Inutak

Inutak is a Pateros yummy rice cake that's soft, creamy and usually eaten when still warm. It is topped with ice cream like apple pie ala mode.
 
There are a handful of Inutak recipes available online. But it all boils down to this:

Ingredients:
Sugar (about 1 kilo)
Coconut milk (extract from 5 coconuts/niyog)
Galapong (mixed of 3 cups of rice and 2 cups of malagkit rice)
Vanilla (about ½ tsp)
Water

Procedure:
Mix together sugar, ½ of coconut milk with water, galapong and vanilla. Set aside the other ½ pure coconut milk for the topping
Put in a thick pan, medium fire. Continue stirring until cooked
Prepare lanera, brush with a bit of cooking oil
Put cooked galapong in the lanera. Press flat down.
Top with the other ½ of PURE COCONUT milk (don’t add water)
Bake until toppings are golden brown

The ice cream  usually paired with it is the sorbetes contained in an aluminum cylinder and then put inside a somewhat tall wooden bucket where ice and, I think salt, is used to keep the ice cream cold.

This was a childhood treat and we used to order it for special occasions like christenings, fiestas, reunions and other gatherings. 

BalutroPolice

 

Balutropolis has its own crimefighters, but the most prominent and highly visible was the BalutroPolice. They were supposedly there 24 hours a day 7 days a week, monitoring the city and keeping a close eye on potential evil-doers...and so we thought.

Lately we heard news that the criminal elements are rumored being protected by certain individuals within their ranks.Corruption has penetrated from way down below into the levels of the barangays up to the highest authority, the city Mayor.

No wonder there still exists rampant crimes. But since its the smallest city among the huge cities that surrounds its vicinity, these crimes never made it into mainstream media. It was such a small city that no news channel ever stationed a news patrol to cover any commotion happening within the four corners of the city.

Except of course for fires, and flash floods, and the eventual donation-giving sprees, majority of the events that unfold in Balutropolis never reaches the knowledge of the masses.

Crack, Suck and (Pluck That Duck Out and) Eat It!

I dare you to say it, then eat it too. 

Balut.

Pronounced as bah-loot.

This is how you say it: Put your lips gently pressed together at the beginning;your tongue flicking quickly up towards your palate, your lips moving as one in the shape of a narrow ooo, and ends with your tongue teasingly poking behind your teeth.

While many squeamishly shy away from eating this traditional Pinoy dish, most beer drinkers all over the Philippine republic love to devour this much-maligned Filipino delicacy as one of their "pulutan".

Get ready to crack, suck, pluck that duck out and eat a balut!