CHAPTER 8 SOCCSKSARGEN, CARAGA AND ARMM REGION

Objectives
At the completion of this chapter
students are expected to:

 Discuss the cuisine of

SOCCSKSARGEN
 Enumerate the different foreign
influences on CARAGA region cuisine
 Describe the characteristic cuisine of
ARMM region

SOCCSKSARGEN REGION

Soccsksargen (officially styled in uppercase; pronounced [sokˈsardʒɛn]), formerly

known as Central Mindanao, is an administrative region of the Philippines, located in
south-central Mindanao. It is numerically designated as Region XII. The name is
an acronym that stands for the region's four provinces and one highly urbanized city
(South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos). The
regional center is in Koronadal located in the province of South Cotabato, and the
center of commerce and industry is General Santos, which is the most populous city in
the region.
Mindanao, known as the Food Basket of the Philippines, is a major source of
fresh produce and livestock of the country. Because of its fertile ground and location, it’s
the perfect place to grow some of the most in-demand food items in the world, including
coffee and chocolate. Its seas are also rich with premium seafood like tuna that are
exported around the world.
Region 12, which is composed of the provinces of South Cotabato, Cotabato.,
Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani  (Soccsksargen or SOX), and the city of General Santos, is
one of the top food producers in the Philippines
According to Department of Tourism (DOT) Region XII regional director Nelly
Nita Dillera, there is a reason why Mindanao is the country’s food basket and Region
XII’s contribution is a solid proof.
Foods in Region 12

NILASING NA TILAPIA
           Another tilapia dish famous in the region is
the Nilasing na Tilapia. It’s just like the dish nilasing
na hipon, but with tilapia! I know that the word
“nilasing” would be enough to entice most foodies to
try it, but the reason they keep ordering it is its taste. 
Nilasing na Tilapia refers to a fried tilapia dish
wherein the fish is seasoned and marinated in wine
and then fried until crispy and golden brown. It is
served with spicy vinegar such as sinamak or
pinakurat. ... Pour the cooking wine on the fish and let the bottom half soak in it for a
few minutes.

BEEF SININA

Cotabato’s beef stew that you would love. It

has a twist that is different from other beef stews
because it is the Maguindanaoans local version of
Filipino beef stew! It is widely served in
Cotabato City.

SININA – a traditional Muslim delicacy

that is usually served during festivities or what
we normally call “Kanduli”. Traditionally served with tenderized goat meat and served
without vegetables but, to be more appealing to the young ones and those who are
health conscious, one can either add potatoes or carrots. The Sinina is indeed one
multi-ethnicity Filipino cuisine!

MARANG

If you don’t want the smell of Durian, the

Marang could be your next favorite fruit. It tastes
even sweeter than the Durian!
The marang (Artocarpus odoratissimus) is
a fruit tree native to Mindanao and some parts of
Palawan and Borneo. Like the durian, it has this
weird smell but less pungent. A cousin of the
jackfruit, its soft and sweet flesh is wrapped in a
thick and thorny exterior.

PASTIL
A steamed rice topped with flaked chicken, beef, or tuna that
is wrapped in banana leaves. It is also best if paired with
hard boiled egg. This delicacy is loved by most locals in
Cotabato City and tourists of the province, and it is also sold
at bus stations.

 GRILLED TUNA AND TUNA TACOS TOPPED WITH

CHEESE

Since GenSan is known for being the tuna capital of the Philippines, grilled tuna
and tuna tacos must be tried! You can get this from BigBen Steaks and Grills for a
unique experience.

 CALDERETA RICE

Glutinous white rice cooked with Maggi Magic Sarap,

liver spread, corn and peas. It has a long cooking time, but
it’s sure worth the wait. A must try for the adventurous foodie
in Region 12.

TINAGTAG

It is made of ground rice and sugar, mixed with

a little bit of water. This glutinous mixture cooked then
folded like a taco. It is best eaten with either milk or
coffee or even a mixture of both.

