Aling Kulot's Chin Chao

Chin Chao is made of glutinous rice flour and rice flour then steamed. It is sold in combo of brown unsweetened kutsinta/tikoy like sliced cubes called kalamay and white pancit like thick noodles called chinchao.

It is served as a cold drink together with sago, gulaman, shaved ice and arnibal made of panotcha like in San Roque area. 

 Others add coconut milk and pinipig like in Bagong Pook and Caridad.

During olden days, Chin Chao drinks is typically sold around neighborhoods in Cavite City with sago and gulaman. As years passed since it easily gets staled unlike sago and gulaman plus more costly it ended up as a lenten tradition served only during Good Friday. It is also a traditional food to pa Caridad or feeding people after pabasa as one of the palamig before.

Chin Chao was brought by the Chinese. It is being bought and ordered in Binondo for reselling before. The original chinchoneros as how they are called are all chinese. There are authentic Chinese makers/sellers in Cavite City market before. Some Caviteños are saying there are already makers in Cavite City and Noveleta but this detail is yet to be confirmed since there is only one known and popular seller of Chin Chao over the years in Cavite City market - Aling Kulot.

Aling Kulot opts to remain low profile and do not even want to have a photo taken so only a snap of her head and hands slicing. Her stall is located at the center of Cavite City market in between the fish section and vegetable section. You can find her ONLY EVERY GOOD FRIDAY.  

Above are two of the yearly suki whom I encountered when I went to buy and see the mystery seller for the first time last Friday. They vouched she is the sole and authentic Chin Chao seller - nuong araw pa. 

This is how the tikoy like brown kalamay looks like before being sliced.

After cutting as selling pieces

White pancit like thick noodle chin chao. It really looks like pancit malabon rice noodles 

According to Mr. Ige Ramos the Chin Chao before is kulot kulot. My mother who buys it yearly before said it is indeed kulot kulot but I cannot remember it anymore.

There has been a slowly growing demand for Chin Chao over the years because of social media promotion. Like any typical business if there is a demand, more sellers starts selling. This year as early as Maundy Thursday there is another seller. Sadly the quality is different both in texture and taste compared to the one of Aling Kulot. The brown tikoy like kalamay of Aling Kulot is more softer and chewable while the pancit noodle like chin chao is more smooth and yummier in taste. Also do not forget to smell it before buying on other sellers especially the white noodles which easily gets stale.  

If you want to try authentic quality Chin Chao then visit Aling Kulot's stall every Good Friday as early as 6:00 am or 7:00 am since the supply is only good til it last or next year na ulit.

Was not able to get any detailed information from Aling Kulot since she is just selling it. It was her mother who calls and orders and according to her she doesn't know the process of making it either. One of the popular maker and seller before was a certain man named Nestor who resides in Padre Pio. He and the family migrated abroad already and nobody continued the business.

Sold at P50 each pack or P100 for pair of Aling Kulot's Chin Chao at Kalamay serving. 

If a city household is an authentic Caviteño, Chin Chao and Bacalao paired with either burong mangga or labanos is surely present on a Good Friday. Cumi Ya Niso !

Information Credits to : Mr.Ige Ramos and Mrs. Remedios Ordoñez

Khuratcha's Best Biko and Maja Mais

Two of the most favorite Pinoy kakanin we love to include in our handaan menu is biko and maja. Maja is easy to make but Biko is a bit tedious in process but worry no more since one can now buy it in a bilao at Khuratcha's Best. An online Cavite City food shop.

Both Pinoy kakanin is yummy except the biko color which is a bit too dark. If only the violet shade can be lighten to half it would be more better looking rather than almost black. 

Priced @ P200 both for small sized bilao 

Where to Buy: Khuratcha's Best

Five Pillars of Cavite Heritage Cuisine

Bibingka Samala

 Bibingkoy

 Pancit (Pancit Puso and Pancit Pusit)

Quesillo

Tamales 

My heartfelt thanks to Mr. Ige Ramos for allowing me to share this article. This blog started with zero information about Cavite and its food. Years after like a puzzle things are finally falling into place. Thank you so much Sir for turning this blog's early dream and vision slowly but surely into reality with all the valuable Cavite food informations. Muchas Gracias !!!   

Baba's Spoon Smoked Mussels Crostini

Already used the regular smoked mussel for linguini now using the spicy one. From the bottle you can placed it directly to sliced bread and perfect. You don't need to add anything.

You can eat it this way and its so yummy.

or turn it into

Mussels Crostini with Mozzarella Cheese

Ingredients:

sliced bread

Baba's Spoon Smoked Mussels Spicy

grated mozzarella cheese

Procedure:

Arrange slice bread in a baking sheet. Placed smoked mussels and top it grates mozzarella. Baked until cheese is melted. Serve immediately.

Priced @P200 per bottle it comes in two variety. Regular and spicy. 

