The one-dish best-selling Minaluto, a banana-leaf lined bilao with tahong, hipon, kangkong, fried adobo and salted eggs strewn on a slope of rice? Try something similar in the remaining branches of Ihaw-Ihaw.

           Ginisang balaw-balaw or fermented shrimp sa baboy at talong? Find its equivalent in the burong hipon of Trellis, a ride away near the Quezon City hall.

           But in the same way that eating fishballs at home isn’t the same as having them on the street, the barbecue stick crammed with P20 worth of the slowly deflating spheres sticky with your fave sauce as harrumphing jeepneys dump a delicate layer of soot over it, Balaw-Balaw is all about being there.

           There is all about what the late artist Perdigon Vocalan built 25 years ago in October with his wife, Luzvimin, because he wanted the family to have an income less fickle than the sale of his giant-size canvases. (More on giants later.)

           There is a restaurant that doubles as a gallery that trebles as a museum that quadruples as the storage area of the Vocalans’ own hollowed-out papier mache higantes (rising 8 feet when worn by revelers during Angono’s Higantes Festival coinciding with the feast of San Clemente, patron saint of fishermen, in November).

           There is the maximalist ambiance – folk art, realistic art, surreal art, happy kitsch – that goes with Balaw-Balaw’s rich, down-home cooking.

           And there is the municipality of Angono itself, which lies east of Pasig and which is 30 to 45 minutes’ drive from Ortigas Extension off EDSA. Calling itself the Art Capital of the Philippines, Angono is home to two national artists, the painter Francisco “Botong” Francisco and the composer Lucio San Pedro. It is also where the Blanco family of realistic painters resides. And the official Angono website lists eight galleries in a town that’s less than a tenth of the size of Antipolo City. In fact, approaching Angono you’ll see a painter’s palette adorning the signs welcoming you to the town.

Uok

           So we had to be there, digging with bare hands into the alimango, pusit, okra, atbp. that made up the family serving of Minaluto (P985). The bilao was so gigantic (there we go again), it had to be set separately on a folding trestle. To make the experience even more authentic, we had a requisite balikbayan in tow just like the rest of the lunchtime patrons who filled the place.

           Minaluto, Luzvimin Vocalan tells us is a Tagalog term that means “rice.” But, she adds, “sa Laguna pag sinabi mong maluto, ibig sabihin baon; siyempre pag sinabi mong baon, it’s rice with viand na yon, yung one-meal.”

           While the Minaluto was more than enough for six of us (and two kids), we just had to have something else on our otherwise bare table. So we got the Nilasing na Hipon (P100), shrimps soaked in gin and deep fried, and the Sinigang na Kanduli sa Miso (P185).

           Kanduli or Manila sea catfish from nearby Laguna de Bay was once the prized catch of Angono fishermen. As it was with many of the delicacies that have been stricken off the Balaw-Balaw menu including sawa (snake), bayawak (lizard), usa (deer) baboy damo (wild boar).

           Says the Department of Environment and Natural Resources approached them sometime between 2003 and 2005 to warn them against serving these animals. “Usa and baboy damo considered endangered,” she tells us. “Bayawak and sawa are considered as threatened species kasi sabi sa akin, ‘Ma’am kasi po marami nang gumaya sa inyo. May mga restaurants na nagseserve ng sawa, bayawak.’”

           Those with adventurous tastes can still indulge, however. There’s uok or white worm from the larvae of crickets or beetles found in fallen coconut trees. “Ginagawa naming adobo,” explains Vocalan. “This is eaten in Batangas. Kasi one time we were invited sa UP Home Economics. Noon pwede pa yung mga sawa, bayawak – yun ang dinemo namin dun. And (the participants from) Batangas I think they demoed uok that’s why I was able to taste it.”

Bottled Itik

           In addition, Balaw-Balaw serves crispy alagaw leaves. “Alagaw is used to add aroma to the food, it adds flavor so (I thought) why not make it crispy.” There’s also Sinabawang Balut and the panciteria standard, Soup No. 5 made from the testicles of cows.

           Still, there’s more than enough benign stuff on the four-page menu to please many palates. Try the Asadong Itik (fried native duck cooked in a sweet sauce, P195), regular fare of Angono residents, or Balaw-Balaw (P135), which their menu helpfully describes as “made from small shrimps mixed with gruel and ‘angkak,’ a herbal that gives its reddish coloring.” The mixture is then preserved and fermented in an earthen jar for three days, after which it can be served or sautéed with young bamboo shoots. The buro or pickled mixture is paired with sinigang.

           And because most folks would want to bring home their satisfied burps, the Vocalans (youngest son Andre Perdigon, 28, now oversees the restaurant’s marketing and operations) have begun bottling their specialties including Balaw-Balaw or burong hipon (8 oz., P60), Adobong Itik (P90), Adobong Itik sa Gata (P90).
So, yes, you can take it home with you. But let me tell you, it’s just better when you’re there.

Being there
Balaw-Balaw is open every day of the week from 10 am to 10 pm. Breakfast is served by appointment. For inquires and reservations, call or fax (+632) 651.0110.

Getting there
Take the Angono-bound buses at the Shaw Boulevard terminal in Pasig. If you’re driving, take Ortigas Avenue Extension from EDSA, then turn right at the junction towards Provincial Road. At the junction towards Manila East Road, make a left. Balaw-Balaw is about a kilometer away on Doña Justa Village.

Business opportunity?
Interested in importing Balaw-Balaw’s bottled products? Talk terms with Andre Perdigon Vocalan at telefax (+632) 651.0110, mobile (+63) 917.602.4614. Or email balaw2x@yahoo.com

Balaw-Balaw Fried Rice or Pink Rice

           Preheat the oil in the cooking pan, then sauté garlic until golden brown. Add the onion and sauté till soft. Throw in the diced chorizo together with the pork or chicken and cook till tender. Tumble in the rice and add the Balaw Balaw. Toss everything in the pan, making sure the rice and Balaw Balaw are thoroughly mixed. Garnish with onion leaves before serving. Perfect for breakfast, Pink Rice can be served with fried egg on the side.

By Ces Rodriguez