Cooking Nostalgia

Having stayed in Baguio for four years where I took up my journalism degree at UP, I came to love the popular Ilocano dish Igado. Uhm...pork and liver strips stir-fried in bell peppers. The smell of it can make any stomach go hungry and the taste of diverse proportions - sweet, sour, salty, bitter, spicy all smacked in one dish!

I remember frequently dropping by a small food stall located at the talipapa near the boarding house where I stayed. There, a sweet old Ilocana lady always greets me with a smile and already knows what I'll be ordering.

Igado reminds me of sweet independence at 16, sharing bad and good times with board mates and best of friends, the cold breeze of Baguio, and the very memory of setting out on a journey of my own.

11 years later and after cooking the usual courses for my family, I said why not go Ilocano style? The first on my list - my favorite Igado.

Thanks to http://www.grouprecipes.com/, I was able to find out the secret to its gastronomic popularity:

2 onions, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 bell pepper, juliene
1/2 kilo pork liver , cut into 2 inch strips
1/4 kilo pork, 2 inch strips
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
Reno liver spread (my addition - for that thick sauce)
Snow peas aka chicharo (my addition)

You can check the easy (yes, very easy) cooking instructions here.

And the verdict? My husband ate a quarter of the dish! For me, it was a nostalgic experience as the memories of my wonderful college years all came flooding back with each bite.

What's your memorable dish?


Photo credited to http://www.spindlepub.com/recipe/cheffavor.htm.