Food bits

BY KIM ATIENZA

Bamboo cooking is popular among certain tribes in Mindanao, particularly the talainged from Davao del Norte.

The process is called Lo-to by natives. Bamboo is used in place of pots and pans in upland areas where they are not available.

Dayok is the salted innards of danggit fish.

Fishwives preserve the intestines of this fish and soak them in sea salt, much like the Tagalog buro.

Dayok is sold in the markets of Cebu.

Much of the danggit and dayok sold in Cebu markets come from Bantayan Island in the northern part of the province.

Bagnet, a popular dish in Ilocos, is actually lechon kawali.

TRIVIA PA MORE (Various Sources): Malunggay seeds directly kill bacteria.

You can prepare safe drinking water for your family just by adding crushed seeds of malunggay into a pail of clean water.

In the 1800s, ketchup was sold as medicine.

In the Philippines, banana ketchup was invented by a Filipino war hero, Maria Orosa, a chemist from Taal, Batangas.

Lettuce is the second most popular fresh vegetable in the United States.

Some of the most exotic foods in the Philippines are known as Betamax (chicken gizzard), Betute Tugak (deep fried stuffed frogs), Kinilaw na Tamilok in Palawan and Aklan (Shipworm or Woodworm dipped in salt and vinegar).

ATING ALAMIN: What do you call a cluster of bananas?

Kim: A hand. That’s why a single banana is called a finger.

*

Send your questions on anything and everything to Kuya Kim through my Twitter account @kuyakim_ atienza using #AlaminKayKuyaKim.