When going to Zamboanga City, you will not miss visiting different seafood restaurants. The city is abundant with fresh seafood – clams, crabs, oyster, fishes, shrimps, squids, eel, octopus,tuna, etc. One of the pioneering seafood restaurant in Zamboanga City is the Alavar Restaurant located in Don Alfaro St., Zamboanga City.

Not only they offer you delectable seafood cuisines, they also offer the famous Alavar Sauce and Bagon Gata. Their Alavar Sauce and Bagon Gata are famous take-outs. Alavar Sauce can be prepared with other cuisine such as with crabs, like what you can see at the Alavar Seafood Platter photo below. It’s a steamed crab with Alavar Sauce and served with other seafoods like clams, fish, squid, and shrimp. It has this sweet savory taste. Actually it is made of Coconut milk and some spices which the owners keep the ingredient as family’s secret.

Alavar’s Bagon Gata is famous as well. It is a shrimp paste that is reinvented to add more flavor and taste which makes it a perfect partner when eating green mangoes as appetizer.

For inquiries about these products, please contact them at:

Don Alfaro St., Tetuan, Zamboanga City Philippines
Tel. #: (63)(62) 991-2483/992-4533

Was catching up with a friend via chat last time and asked me when will I be going back to Zamboanga. I told him very soon. He then told me to bring them ‘pasalubong‘ (a home-coming present or gift). Well, that’s common to most Filipinos. Who does not want ‘pasalubong‘, right? Foods and delicacies of the place you visited are the usual ‘pasalubong’, so I told him about Cebu’s Shamrock Otap or Ngohiong. He told me to bring Ngohiong. So, before bringing them some Cebu’s famous Ngohiong soon, might as well try it first.

It’s like Spring Roll (Lumpia), with distinct Chinese spices taste. I bought some pieces and took it home. Usually, it is served with ‘puso’, rice in a Coconut leaf pouch. Anyway, my first bite reminded me something I ate previously… some Chinese food which I can’t remember. It tasted good, really good. So I then told my friend about it and he asked to bring some home soon.

Then I posted this photo above on Facebook and friends commented. My previous Mandarin teacher  (Laoshi) commented that the word Ngohiong is actually a Chinese spice and perhaps, she said, that the food I ate last time has some Ngohiong powder added to it and that’s why the taste seems familiar.  Here’s her comment:

Yes, it means 5-spice. Ngohiong is Fookien. It’s “wu xiang” in Mandarin. Wu means five, remember? Xiang actually means fragrant. Ngohiong is a type of spice and has a distinct taste when placed in food, just like other spices like basil, saffron, etc. — Laoshi Jen

So, there. I then searched the recipe for Ngohiong and planning to try to cook soon. Anyway, here’s one recipe I found – Chinese Ngohiong.

My officemate then concludes, “Spring Roll is Lumpia, Ngohiong is Ngohiong!” … =)

It’s my send-off dinner with family before going to Cebu,  so I decided to prepare something special and my mom helped me cook.  We had braised pork or locally known as Pork Adobo, which is a common Filipino dish but this meal have a little twist; mom added to it pineapple juice which is not usual, for dinner. Oh! The side dish is yummy! It’s a vegetable appetizer sauteed in butter. This meal is juice a perfect combo. And the punch, I can’t have enough! Lol.

Ingredients:

For the Braised Pork (Pork Adobo):

• 1 kilo pork, chopped in regular size chunks
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 3 pcs. laurel or bay leaf
• 2 pcs. oregano leaf
• 1/2 cup Sugar Cane Vinegar
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 cups of  pineapple juice
• Salt, sugar and black pepper powder

For the side dish:

• 1 cup  green peas
• 2 cups whole corn kernel
• 2 cups asparagus tips & cuts
• 1 cup regular whole mushroom
• 4 tablespoons butter
• salt & pepper

For the Red/Orange Punch:

• 2 pcs. apple, slice into small chunks
• 2 pcs. ponkan, slice into small chunks
• 3 cups of strawberry juice
• 5 cups of red grape juice
• crushed ice

Let’s first cook braised pork. In a 5 cups of water, boil the pork cuts and add the minced garlic, bay leaf, and oregano leaf. Wait until tender.  Then, add the soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar. Let it simmer until the flavors mix all together, more or less for 5 minutes. Add black pepper powder and salt to taste. Let it simmer for another 3 minutes.

Now, for the side dish appetizer, melt the butter in a pan. Then, add the green peas, corn kernel, mushroom and asparagus. Mix and let it simmer for 8 minutes. Add a little salt and pepper to taste.

Now for the special punch, I named it as Red/Orange Punch. Juice mix all the ingredients above in a large punch bowl. Here’s a look of it. This is not a good shot though.