As far back as 1500, the area around Himologan in Northern Mindanao was already known as “Cagayan.” Much later, former congressman and vice president of the Philippines Emmanuel Pelaez added “de Oro” (City of the River of Gold) to the name, as the area had been a famous gold mining site. We struck a different gold mine on our visit to Misamis Oriental’s Golden Friendship City--one of the food kind. Lami, kaayo!
Story Annie Nisce
Photography Ed Simon
Art direction Philip Yu
Many thanks to Jan Sy of Thai Me Up and Monster! Kitchen and Chef Sau del Rosario
More famous for its adventure tourism, Mother Nature had blessed Cagayan de Oro (CDO) with awesome venues for extreme sports, like whitewater rafting, river trekking, rappelling and zip lining. If you’re into that, then you’ll surely whet a mighty appetite afterwards, and the Golden Friendship City won’t let you down.
Joanne Yu, president of the Cagayan de Oro Hotel and Restaurant Association (COHARA) and owner of the popular Bigby’s Café observes that their region still has to define its culinary personality. Yet, as soon as we landed at the Lumbia Airport, a quick lunch at a hole in the wall called Stephen’s Barbecue and Restaurant already made a luscious statement.
There, I was introduced to grill and kinilaw fare like no other. This humble spot has been around since 1977, which makes a strong culinary statement in itself. Stephen’s is one of those small, favorite stopovers for locals where you get a good meal for two to three at around P200. They served us fresh malasugi (blue marlin) washed in a mix of tabon-tabon sap and tuba (coconut nectar vinegar), biasong (small native lime or dayap) then mixed with salt, thin slices of ginger, onions and a handful of chopped fiery small chilies.
What makes this kinilaw different from others I’ve tried is the balancing act that the local souring agent, tabon tabon does to the acid of the tuba and the mellow sourness of the biasong. The fruit of an evergreen tree endemic to Northern Mindanao, tabon tabon looks like chico, its hard woody skin covering a single meaty seed that easily comes off once you open up the fruit. Locals scrape the pulp as one would a coconut, mix this with the tuba then squeeze the mix through a sieve for the final magic potion. The result, a beautiful kinilaw that highlights the milky freshness of the malasugi, to which you can add more kick by throwing in a couple more finger chilies. Great with a bottle of chilled beer, were it taken later in the day.
The rest of the lunch fare, barbecued squid, chicken and fish, was rather straightforward in preparation, simply rubbed with salt and grilled, but standouts in succulence. In CDO, my little food discovery is that if you’re after typical delicacies, be you in a Steve's or a fairly sophisticated restaurant (air-conditioned and no flying critters to swat off) like Kagay-anon in Rosario Arcade, the city's urbane food hub in the Limketkai area, you enjoy the same food quality. That figures, CDO is poultry-landia and boasts a 25-kilometer coastline and a deep-water harbor.
Learn more about Cagayan de Oro in the March 2010 issue of Appetite!
Simply, Lami
We struck a different gold mine on our visit to Misamis Oriental’s Golden Friendship City--one of the food kind. Lami, kaayo!
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The rest of the lunch fare, barbecued squid, chicken and fish, was rather straightforward in preparation, simply rubbed with salt and grilled, but standouts in succulence. In CDO, my little food discovery is that if you’re after typical delicacies, be you in a Steve's or a fairly sophisticated restaurant (air-conditioned and no flying critters to swat off) like Kagay-anon in Rosario Arcade, the city's urbane food hub in the Limketkai area, you enjoy the same food quality. That figures, CDO is poultry-landia and boasts a 25-kilometer coastline and a deep-water harbor.
