On finding a good Ilocos Empanada

I don't know how many times I've been to Ilocos since Hubby and I got together but I can count how many times I've eaten an Ilocos empanada!  ZERO!!! Haha . . .We haven't eaten one in the many times we've been there!  I guess because we know that we always go there anyway plus I am not really a fan of this empanada because I didn't like it the first time I tried it . . .in Manila!  I know, I know, I should know better.  Of course I have to try it in its birth place!  

As they say, everybody deserves a second chance . . . including this empanada!  Haha!

After we checked in at Hotel Luna, we had some time to spare before attending the 7PM Sunday mass in St. Paul Cathedral in the Plaza.  We thought this is a good time to get some.

My sister told me that the two famous empanadas in Vigan are Irene's and CJ's.  Our Aunt though recommended Insiang's which she has personally tried and liked.  Now, if a local tells you that it is good, you have trust them because they know what they are talking about!

We walked along the streets of Vigan and we couldn't find it (because we got the wrong directions, haha).  We asked several locals but somehow they couldn't give us an answer (a bad sign? haha). We were even second guessing ourselves if we have the right name!  

But we (our tummies) didn't give up!

But thanks to Manong Kutsero, we found Insiang's!  

Yes, it exists! Haha

Literally, a roadside eatery.

There is a funny story about the picture below.  The table wasn't there when we got there.  They literally pulled out the table from somewhere (ala bunny out of the hat trick, haha) and just set it up for us when we told them we are going to "dine-in". 

Food adventure ba kamo?  haha

Since we were on a rush (because we are still going to attend Mass), we just ordered Empanada. They actually have different choices for Empanada (e.g. Special, Double, etc.) and they also have Okoy.

So here it is. . . Insiang's Empanada!  (aka the first Ilocos Empanada which I loved, haha)

Best when eaten hot and with Sukang Iloko!  I love how the crust is thin and crispy and not doughy.

I also like how the egg yolk came out runny.  I am not sure if this was meant to be runny or if it was just probably fried quickly than the rest but at any rate, this worked well for me!

I love that Insiang uses Papaya instead of Cabbage for Empanada.  They said there are times that they use Cabbage if there is no Papaya on hand.  

Side story: My sister got the chance to eat Empanada in Paoay (a place North of Ilocos) and she told me that they (at least the one that she tried) have an orange-colored crust which is thicker versus the empanada which we had in Vigan (down South) which we had.  One difference too is that the empanada from the North uses cabbage and togue as filling.

If there is one thing that Insiang's can improve on, we wish there was more meat (they use Vigan Longganisa) in it.  The longganisa they use is actually good.  We liked the Empanada so much that we ordered 50 pcs of Empanada to bring back home (to share with family and friends), haha! We also ordered longganisa from them.  We appreciate that they delivered everything to our hotel too.  

I have yet to try the other empanadas in Vigan but for now, I am happy to say that I enjoy eating the Ilocos Empanada now, thanks to Insiang's! (Agyamanak Manang Insiang!)

In case you are wondering about the Empanadas we brought back home, I have to say that they are really best when eaten hot and freshly cooked.  We re-heated them in a toaster and let them cool for a bit (so they will get crispy) and still enjoyed eating them the day after.

Do you have a favorite Ilocos Empanada?  Care to share?  😁

Insiang's

Calle Salcedo and V. De Los Reyes St.

near Gordion Hotel

Vigan City

One Night in Vigan - Revisiting Hotel Luna

Every time we go home to Philippines, we make sure we visit Hubby's Grandma (she is 93  years old) and Aunt in Ilocos Sur.  Due to time constraints, we were able to stay only for a night but we are glad to be able to have spent some time with his side of the family.  

We stayed at our favorite hotel in Vigan, Hotel Luna (which I blogged about here).   I am so happy to see that nothing has changed in their impeccable service.  Everyone. . . like EVERYONE (I swear) was so courteous and helpful.  

Business must have been good since the last time we came because the hotel has built an Annex which has 17 rooms.  I am just not sure if the main hotel takes care of reservations for both hotel or each property handles its own reservations.  If you do an online booking with third party vendors (e.g., Agoda, Expedia), the Annex is listed as Hotel Luna Annex.  By the way, they apply the Senior Citizen Discount only when the booking is made directly with the hotel.   

For Dinner, Hubby and I were able to go on a "date" because the kids (and my Aunt) had dinner at the room.  (Thanks to McDonald's! Haha)

If I wasn't too tired from the 6 hr trip (I drove!  Yep, moi!), a walk around the Plaza or in Calle Crisologo would have been nice but dinner in an air-conditioned place where you just have to take an elevator sounded more appealing to me that time, haha!  And I heard from my sister that the dinner buffet in Comedor (the hotel's restaurant) is good.  Unfortunately, there wasn't a buffet that night (I think buffet nights are only on weekends).

