A Serving of Xtreme Cuisine in Palawan
Food trippers will find Palawan a haven of international cuisine. There are numerous Vietnamese chao-long or noodle houses, a couple of full-pledged Vietnamese restaurants – one of which specializes in vegetarian food – and a bakery famed for it Vietnamese bread.
Above: This is my Vietnam. I love the smell and taste of chao-long in the morning.
Some European settlers have put up restaurants serving English, German and Swiss dishes. A local favorite is a place called Bavaria Pizza, which makes really great pizzas and delicious sausages.
Above: Fruit salad ala Ka Lui. Slices of watermelon, bananas and other fruits in season served on a coconut shell with meat.
For mostly Filipino dishes served with noveau cuisine flair Ka Lui is the place to go. The restaurant’s seafood heavy menu changes daily but traditional faves include tuna sashimi, kilawin tuna, grilled tuna belly, and prawns in garlic butter. By the way, guests are required to take off their footwear before entering the restaurant. Something to consider if you’re not proud of your bare feet.
Ihaw-ihaw sa Puerto is for people hankering for no-frill barbecues, grilled and dishes so Filipino they carry their own passport.
However, the food I miss the most is the papaitan served at a small carinderia beside Mendoza Park. Papaitan, I believed, is native to northern Philippines. Traditionally, it is made with goat’s internal organs. Bile is added to give it that greenish tinge and slight bitter taste. People don’t usually associate bitterness with good food but papaitan works for me.
Above: Screw ambiance! This food stall fserves papaitan that more than makes up for its humble setting. Their version of papaitan should be legally declared as an addictive substance.
My friend who introduced me to this addiction said it was the best papaitan in PPC. I think he was wrong because it’s the best papaitan in Region IV! I often had it for breakfast, lunch and dinner on same days!
If you prefer to cook your own food check out the wet market and be amazed at the incredibly low prices of fresh fish, shrimps, and crabs. I used to have grilled tuna every weekend at my place. One whole tuna about a foot long only costs at a fraction of its price in Manila and it never makes city tourists gasp with disbelief and envy. Because they are fresh, the tuna and many other fishes also make for a great kinilaw. Basically kilaw is fish or meat marinated in vinegar with ginger or chili and eaten raw.
A friend also introduced me to sikad-sikad, a kind of sea snail. It is a breeze to prepare. You can boil it in plain water bbut you can also add 7-Up or coconut milk. Eating it, however, requires patience, dexterity and a special tool.
The only way to pull out the tiny cooked meat from inside shell is with a pin. That’s easier said than done because your hands can get slippery especially if they were cooked with coconut milk. The meat tastes wonderful, though, like sweetened milk.
Aptly, it was in Palawan that I had my most extreme culinary experience: crocodile meat cooked with coconut milk (a winning recipe in a cooking contest sponsored by the Crocodile Farm) and adobong ostrich.
The ostrich tasted like, well, poultry on the tough side. But that was preferable to croc meat. They say it tastes like chicken but I thought it had a rather strong disagreeable stale fishy flavor. I found it hard to swallow.
I was told that it was a common reaction among people more psychological than anything else. Both crocodile and ostrich meats cost hundreds of pesos per kilo but I’ll take the P25.00/plate of papaitan anytime.
Above: Iwahig Penal Colony is hands down the most picturesque prison facility in the country.
And then there’s the grilled whole chicken at a small resort inside the Iwahig Penal Colony. There’s really nothing special about it per se. What sets it apart is that it is prepared by the Kulonos (“Colonists”) inside the most scenic prison facility in the country. Inmates, except those incarcerated in maximum security prison, are allowed to roam anywhere they please as long as they stay within its boundaries. But if you didn’t know this (and if inmates were not required to wear a uniform) you would think Iwahig is just another town – with an overwhelmingly male population.
I did know this, however, and it made me feel a bit uncomfortable especially after hearing stories of a couple of events that took place there. Years ago there was a bloody hostage-taking incident involving some Kulonos and the children of one of the camp officials (it’s a common practice for officers’ households located inside Iwahig to have Kulonos as house helpers). The drama ended with the hostages safe and the hostage takers dead. But the story didn’t end there.
Above: Despite the lack of walls prison breaks are actually rare at Iwahig Penal Colony
Rumors rumbled that the Kulonos were allegedly driven to commit the crime in retaliation for the cruel treatment they were getting from the prison official they worked for. they had no intention of killing the hostages but just wanted media attention so they can air their grievances. Furthermore, if the grapevine buzz was correct, they were allegedly killed by the official and his men to silence them.
