BAGNET is a deep fried crunchy, crispy layer of skin, pork fat and meat. This is best served "KBL" (Kamatis, Bagoong & Lasona) or in english, Native Fish Paste, Tomatoes and Anchovies.

EMPANADA is a FRIED orange-colored dough with monggo (or papaya), egg, and longanisa as filling.

INSARABASAB is an Ilocano dish where pork's meat is roasted over to an open fire. Insarabasab is an Ilocano term meaning, " something burned from an open fire". Simply said in laymen and culinary term as, "meat roasted directly from an open fire". In the old days, the Ilocanos use the fire of dry logs or firewood to roast the meat of pig in their dalikan which is the traditional Ilocano stove or cooking place. The meat is cut into thin slices, spiced with salt and pepper, vinegar, and then mixed with slices of onion.

DINAKDAKAN is an Ilocano delicacy made with grilled pork parts such as the face, ears, liver and tongue. The charred meats are chopped into small pieces and tossed in a tangy calamansi or vinegar dressing with minced ginger, red onions and chili peppers. Mashed pig brain is then stirred in to add creaminess.

IPON is an Ilocano exotic food available only in season. It is a newly zygote fish, with the scientific name of sycyopterus lachrymosus. This small fish that measures about 1 inch in length and about 5 mm in diameter is only endemic to the provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur and Cagayan Valley. It is cooked as nilengta (steamed), kilawen (raw) with onions, vinegar and ginger, torta (with a scrambled egg), paksiw with vinegar and salt, sinigang (ipon soup with tomatoes and ginger), or even grilled ipon wrapped in banana leaf.

MIKI is a chicken noodle soup, often with light orange colored thick broth, topped with sliced boiled egg, pulled chicken, crushed chicharon and anchovies. Best served hot with chili-garlic oil and spicy vinegar.

HI-BOL The name Hi-Bol have originated from the word “High Voltage”, this dish has a sour and bitter soup best served really hot with chillies. This Ilocano dish is a combination of pinapaitian served with pancit lusay. In some versions, paksiw-laoag (beef innards) or sinanglaw-vigan is used instead of pinapaitan.

POKPOKLO is a seeweed salad eaten raw with slices of tomato, miced ginger and onions. Pokpoklo has a salty taste and crunchy texture. This iron-rich seaweed is the basis of a popular salad in the Ilocos region, with abundance found in rocky and sandy places in Bangui. It is often served as a side dish with fried or grilled dishes.

KILAWEN A KALDING is made of goat's singed/burnt skin and grilled meat and liver chopped and spiced and made into a kind of "salad." An Ilokano dish, it is kind of "exotic" to others but is a popular goat dish throughout the Philippines. What's distinctly Ilokano about it is that Ilokano folks is that they usually season it with the goat's bile or papa-it and sukang-iloko with lots of onions and ginger.

BURIDIBOD A PALTONG is the term Ilocanos use when a dinengdeng or inabraw uses kamote (sweet potato) as the main ingredient. It is a native Ilocano dish where paltong and kamote are combined with fried fish, then flavored with bagoong.

GARLIC LONGGANISA is a native sausage made from pork meat, herbs, spices and vinegar, stuffed in pork intestine. Best served as fried or grilled.

PINAKBET PIZZA is a unique Ilocano specialty of a pizza dough with vegetable toppings. A must try!

IMBALIKTAD Ilocano dish for beef stir fry, also a medium-rare cook of beef cooked in just around less than 2 minutes.

PINAKBET (pinakebbet) is the Ilocano word for " shriveled or shrunk." The word has been applied to the dish because the vegetables, after simmering in the diluted fish paste, shrivel and shrink. Certainly there are versions of the dish in other provinces but the Ilocano variety is acknowledged to be the original.

POQUI-POQUI is an Ilocano vegetable dish made of roasted eggplant, tomatoes, and eggs.

INABRAW, which is also called "Abraw" or "Dinengdeng", is a "bagoong" based soup dish made primarily of vegetables top with grilled or fried fish. Inabraw is a regional Filipino dish that originated in Ilocos regions. History of this dish can be traced during the pre-colonial period of Philippine history when boiling, roasting, and grilling where still the most common methods of cooking. The Ilocanos who migrated in the northern part of the Philippines are skilled and talented in so many ways.

PANCIT LUSAY is a type of noodle dish popular in Ilocos, where lusay noodles are cooked with Laoag longaniza, sliced tomatoes, egg, onions and garlic then seasoned with some bagoong. Lusay noodles are the noodle scraps from the fresh noodles where its cut and length vary, another trait of the Ilocos cuisine where nothing gets wasted.

AR-ARUSIP SEEWEEDS or scientifically called Caulerpa lentillifera, mostly reffered to as lato, here in Laoag and Ilocos Region, it is called ar-arusip. It was known and eaten by the Ilocanos way back before it was cultured in other places in the Philippines.

KILAWEN A MUNAMON is also an Ilocano delicacy made up of raw freshly caught (kadak-daklis) anchovies (also known as munamon, taburkit or billangan), seasoned with salt, onions and ginger and siling-labuyo, then mixed with sukang-iloko.

SALAD A PAKO edible fern (also called fiddlehead fern) tossed in fresh calamansi, dalayap or lemon juice and bagoong. Sometimes, sliced tomato, onions and minced ginger are also added.

*images, contents, source: CTTO

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