At any rate, we were happy with what we ordered.  By the way, the restaurant's ala carte menu has a wide array of choices.

We ordered Pinakbet Paella which was good.  It has Vigan longganisa, bagnet, salted eggs and veggies as toppings.  It was a meal in itself!  The only thing I was missing is the soccarat (sosyal name for "tutong", haha). 

And we also tried their Dinakdakan (an Ilocano dish which is similar to sisig).   I don't eat Dinakdakan because it usually has pig's brain mixed into it to make it creamy.   I enjoyed this version because it is like the standard sisig.

The hotel also has a good breakfast buffet, something I look forward to whenever we stay in this hotel, haha.

If you need a place to stay in Vigan, I highly recommend Hotel Luna for a comfortable stay, yummy food and excellent service from the staff! 

Hotel Luna

General Luna St., 

Vigan City, Ilocos Sur

Tel. No. +63 (77) 632 2222

For more details about Hotel Luna, please click here to go to their website.

Bangkok Adventure: Food Diary

As a follow up to my last post, I am going to share with you some of our food adventures.  Honestly we were not able to do much "culinary exploration" in Bangkok (fancy name lang for food tripping, haha) as much as we would like to because there are some days when we are just too tired to go out, haha!

Here are snapshots from our food diary:

We only saw a limited number of street food during our stay in the city as we did not have enough time to go on a Street Food adventure.

(I googled and am saving this blog post about Street Food in Bangkok from migrationology.com for future reference!)

When we went to the Night Market across our hotel, we tried this BBQ pork sausage which hubby liked because it tasted like our the Pinoy Vigan longganisa.

We also tried fresh fruits.  The watermelon and pineapple (I love that its core was crunchy) were just okay.  All the fruits were refreshing but the melon was our favorite because it was sweet! 

Fresh fruits come with a dip that consists of sugar, salt and chilies.

There was one evening where we just bought food in the different food stalls that we found near our hotel and just ate at our room. (Picnic!!!) 

The Chicken satay was good!

Across the Platinum Mall, we saw this place that sells Chicken Rice (similar to Singapore's Hainanese Chicken) that is a favorite among the locals.  Personally I am not fond of any kind of Hainanese Chicken but if I have to choose between Singapore and Bangkok's version, I would pick Singapore. 😁

But it is always a good idea to try local favorites right?! 😄

Lining up for Take-Out (or Take Away as the locals say)

Details:

Go-Ang Kaomunkai Pratunam

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Address: 

966 Phetchaburi Rd, Khwaeng Makkasan, 

Khet Ratchathewi, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 

10400, Thailand

(across Platinum Mall)

*just look out for the pink logo and the staff wearing pink 😁

Beside the Chicken place is a stall that sells Mango Sticky Rice (a must eat when in Bangkok!)

We also ordered Oyster Omelette, Thai Basil Chicken and a Noodle dish from this man. 

One morning, I saw these fresh fruits and just had to buy Lanzones and Mangosteen (both were sweeettt!) because I miss having them!  These are some of the fruits I miss eating since moving to LA.  I wanted to buy the Atis (custard apple) but I wasn't willing to pay the price for it, haha! 😆  Besides, the seller said they were not in season (so they might not be sweet then.  Thank you to her for being honest!)

We have also tried several food courts and my most favorite is the Paragon Food Hall located at Siam Paragon Mall because it's big and it has a wide range of food choices.

Tip: Some food courts do not accept cash.  You have to avail of a prepaid card from a counter and load it up.  I suggest you go around first to see what you like and how much it would cost so you have an idea on the amount you need.    If you have a remaining balance on your card, you can just ask for a monetary refund from the cashier after.

Just like Mango Sticky Rice, Pad Thai is synonymous with Bangkok.

I can never get enough of this Thai iced dessert!  I think I ate it three times during our stay!  It is a mix of different sweet treats like jack fruit, sweet potato, taro, corn, water chestnuts (my fave!) , tapioca, gelatin, etc. and then bathed in coconut milk.

And because we couldn't get enough of Mango Sticky Rice (haha!), we just had to try Dairy Queen's interpretation of this Thai food speciatly in Blizzard form! 

I know, it sounds weird and you could not imagine having sticky in your ice cream but you know what, this rocks!  You have to try it. 

It makes me (and my tummy! Haha) sad that we weren't able to try more culinary delights that Bangkok has to offer.  It is truly a food haven that is rich both in sweet and savory treats!

This can only mean one thing. . . . I see another trip to Bangkok in the future! Haha!

And if you go to Bangkok, I wish you a food trip that would make  your tummies happy!  Enjoy!

Bangkok Adventure: T & K Seafood Restaurant

I could have called it a "MISadventure" but I would rather look it as a blessing in disguise because something came good out of this adventure, haha. 

