Filipinos are widely known for their artistic magic in cooking. With that, many tourists highly praise the locals for their pride in always giving something unique and tasty to the dining table. From Luzon, Visayas, to Mindanao, nothing will surely disappoint your palates! In particular, the city of Cagayan de Oro is not only known for its white rapids and hospitable people, but its local delicacies travel wide as well! On that note, if you recently visited the beautiful place and have been craving the best native food in Cagayan De Oro, say no more! You can undoubtedly recreate some of their tasty dishes inside your condo. All it takes are the proper ingredients, a step-by-step guide, and on top of everything, self-confidence! After all, it can be quite intimidating to hit the kitchen and try remaking the famous food in Cagayan De Oro. Nonetheless, you should still cook your heart out! Try out these fantastic dishes below.
Turones de Mani
Being one of Cagayan’s most treasured delicacies, Turones de Mani can be found in every nook and cranny of pasalubong shops in the city. Natively from Cagayan de Oro, the tasty delicacy’s name Turones de Mani means peanut turon, or wrapped peanut. And to describe this snack, it is a combination of sweet and crunchy that will undoubtedly have your mouth watering. In particular, Turones de mani is made of crushed peanuts coated with honey, and caramelized sugar, wrapped together by wafer. Indeed, this is the most sought-after famous food in Cagayan de Oro that tourists and locals find sumptuous. And if you decide to recreate this dish, you will undoubtedly be leveling up your condo living experience as you will be bringing Cagayan’s rich culture and flavors to your home.
After all, the cooking time for this dish is only an hour! Given that, you will not have to go through too much preparation since there are only three main parts to this recipe. Particularly the blending of the peanuts with brown sugar, wrapping the babies in wafer or lumpia wrapper and frying the turon until it becomes golden brown.
Puto Maya
Although this kakanin is mainly served in the afternoons in Cagayan, it can also be an excellent breakfast! With that, if you plan on having a little breakfast date inside your home to spice up your condo living experience, you can opt to serve Puto Maya. Moreover, if you fancy drinking hot chocolate in the mornings, you will most likely view this dish as the best native food in Cagayan de Oro, as Puto Maya goes perfect with a cup of hot cocoa! To illustrate, Kagay-anons eat Puto Maya with Kinutil - a chocolate drink with raw egg and tuba or coconut wine. Otherwise, people also prefer to eat this kakanin with ripe mango on the side. Indeed, this will most likely go well with anything because it is made of purple and white rice, fresh coconut milk, and combined with ginger and sugar.
While this dish may take longer to simmer, your taste buds will not be disappointed after a couple of hours! With that, make sure you have plenty of time to spare before your guests or loved ones arrive for dinner. However, if you seem to be running a bit late, you can have your guests entertained inside your condo or by exploring the amenities! For instance, Vista Residences’ condo in Cagayan de Oro offers top-notch amenities that you and your visitors would love. In particular, The Loop by Vista Residences is a 26-storey tower that takes pride in its modern design that will give you nothing short of a new-generation lifestyle. In addition, they feature outstanding amenities like a swimming pool, roof deck garden, fitness gym, function room, and best of all, a playground with a playset where the kids could have fun!
Sinuglaw
One of the best things about Filipino cuisine is the uniqueness of the taste and the way a dish is prepared or cooked. For instance, Sinuglaw is a fusion of two cooking methods in the Visayas and Mindanao areas. Specifically, the name of the dish is derived from “sugba” or to grill, and “kinilaw” which translates to cooking by soaking in vinegar (citric acid). The sugba refers to the grilled pork cut into chunks, and kinilaw, the recipe's main ingredient, refers to the raw fish or seafood soaked in citric acid with ginger, salt, onions, suwa or native lime, and tabon-tabon fruit extract or native chico fruit. Taste-wise, Sinuglaw has a salty and sour taste to it, with a tiny flare of sweetness. Indeed, it is safe to say that this dish features a distinct and palatable taste that you will love.
However, most Kagay-anons enjoy the pleasure of Sinuglaw during occasions, most especially in summer when families go out to the beach for their “family outings.” But despite that, you can still make this in your condo in Cagayan de Oro or wherever in the Philippines, as this will take you back to the rich culture of the City of Golden Friendship.
Remember Me
An aphrodisiac of a dish roaming around the streets of Cagayan is this Soup No. 5, or Remember Me. This dish, RM, is composed of a broth made of tendons, bovine innards, and a bull’s private parts! Indeed, you have read that correctly, but do not freak out yet! In particular, tourists are even excited to try this treat in the streets because of the adventure that awaits their palates. But that is not the crazy part at all - locals use this exotic dish as a cure for headaches and hangovers! And although the ingredients sound a tad weird, locals and tourists seem to find Remember Me quite good and tasty! Moreover, the prep time for this soup is only 20 minutes. Make sure to clean the meat in this dish thoroughly, though!
Binaki
If you have traveled through the streets of Cagayan de Oro, you most likely have tried Binaki. This delicacy is undoubtedly one of the best pasalubong to bring home! In particular, this kakanin is made from ground corn and mixed with milk, sugar, baking powder, salt, and eggs. However, the name Binaki will undoubtedly pique your interest as it came from the root word “baki,” which means frog. But fret not - it does not have any frog in its ingredients, and the dish caught its name because of its appearance. Once Binaki is ready to eat, the concoction is wrapped in a corn husk and presented in a shape that resembles a frog. Indeed, this will make for an amazing dessert or merienda snack at home! After all, some of the ingredients are quite easy to find; you may already have most of them inside your condo! But as for the maize, this dish uses native corn because the quality of Binaki mainly depends on the type of corn used.
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