Aeta Community, San Martin, Tarlac

Cooking:
Since this Aeta community has been influenced by modern technology and practices, they now
make use of frying with pans as a means of cooking besides boiling and grilling. They also still
know how to cook using kawayan as well.

Food:

1. Laing: The main ingredient of this dish would be the tangkay ng gabi. In order to prepare this
dish, the bamboo will be filled with water. After which the ingredients such as gabi, ginger, salt,
tangkay ng gabi and pingol bato(similar taste to suka) will be added into the mix while being
heated over an open flame. The overall flavor of this version of laing would be its sour taste

2. Sinalayang Manok: To take out the feathers of the chicken, it first must be grilled then the
feathers will be plucked. Washing the chicken to assure cleanliness would be next. The chicken
will then be sauteed with ginger, lemongrass, garlic and onions. Lemongrass and ginger flavors
are dominant in this dish.

3. River Shrimp: These freshly caught river shrimp are usually boiled in bamboo filled with water.
The main ingredients that add flavor to this dish(besides the shrimp) are ginger and lemongrass.

4. Baboy Damo: Flavored with the basic ingredients of lemongrass, salt and ginger, this boar
will be grilled and some variations of this dish have it stuffed with the said ingredients
Ingredients:

5. Inihaw na kamote at gabi at nilagang ube

6. Pritong kamoteng kahoy

7. Kanin: The bamboo is filled with water then the rice will be added afterwards. Mixing the rice
and water slightly is ideal to achieve a more balanced flavor and softness. A crumpled up
banana leaf would serve as the cap of the bamboo while it is cooking the rice.

8. Amuko: This is a unique drink made of the bananas with big seeds. The fruit is squeezed until
one comes up with a kind of banana juice. Sugar and milk are added to make the drink sweeter
and creamier.

9. Coffee: The coffee from this community comes from rice that is sauteed until it is black.
These dark granules of rice will then be boiled in water and after which sugar and milk will be
added to the consumers liking.

Superstitions:
It is not acceptable for them to mix ingredients with the color red into any of their food that is not
red. It is said that they will be struck by lightning and they will get sick if they do so. If you want
to eat food that has red and food that isnt during the same meal, one has to make sure that
they are served on different containers.

It is not acceptable to eat chicken and squash in the same dish because it is believed to cause
leprosy.


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Abelling Tribe, San Pedro, Tarlac

Superstitions:
1. You cannot put fish and mushrooms in the same dish
2. You cannot put chicken and squash in the same dish
3. You need to offer a piece of a hunted wild animal (e.g.take off the ear, tongue, etc. of animals
like chickens and boars) to the spirits so that they will be pleased

Cooking:
Buho or bamboo is what they usually use for cooking
and storing food. They cook their food over open fire
which they create using 2 stones and shreds of
bamboo and wood. You know the food inside is
cooked if the bamboo is no longer bright green and
the katas or juice of the bamboo is no longer dripping.

Most of their cooking involve grilling over fire and
boiling. They dont make use of oil and sauteing food
is very uncommon to their community.

For animals which are newly slaughtered, they
remove the hair by placing it over an open fire and
using a walis tingting to remove the burnt hair before
chopping the animal up into pieces for cooking.


Food Ingredients:
Puso ng Saging (heart of the banana):
The Abelling Tribe usually cooks this in 3 ways. One way is by boiling it inside bamboo, another
would be to roast it over open fire, and lastly, they say its also good to prepare the vegetable
into sisig by throwing in some tomatoes and salt.

Ligaw na Kamatis:

Unlike the typical tomato we find in Manila, the ligaw na kamatis grows only as big as a
blueberry. They usually use this vegetable in salads. However, you may also squeeze its juice
out over some salt to make a different kind of bagoong or what they call butingan. Its called
ligaw na kamatis because it only grows on the mountains.

Ligaw na Ampalaya:

Unlike the typical ampalaya, the ligaw na ampalaya grows only as big as a cherry. It turns
yellow when ripe but essentially tastes the same as the ampalaya in Manila.

Suso (snail):

Although there are many types of snails, the ones the Abelling tribe often eats are the snails
which are long and coiled. The common way of cooking it is by boiling it in buho wrapped in
banana leaves.

Dumanay: During our stay in Mt. Matalukbaba, they served us a soup they consider to be
sopas. The soup actually is very far from what we commonly know as sopas - macaroni, with a
milky soup base, and some vegetable and chicken. Their sopas is actually boiled dumanay
leaves, which they flavor with salt, and add fresh fish in. The end taste is similar to miso, except
a bit saltier.

Karot:

We werent given any direct translation to Filipino or English. The Karot in their community is
usually used for medicinal purposes - it sucks the venom of the snake out your system if bitten.
However, they said this can also be eaten with proper preparation. It needs to be placed under
running water for nearly a day, before it can be used as food. They said, when cooked, its
exactly like potato french fries. Whats also good about this is that its rich in carbohydrates. In
order to prepare it as french fries, we were told that the juice has to be juiced out in flowing
water for an extended period of time (suggested time: a whole night). It has to be placed in an
open area. Then sift the karot and squeeze it. When it has been squeezed, place in a plate.
Afterwards, place some salt in it. Afterwards, fry it.

Alupay: Although we werent able to try this, they said this is their counterpart to what we
commonly know as Rambutan. Its not the same kind of fruit, just tastes like it, but it is said to be
really sweet.

Ligaw na Talong: Tastes exactly like the normal eggplant, the only difference is the shape and
size. It grows into a golf ball size and shape.

Amsit: They said, when there is no malunggay to be found, Amsit can be used as a replacement.
It tastes exactly like malunggay and has the same nutrients which can be found in the said
vegetable. They often use this in tinolang native na manok.

Pingol Bato: Its a sour tasting plant which is abundant in the months of August - November
when the water of the falls is strong and moss is abundant in the area.

Balukot: Another plant which is used for cooking. Its taste is sour and typically used for cooking
fish and meat. Parts which can be used for cooking are the leaves and soft parts of the stem.

Pato: They grill the freshly slaughtered duck over an open fire to rid of its feathers then cook it to
their liking. During our visit, they cooked it into some sort of dry adobo, which they made real
spicy. The duck was cooked a bit tough.

Buro: They produce their own buro out of fish they catch from the river. Its made out of small
fishes.

Talangka: The mini crabs were freshly caught from the river and served to us for dinner along
with snails from the falls. They were both cooked inside bamboo which was lined with banana
leaves.

Drinks:
Hubo Tea: This is basically just boiled water inside freshly cut bamboo.

Banaba: Its fruit is slightly smaller than a longan and is made into tea. If you drink this, it is said
to reduce the stones in your gallbladder. Research says, it is also good for persons with
diabetes and liver inflation. It is also good for weight loss and a good metabolism enhancer.

Amukao (big seeded banana): Usually the food of the bird in the jungle. However, the Abelling
tribe also uses it as a beverage by squeezing out its juice, placing the squeezed fruit in the
glass as well, and adding sugar in milk to your liking. This type of banana may also be made
into an alcoholic beverage, similar to that of the lambanog.

Sweeteners:
1. Ripe Bananas
2. Guavas: This would give you a clashing sweet and sour taste.

Leaves and other stuff they use for salads:
1. Putat
2. Pako
3. Repolyong Bakir
4. Ligaw na Kamatis