-------------------------
RATING:
Taste - 5/5
Value for Money - 5/5
-------------------------


Baba's Spoon Smoked Mussels
Available at Malen's Restaurant located at 9025 Magdiwang Highway, Noveleta, Cavite.
Tel: 0977 250 3959
Facebook Account: Baba's Spoon

Kare-Kare/Adobong Caviteño/Kilawin

The traditional and ever famous Caviteñean TRIFECTA or TRIO food terno eaten every Sundays in traditional Caviteñean households.

Kare-Kare / Kari-Kari - is a stew made from either oxtail (buntot), beef tripe (tuwalya), pork's face (mukha), or various cuts of pork (laman) in rich and thick peanut sauce with atchuete . Best paired with bagoong.

Adobong Caviteño/Adobo Seca/Adobong Pula -  pork, chicken or both or with liver marinated then simmered in garlic, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, bay leaves, black peppercorns and achuete. 

Kilawing Papaya - grated green papaya cooked in vinegar with grilled mashed pancreas and chopped librillo of cows.

  

Cavite City makes a point in serving their dishes in proper combination also called “terno- terno”. Usually a piquant dish is paired with a bland one, a sweet with a sour, a salty with a sweet and a wet with dry. The combinations are traditional and have been so far as long as Caviteños remember.

GENTRI'S BEST's Milk O-Jel

Sweetened carabao milk gulaman with yellow coloring topped with caramel in a cup. It has this melt in your mouth yummy flavor definitely worth a try.

Priced@P20

Where to Buy: Baloy's Bakeshop


They also have gatas ng kalabaw and quesillo

Pan Antigua's Tamales

If one can't afford the expensive and yummy Robinson's Tamales then why not try this much cheaper tamales alternative which can be bought anytime.

Pan Antigua's Tamales 

Priced at P7 per plastic pack it contains around 3 tablespoon of tamales. It lacks peanut flavor but for its cheap price pwede na rin.

Bibingka sa may Cine Perla

If you want a freshly made bibingka everyday there is only one place to go - in front of Manuel S. Rojas Elementary School in the late afternoon and wherein the old Cine Perla was formerly located.

 

Priced @ P75

CAUTION: Not super yummy but if you want freshly made bibingka everyday this is the one to buy

Robinson's Tamales

TAMALES is one of the most favorite delicacies of Cavite City by pure blooded Caviteno. Made of ground peanuts and galapong that is steamed and wrapped in banana leaves. It looks simple at first sight but requires a very tedious process to make. This popular brand of tamales is named after the current owner’s great grandfather Henry Benjamin Robinson, a former staff member of the USS Olympia under Admiral George Dewey. 

 

Tamales entails a long and tedious process to make that requires grounding of peanuts and rice flour. Then the mixture is topped with slices of chicken and pork, together with pieces of garbanzos and hard-boiled eggs. Seasoned with salt and pepper to taste, then wrapped in layers of clean banana leaves then steamed.

 

Si Caviteno tu puro que sabrosu cumi tamales con pan.   

 

Solis Lechon Manok

Long before Baliwag, Sr.Pedro, Pagtakhan and other dozens of lechon manok sprouted like mushroom - Cavite City has its very own brand of popular lechon manok.

Price now at P180 this lechon manok is nicely roasted. If one wants to make it yummier just placed it in the oven for 15 minutes or more and VOILA you have a Max like tasting chicken.  

Aling Ika's Bibingkoy

Bibingkoy is one of the most famous Caviteñean kakanin aside from the Samala rice cakes. It's like a combination of tikoy, buchi and ginataan.


Made of glutinous rice stuffed with boiled sweetened monggo but instead of fried like buchi it is baked in an old style pugon oven then topped with coconut cream sauce with sago(tapioca) langka(jackfruit) and kaong(sugar palms) although the last two had been omitted over the years to cut cost.

Only one name comes to mind when we hear bibingkoy - Aling Ika's Carinderia in Cavite City Public Market. Her bibingkoy is famous way back before the Japanese occupation and war era. Good thing Aling Ika’s children had taken over to continue the bibingkoy legacy so up to now Caviteños can still savor and enjoy this kakanin at the public market. According to my mom my great great grandmother used to make this too.

Another fave of mine and most children from Aling Ika is this ube kalamay which is also serve with coconut cream sauce like in bibingkoy.

Que sabroso !

Quesillo

Kesong puti or quesillo as how we call it here in Cavite is a proudly Philippine cheese made of carabao's milk. Traditionally it is sold wrapped in banana leaves.



My lolo use to buy this for merienda whenever he wins in sabong together with salakot or bonete bread in Dizon's bakery. This is best paired with pandesal but me I love it with the salakot bread but only pandesal and bonete are now available in Dizon's bakery.



Quesillo is also placed on top of traditional Cavitenean bibingka along with white sugar and itlog na pula.