CARAGA REGION

The history of Caraga can be traced back to 15th century when explorers
discovered the existence of Kalagans, believed to be of Visayan Origin in one of the
three districts in Mindanao. The word Caraga originated from the Visayan word
Kalagan: “Kalag” meaning soul or people and “An” meaning land. The Kalagans have a
long history of being brave and fearless. Thus, the region was called by early
chroniclers as the “Land of the Brave and Fierce People.”
The Kalagans, called Caragans by the Spaniards, occupied the district that was
composed of the two provinces of Surigao, northern part of Davao Oriental and Eastern
Misamis Oriental. The two Agusan Provinces were later organized under the
administrative jurisdiction of Surigao and became the independent Agusan province in
1914. In 1960, Surigao was divided as Norte and Sur. And in June 1967, Agusan
followed suit. While Butuan then was just a town of Agusan, by virtue of Republic Act
523, the City Charter of Butuan was approved on August 2, 1950.
 On February 23, 1995, Republic Act No. 7901, “An Act Creating Region XIII To
Be Known As Caraga Administrative Region And For Other Proposes”, was signed into
law by President Fidel V. Ramos, constituting the provinces of Agusan del Norte,
Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur and the cities of Surigao and
Butuan, which serves as the regional center. On August 24, 2006, Republic Act No.
9355 created a new province from Surigao del Norte, the Dinagat Islands province
which constituted the fifth province of Caraga.

Palagsing

Palagsing is another version of the suman that is made from

the starch of the sago palm mixed with coconut and brown
sugar. This is usually eaten along with hot chocolate or
coffee.

Kinilaw

Kinilaw is a common dish for many

provinces. What sets apart Surigao’s kinilaw
among others is its exotic flavor. This local
delicacy is made of raw fish and it does not
involve any form of cooking. To prepare this
native cuisine, the people of Surigao debone
and wash the raw fishes and combine it with a
number of condiments. The perfect mix of
ginger, vinegar, onions, chilli peppers, and salt
makes this delicacy a haven for your taste
buds.    

Poot Poot Ginamos

This delicacy is unfamiliar to tourists and

even Filipinos coming from Manila. Poot poot
ginamos is a unique and tasty treat from Surigao.
This flavorful delicacy is made of small fishes locally
known as poot poot. This type of fish can only be
found in Philippine shores. This fish specialty comes
with fermented fish sauce which is very cheap,
making it even more popular to tourists.

Sayongsong
 This famous Surigao delicacy is a kakanin wrapped in banana leaves with the
color and consistency of a puto or rice cake. It’s made up of glutinous rice, brown sugar,
calamansi juice, roasted peanut, and coconut milk. Sayongsong comes out wrapped in
banana leaves. Some people say it tastes like “puto” but with coconut milk.

ARMM REGION

MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur, July 28 (PIA)--As the Autonomous Region in
Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) showcased its traditional Moro cuisines in a food festival,
celebrity guests lauded the region’s unique food and delicacies noting they would
promote ARMM in many ways they can.  
The ARMM food fest puts the spotlight on culinary delights of the region’s five
provinces as part of the 29th founding anniversary celebration. 
Certified foodie and blogger Erwan Heusaff, celebrity chef Boy Logro, actor-restaurateur
Diether Ocampo, BecomingFilipino blogger Kyle ‘Kulas’ Jennermann, and Anak
Mindanao Executive Director Djalia Turabin Hataman were among the event’s judges.
Chieftains and representatives of each village wore their traditional attire during the
event.
Compared with the cuisines of other regions, which tend to be sweetened, the
Moros’ cooking remains strongly ancestral utilizing a good deal of coconut milk and rich
in ground spices. Typical ingredients include chili, turmeric, sambal, coriander,
lemongrass and peanut butter. Because of Islamic laws, pork and alcohol are absent in
the native cuisine of the Moros. 
“It’s amazing, the culture and beauty that is here in the region, from the people to
the colors to the music to the dance to the food; these are incredible,” Canadian blogger
Jennermann said. “It is so much hard to promote the food here because you don’t even
know how to describe how amazing it is, so everybody in the Philippines should see this
and understand this,” he added.
Promoting the culinary delights in the ARMM through his blog, Heusaff said: “I do
videos and I think I just want to focus on the food and culture here in ARMM and I will
put it into video and hopefully people will get curious and actually realize that they can
travel here and experience it for themselves.”
The food festival marks the celebration of the region’s diverse flavors reflecting
its culture and a celebration of cuisine and culinary talents of the Moro people.

BEEF KULMA
 A Beef Kulma originates from the Tausug people, a Muslim ethnic group in
Mindanao. The dish closely resembles and sounds like a Korma. However, what makes
this dish a Mindanao speciality, is that it can be described as being a combination of the
Filipino peanut-based Kare-Kare stew and coconut-based beef curry A fusion of the two
creates this spicy peanut beef novelty in Mindanao. This dish was recently an Eid
speciality at Bintang but has been one of our highly requested mains since.

