2nd Update: June , 2023, 9:39 AM
Updated: June 1, 2023, 8:67 AM
Toronto, Ontario
Paying tribute to my Ibanag-Ilokano heritage
Ricardo Jorge S. Caluen
Today, June 1st, marks the 4th year anniversary of the first time the Canada-wide celebration of Filipino Heritage Month was launched by the federal government. I celebrate it by paying tribute to my Ibanag-Ilokano heritage via its culinary tradition.
Appreciation of Filipino cuisine may not stir a Pinoy to take up arms and fight the Chinese violators of our maritime borders but it certainly does contribute to the understanding of the richness of our Filipino heritage, especially if you were not born or did not grew up in the Philippines.
In the photo is a soup I cooked a few days ago. It is called “sinanta” (I think it is Ibanag for something to do with making or cooking with a broth). It is a dish associated with the folks from the northernmost region of the Philippine archipelago.
I have Ibanag-Ilokano heritage through my father. Although he grew up and studied in Manila, he was born in Aparri, Cagayan Province and spent part of his childhood in Gamu, Isabela. Both provinces form what used to be called the Cagayan Valley. Daddy’s lineage is both Ibanag and Ilokano. Our surname—Caluen—was originally spelled “Callueng”–which is very Ibanag (double consonants).
“Sinanta” is possibly the most complex Filipino soup. The broth is the combined broth from clams, chicken, and pork boiled separately. The meat would of course later be added to the soup. What differentiates sinanta from plain “pancit sinabaw” (usually miki ) or sotanghon soup is that flat noodles (“laddit”—there’s that double consonant again!) and sotanghon are used. Hibe, achuete, and as much fried garlic one can stomach contribute to the layers of flavours of sinanta. Traditionally, “pinakufu” (the Ibanag alphabet is possibly the only one that has “F”), fried sweetened glutinous rice, is served as a side.
I first tasted sinanta when I was a teenager. It was cooked by my Dad’s cousin from Aparri, my late Auntie Sidra. My Mom later learned how to cook it and became a favourite “merienda cena” item during prayer meetings in our house in Iligan City. Well-known food vlogger and cookbook author Malou Perez-Nievera, a native of Tuguegarao, has a very good video on how to prepare the traditional sinanta:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQiYJIa5aF4.
Mabuhay ang Pinoy sa Canada!