MANILA, Philippines — Since all roads led to Iloilo last weekend for the grand celebration of the Dinagyang Festival, it is perhaps the best time, too, to get to know Iloilo’s not-so-known heirloom dishes.
Ilonggo cuisine is replete with unique culinary treasures prepared with not-so-usual ingredients.
One such heirloom dish is Ubre. It is a very simple dish, but the ingredient, ubre, is not easy to find. Ubre refers to the mammary glands of a pig. It is meat that is extra rich, milky or creamy because it comes from a pig that has just given birth, so that its mammary glands are milky. Ilonggos do not consciously butcher the mother pig for its mammary glands, so you do not go to the market on any regular day and find ubre being sold in the meat section. It is a rare find, so when Ilonggos, who know the value of ubre, chance upon it, they cook it in the simplest way possible.
Here, Chef Rafael Jardeleza Jr. shares the recipe of Edita Javier Quint, which appears in his book, "Flavors of Iloilo."
Ubre
Ingredients:
1 kg. ubre (pork mammary gland)
For the marinade:
1 tsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. calamansi juice
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. liquid seasoning
1 Tbsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Procedure:
1. Fillet the ubre into half-inch thick pieces. Slice into 2x3 portions.
2. In a bowl, mix together marinade ingredients. Add the ubre and marinate for three hours.
3. Strain ubre and set aside.
4. Heat 3 tbsps. of oil per batch in a frying pan over high heat. Then reduce heat to medium and fry ubre for three to four minutes on each side or until golden brown.
5. When cooking the next batch, adjust heat to high then add oil. Reduce to medium heat again, then fry, Repeat until all ubre slices have been fried.
6. When ready to serve, plate ubre slices and drizzle with a little oil from the pan. Serve with sinamak (spiced vinegar).