FILIPINO RENDANG
Rendang is usually known as an Indonesian speciality but the Philippines also
have a variant of this dish in Mindanao. A Filipino rendang is a spicy coconut milk beef
stew. This dish a lot saucier than the drier Indonesian classic and the method of cooking
this rendang is similar to the method of cooking adobo. However, there is no one way to
cook an adobo as it too also varies depending on the district, so some may like theirs
drier whilst some cook it with a soup-like consistency. The Filipino rendang is one of
our most popular mains, as it is a slow-cooked curried lamb on the bone with coconut
and lemongrass, and a little more on the saucier side.

SATTI
The Satti resembles a Malaysian and Indonesian satay but is a portion of
breakfast food in Zamboanga, Mindanao. It is made of 3 small pieces of meat which are
skewered and grilled as is done with bbq. The satti is served with rice balls and a sweet
and spicy soup-like sauce, also known as sambal soup.

BEEF BRISKET SISIG 

Originally the sisig originated from Pampanga in north - central Philippines, as a
vinegary salad of pork and papayas seasoned with calamansi. The recipe has been
refined and popularised over the years by Lucia "Aling Lucing" Cunanan from Angeles
City, Pampanga. 
The Beef Brisket Sisig is chopped cured beef brisket, sautéed with chicken liver
pate, ginger, chillies and topped with a fresh fried egg to be mixed. Making it a Filipino
dish you’ve never technically heard of, so we’ll let this one slide.

BUKO SUKA MANOK

Literally translating to coconut vinegar chicken, this may not be a traditional
Filipino dish in itself but it sure does encompass the palette of the Philippines and
especially the island of Mindanao. The Buko Suka is fashioned with crispy toyomansi
marinated chicken thighs, doused with sea salt & pinakurat (which is a Philippine
novelty that is coconut vinegar). As Filipinos, you know how important vinegar is to us!
The Buko Suka is also topped off with charred spring onions and sour cream, sundried
tomato oil and sumac on roti bread.

 
Pagana consisting of the following staple food from Lanao Province 
Kuning or turmeric rice
Broa or cake (like mamón),
Badak or jackfruit cooked with palapa 
Bakas or smoked whole tuna cooked with coconut milk, Tuna is skinned, soaked in
brine, individually skewered in bamboo sticks, and then smoked slowly over a griller
high above coconut husk embers. Eaten as is, bakas can also be cooked in coconut
milk and sayote leaves or mashed with egg and palapa to make into patties for deep-
frying.
Dyalok or chicken cooked with palapa,
Carabeef randang (similar to Indonesian beef rendang),
Lukatis or sugar-coated pretzels
Dodol or sticky black rice candies.
Tilapia wonderful dish of a char-grilled, cooked in coconut milk and turmeric sauce
Palapa An ever-present essential ingredient in the Maranao cuisine, palapa is a mixture
of toasted grated coconut (right), bird’s eye chili, chopped shallots and ginger. It is much
like the Indonesian sambal in use.
Pusan or shrimp paste (That’s bagoong alamang to the Tagalogs and guinamos to the
Visayans) is also an essential condiment in the Maranao cuisine.
Sakoreb or scallions are an indispensable ingredient in Maranao cooking, preferred
over onions.
Tabun-tabun and marinaut or native lemon Two essential ingredients in making fish
kinilaw (ceviche)The dagta or milky fluid of the tabun-tabun is mixed with the raw fish to
neutralize its lansa or fishy taste, while the marinaut’s juice is the souring agent to cook
it.
Paria these green tomatillo-looking veggies are actually a variety of ampalaya (bitter
gourd) They are cooked basically the same way as the regular ampalaya, sautéed with
bagoong with other veggies to make pinakbet.
Tiyatug made with a batter of flour and egg, placed in a large ladle (traditionally half a
coconut shell) perforated with many tiny holes (like in a shower head), and then this is
dripped in a circular motion onto a vat of hot oil for deep-frying till crispy and golden
brown. When cooled, syrup is poured over it and then rolled into a tube.
Barubod is a suman made of purple-colored sticky rice flavored with durian.
Badak Unod Langkâ seeds are sold separately, to be boiled and eaten as well.
Puto a banggala Cassava cupcakes,steamed in milk cans with perforated bottoms. The
grated cassava is mixed with coconut meat strands and sugar.
Pater or rice with a viand wrapped in banana leaf
Katulyong wrapped in coffee-leaf ,cooked in coconut milk (both katulyong and tilapia
from Lake Lanao)
Piaparan curried in turmeric usually chicken with coconut sautéed in fresh palapa.