Another Iwahig story goes like this. A group of Kulonos tried to escape by swimming across a river that borders the camp. Some were recaptured but the others were never seen again. Reportedly, they were devoured by a kind of giant fish (not crocodiles) that lives in the river that serves as one of the prison camp’s “walls.”
For the record, no dire incidents involving visitors have taken place in Iwahig. If I felt edgy well, that’s just me being paranoid and judgmental.
Iwahig is a huge place with its own rice fields, vegetable gardens and Balsahan, a resort open to the public. Balsahan is a natural river that has been dammed with rocks to create a swimming pool with cottages on its bank. Visitors are allowed to bring their own food (alcoholic beverages are strictly prohibited) but they can also order grilled chickens from the inmates. It takes a while to prepare because they prepare it from scratch. That is, they start with slaughtering the chicken.
Above: Napsan is the perfect getaway: quiet, isolated and romantic.
Iwahig also serves as a shortcut to Napsan. Napsan is usually only accessible during the summer because the road crosses several river beds. During the monsoon season, vehicles often sit on the river banks patiently waiting for the waters to go down low enough to cross it.
Above: Napsan beach on a crowded day.
There is a resort in Napsan called Kiao. It is an unassuming resort with small cozy cottages for two. There’s water but no electricity although it has a generator. This is turned on right after sun down until about midnight. The beach is pristine and although there are a few houses nearby, the place looks pretty deserted. Rare bising (Palawan squirrels) can still be seen doing their daily routine on the tree branches.
Above: If not for the niknik, the beaches of Napsan would be absolutely perfect.
The view of the sunset from the beach is fantastic. The water is calm and warm at night, perfect for night swimming. Unfortunately, infuriating biting insects called niknik inhabit the beach and they come out at night. This makes sitting on the sand under the moon and stars is definitely out of the question. Unless you enjoy the sensation of a million pin picks followed by maddening itchiness all over your body.
Above: Kiao’s cottages are cozy and only a few feet away from the beach.
An Austrian national, who is an excellent host and a fantastic cook, manages the resort. He usually whips up European dishes using local ingredients. The menu depends on whatever ingredients are available. When we were there he serves us incredibly tasty squash bread that he baked himself that went very well with the thick clam soup.
Above: A glimpse of Port Barton from the hills can last forever.
Another culinary experience that I keep replaying on my mind over and over again took place on a sandbar off the shore of Port Barton. Port Barton is a seaside resort town about 140 km north of PPC. The last few kilometers to the port is definitely the prettiest sight during the very, very long drive there. A winding road goes up a hill for some industrial-strength postcard view of the town and Pagdanan Bay.
Above: The ubiquitous A-shaped cabins of Swissipini.
We stayed at a place called Swissipini Lodge owned by a Swiss national and his Filipino wife. My friends a number of dishes including a spaghetti and kinilaw na barracuda. We then rented a boat to take us to a small island made of white sand.
Above: Day or night the sandbar is the perfect place to relax when in Port Barton.
It was about 8.00 pm when we got on the island. While the water was nice and warm the strong breeze straight from the hills was rather chilly. This prevented me from taking a swim and instead I simply lay on the sand. I have never seen so many falling stars! I thought they were rare but I had ran out of wishes while the celestial fireworks just kept on zooming across the night sky.
The only other lights we saw came from the distant pearl farms. The lights looked like gems themselves, hanging on a string in the middle of the sea. But these were not meant to be pretty decorations. I was told the lights were there to discourage pearl robbers and those guarding the farms were equipped with firearms and will shoot to kill.
Above. The fierce and much-feared barracuda makes a fierce delicacy.
Anyway, the kinilaw na barracuda was outrageously scrumptious. The raw flesh of the fish was literally sweet – a sign of freshness – and it went very well with the hot, tangy vinegar sauce and chilled beer. The spaghetti was also wickedly spicy and I remember how the piquant after taste lingered, nay, danced, on my palate. I held on to it as long as I could before washing it down with beer and then taking another mouthful of the pasta.
If your taste buds have been worn out by typical fast food fare, PPC is the place to shake its bland, greasy flavors off your tongue. If you have the time a trip to Port Barton is highly recommended. If you find yourself staying at Swissipini Inn order the spaghetti and, if you’re lucky, they may have the kinilaw na barracuda, too.
