Food Trip ... Ciudad de Zamboanga

By Chef Ed Dychauco, RN

Friday, December 3, 2010

ANYONE who goes to Asia's Latin City, Zamboanga would not only enjoy the exotic place where century old acacia trees abound, the historical place, the beautiful and friendly people, the sceneries which includes the lush mountains and the sea and the barter trade, but the delicious, the scrumptious, the freshest catch from the sea's bounty.

The most popular of course is the "Curacha" (also known as spanner crab or red frog crab), a chavacano term for this sea crab species which is found in
Zamboanga. It is red in color and remains red even when cooked either by boiling or steaming. To maintain its exotic flavor, it should be cooked minimally.

However, I have tried the curacha prepared in two different ways. One, plainly steamed and the other cooked the "Alavar" way which I also find very interesting because of the sauce which is a bit on the sweet and spicy side. Guess that is why when I was told to "lick" it, I was quite hesitant but ended up doing it anyway and savoring the full flavor of the crab!

Other mouth-watering seafoods would include the large prawn, either steamed, baked or deep fried. They are all oh-so-good! There's also the smaller shrimps which when mixed with spices and deep fried made the whole thing crunchy without wasting any part of the shrimp!

Squid. Fried calamari, grilled, stuffed, sizzling, stir fried. Cooked in all methods, it still would come out good! No doubt about it.

Fish. Fresh, small, medium or large. Plainly fried, whole or fillet, with or without sauce (usually, escabeche or sweet and sour sauce), steamed, grilled, soup, dried. Name it. It's available almost everywhere!

Sea shells, clams, mussels, etc. seaweeds (lato, guso), jelly fish and many others. And of course, there is the all-time favorite chicken, deep fried, or bar-b-que.

I had a good dinner after my arrival in Zamboanga City at Alejandra's, courtesy of Mr. Marlon Alaba of Altus Communications. I ordered their special which was served in a native square plate with a variety of fried vegetables and seafoods: eggplant, calamares, shrimps, daing na bangus and a chunk of fresh green mangoes with a delicious blend of sweet and spicy bagoong. Their version of java rice topped with seafood was really good!

Quick breakfast was at their famous Jimmy Satti. A very unassuming place full of customers eating their share of satti. Satti, as what they call it is actually a reddish sweet and spicy "soup-like" dish with a chop up puso (hanging rice).

Usually, the people would order a piece of chicken to go with it. I was informed that they open from about 4 a.m. and closes at about 10 a.m. or 11 a.m.

Lunch time was sponsored by Mr. Henry Ang of Shoppers Plaza at Abalone
Restaurant, a Chinese restaurant. Together with Ms. Mac Dang, Marlon and a few others, we had a feast of fresh seafoods (what else?) of Steamed Curacha and Crabs, Sea cucumber stuffed with meat in its Chinese sauce, finger-licking good deep fried prawns, abalone, clear clam soup. And if this would make anybody feel better, we devoured everything!

Had dinner with another Henry. This time, it was Mr. Henry Luy of Zamboanga Carrageenan Manufacturing Corporation. And not only once, but twice!

We had a great dinner at Alavar, another very well-known sea food restaurant that serves Spanish-influenced dishes. The menu was in Spanish/Chavacano but with English translations. Again, it was seafoods! But this time, cooked and prepared the Alavar way. Baked clams with a sugary sweet topping that blends very well with its meat, large sautéed prawns, grilled malasugui fish to perfection, fresh fish kinilaw and curacha! Another feast fit for a senor!

We had another great dinner with Henry and his family, Jude Garcines and his girlfriend, Lara at the famous Hai San Seafood Market and Restaurant the night before I left for Cagayan de Oro. As promised, another truly unforgettable great Chinese sea food dinner! We had jelly fish for appetizer, refreshing seafood soup, mixed sea foods vegetables, sweet and sour fish, crispy tempura, sliced prawns in a sweet sauce and steamed lapu-lapu fish in black bean sauce. Another tummy-filled evening!

What is food without desserts? Of course, Zamboanga is proud of its very own
Myrna's Bake House. It has about four branches, if I am not mistaken. But the one I get to visit was the one in Pasonanca Road. A very cozy, yet friendly place for friends and family. I got the chance to meet the owner, Ms. Myrna Inocencio, and her unica hija, Ivy Simbajon and was treated to their famous and sinfully-rich cakes and pastries. I even got to bring home some goodies, courtesy of Ms. Myrna. Having a sweet tooth really helps.

So, the next time I get to go back to Zamboanga City, I would definitely visit these exciting and delicious places again and enjoy as much as I can! These are the places to be! (Website: www.potsnpans1976.weebly.com; email:
potsnpans1976@yahoo.com)

Published in the Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro newspaper on December 04, 2010.