So we (Hubby, me and my sister) thought of going to Bangkok's Chinatown's Night Market hoping to do some shopping and food tripping.  We took a cab from the hotel and got off in Yaowarat Road (home to Bangkok's Chinatown) and just started walking.  We passed by lots of street food stalls (one stall who sells buns even had a super long, crazy queue!  Parang sa concert lang promise) and restaurants.  We were almost at the end of the road and yet, we couldn't see anyone selling anything! Haha!  So here's a travel tip for you. . . Bangkok's Chinatown doesn't have a Night Market, it is all about food!

(For a list of  Bangkok's Night Markets, please click here to read.)

So before heading back to the hotel, we thought of grabbing something to eat but we don't have any idea where.  So we just went with the flow. . . literally.  

We just chanced upon this frenzied place which seemed to be a popular choice judging from the people who were eating and waiting for a table.  It was a full house!  There was dining "al fresco" and they also have an air-conditioned restaurant.  

Yes, it's a busy restaurant!

We got seated at the second level of the restaurant (it has 3 floors).  It is a narrow building so this is how our dining room inside looks like . . .

We were actually seated at the back of the guy in white shirt.  Too close for comfort in a way, haha! We also enjoyed a brief conversation with the group beside us (the guy in blue shirt wearing glasses) who were from Singapore.  They told us that they always come to eat in this restaurant whenever they go to Bangkok.  

There was a lot to choose from!  Their menu has a good range of seafood choices which include Fish, Prawns, Squid, Oyster, Mussels, Shellfish, Crabs and they have Vegetables and Noodles too.  We weren't super hungry (I wish we were so we could have ordered more! lol) so we just ordered the following:

It may look simple but it is tasty.

Fried Squid with Garlic and Pepper - Meh, we should have ordered something else.

Deep fried White Snapper in Tamarind flavored soup

This is a Shrimp Dish, sorry I forgot what the name is.  But this was clearly our favorite!
It is one of those dishes where you would say, sauce pa lang ulam na!

If you are a seafood lover and also in a seafood diet (where you eat everything you "sea", haha), I recommend this restaurant.

Going to Chinatown for food tripping is always a good idea! =)

Got the details for T & K Seafood Restuarant from their FB page

Bangkok Adventure: Trip to Ot Tor Kor Market

As I've mentioned in my previous post, we went to Bangkok for vacation with my Mom and my sister.  When in Bangkok, Food and Shopping tops the list of course!  But my Mom is not big on these two things.  So my sister thought that she would enjoy a trip to a local market (one thing that she loves is fruits!).  My sister read about Ot Tor Kor Market in some travel blogs that she came across and it was also recommended by the Hotel's Concierge so off we went!

We (minus Hubby and the kids) left the hotel around 8am.  The Market is around 8 kms away from the hotel, about 30-40 mins ride (depending on the traffic).   

Personally, I was looking forward to it because I love going to local markets because you get to have a feel of being a local.  You can find so many things in Ot Tor Kor Market. . . fresh seafood, vegetables, different kind of fruits, spices, Thai ingredients, cooked food, snacks, etc.  This place is truly a feast for the senses!

Trivia: Did you know that Ot Tor Kor Market is included in CNN's list for 10 of the World's Best Markets?!

I think we enjoyed our trip to the market because it wasn't too crowded.  I would suggest going there in the morning (by 9am) on a weekday.  I can just imagine that weekends can be crazy!  By the way, this place is also near the Chatuchak Market.

There are two words I can use to describe the market. . . CLEAN

and COLORFUL!  

It is a joy to just walk through each aisle and look around and see what they have.

So pretty. . .Makopa Fruit (as what Filipinos call them).
The English name for this fruit is Wax Apple or Java Apple.

Two of my favorite fruits: Mangosteen and Lychees!

I love Santol too!
(Btw, not that I am biased but for me, Philippines has the best mangoes in the whole world!)

The seller told me that the red ones are Jackfruit.

Fruits from other countries are also sold here like these grapes from Australia

and Cherries from the US

I wish we came here for lunch! It was just too early for us to try these, haha

But I had to try these.. . one of my favorite Thai appetizers, Fish Cakes!

We bought a box of these "hopia" (as Filipinos call them) with different fillings
and we loved them that we bought a second box!

We love the crust of this curry puff.

Thai "kakanin"

Thai Snacks - Dried Seafood

It was interesting to see that they put coconut cream (or coconut milk, I'm not sure) in their BBQ.  I know this sounds odd but they were actually good.  You can't taste the coconut at all.

You can say that walking through the market surely works up an appetite!  It does. . .  not because it is tiring but because of the food you see!  Haha!

The market also has a place where you can sit down and eat so if you plan on doing some food tripping, GOOOOO! =)

We did! =)

It was nice having some "girl time" with my Mom and sister in the middle of this market, haha.  You can say that we left with our hearts and tummies, happy and full. =)

Ot Tor Kor Market

Address: 139/4 1, Samsen Nai, Phaya Thai, 

Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10400, Thailand