Food Ventures in Kalibo by Tetchie Cruz

I believe this is one of the most sought after places in the Philippines, because of “Boracay”.  The town of Kalibo is the capital of the province of Aklan, one of the four provinces comprising the island of Panay, the sixth largest island in the Philippines.  

      

But you know guys, there is one thing more exciting in this city – the “food”.  Its local dishes called Aklanon is really something you should not missed when you get there. 


Saylo Cuisine ~ A good place to dine in if you feel like tasting authentic local dishes when visiting Kalibo. It is also a more “upscale” place in the city. The place is good and the ambiance is nice.

Saylo is a Visayan term which means "to welcome" or "to invite to come in". It is also a term which means "to transfer" .  

Added to eyecatching idea is the MENU made of local materals …

Now the food, for local dishes in Aklan or Kalibo specialities, they have a special category on their menu.

Don’t forget to try one of their bestsellers, here it is the ….

Chicken Binakoel (Php290) or binakol is a sweet soup of native chicken cooked inside inside a bamboo bud. The sweet flavor comes from the coconut juice.

It was very good, so we were asking for more,  but that means we have to order another one.  Chicken binakoel takes a long time to cook because they told us it will take around 45 minutes. Well its worth waiting for this so tasteful soup…


Linapay

 Another one is Linapay (Php70)  - this is pounded freshwater shrimp locally known as “ueang” and gawud – young coconut meat,  wrapped in taro leaves, then cooked in coconut milk. I’m maybe bias because I love food in coconut milk. The freshwater shrimp was very fresh. If you want it spicy, slice in peppers and that’s it. 


DESERTS – Aklano have also many delicacies; among their local desert, I find these two so sweet…


Inday-Inday

This is a simple dessert made from sticky rice flour (malagkit) cooked in hot water, just like the palitaw and topped with bucayo, gelatinous coconut meat simmered in water, muscovado sugar and coconut milk. 
Its a beautiful play of texture and taste, blandness of the sticky rice flour patty and the sweetness of the topping.


LATIK

This native delicacy is another play of texture and taste like Suman, cooked glutinous rice, which is bland is topped with grated coconut and latik, watery caramelized sugar, then wrapped in banana leaves and steamed. 

Unlike the traditional suman which is elongated, this one is just around three inches long and bite sized. these are also sold in the local markets or at the pasalubong center of Kalibo airport.



Sources/references:
• http://langyaw.com/2014/06/03/6-aklanon-food-try/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/diaz/8398801102/
• www.ourawesomeplanet.com/.../kalibo-saylo-cuisine-the-best-in-kalibo.htm...
• www.valcaulin.com/article/saylo-cuisine-where-to-eat-in-kalibo/4346
• http://stolenwanders.blogspot.com/2013/05/aklanon-dishes-at-saylo-cuisine.html