For many Philippine communities, native ingredients are more than sources of sustenance.

They
serve as connections to ancestral practices. They are rooted in family, history, and culture.
However, outside of these communities, native ingredients remain one of the most underutilized
food items. Many of them are taken for granted. It's high time for us to know more about our
indigenous culinary heritage and one of the ways to rediscover these ingredients is to know how
they're made.

In this article, Flying Ketchup features five native ingredients which deserve to be admired and
recognized due to the complexity of how they are produced. The production is either difficult,
time-consuming, or involves lots of risks.

Asin Tibuok (the "Dinosaur Egg Salt")

In
Bohol, tibuok means "whole".
Before Himalayan salt entered the Philippine market, we already had a natural, unique-looking
native ingredient produced since pre-colonial times called asin tibuok. Asin tibuok is a rare
artisanal salt from Alburquerque, Bohol made from filtering seawater through ashes. It has a
sharp, salty flavor with mild smoky undertones.

A piece of asin tibuok (approximately one kilo) can cost around 400 to 700 pesos, more
expensive than regular table salt, yet cheaper compared to imported artisanal salts such as
Himalayan salt and Fleur de sal.

The back-breaking process: The making of asin tibuok is labor-intensive. First, the saltmakers
or asinderos soak the coconut husks in pits that catch seawater during high tides for several
months. The husks are then cut into small pieces and dried under the sun for a few days. During
the drying process, the coconut husks are not allowed to be rained on, or else the asinderos have
to start from scratch.  The dried husks are then burned and reduced to ashes called gasang. The
asinderos collect the gasang and then put it in a funnel-shaped bamboo filtering device called
sagsag.

Seawater is poured into the ash. The brine, called tasik, is collected and poured into clay pots.
These are boiled for several hours in the furnace, continually replenishing the pots with more
brine once some evaporate. Eventually, the pots will crack, revealing an orb-shaped solidified
salt.

The tradition of making asin tibuok is nearly extinct due to the difficulty and length of time to
manufacture it. Thankfully, the asin tibuok industry has been slowly gaining recognition recently
because of the new wave of interest from Filipinos and foreigners abroad.
Landang (Native Tapioca)

Uneven and lumpy, Landang (lan-dang) is a processed tapioca product made from native palm
flour. The flour used is derived from the Buli or Buri palm tree (Corypha utan). It is traditionally
used in binignit, a snack made with coconuts, bananas, jackfruit, and root crops. The center of
production of landang is in the Visayas region and Northern Mindanao.

The back-breaking process: Like asin tibuok, the entire process of landang production requires
long hours of work and a tremendous amount of patience. The production process is done by
hand and requires several skilled people. It takes 5-7 days to complete the process of making
landang.

First, a buli palm of about 50 years of age is carefully selected and cut. After that, the buli palm
is felled and bisected vertically to expose the core. The core is chopped into fragments and dried
under the sun. Once dry, the fragments are pounded and pulverized with a wooden mortar and
pestle for several hours. This process will turn the fragments into flour. The landang makers will
soak the flour in water for around 8 hours to remove the dirt and sediments.

After draining the water, the soaked flour is dried again under the sun. Then, it is roasted in a
pan, stirring for hours until the flour forms small lumps that we now call landang.

Gamet (Philippine Nori)

Do you know that we have our native version of nori? Ilocanos call it gamet (ga-mèt), a wild
seaweed close to the famed Japanese nori. This seaweed is abundant in Ilocos Norte and
Cagayan, particularly in Burgos and Sta. Praxedes. Locals sell gamet either fresh or dried and
they often use it in salads, stews, soups (such as sinigang), and omelette dishes. Dried gamet is
characteristically purplish-black in color and rich in iodine.
The back-breaking process: The farming of this umami-rich seaweed is a death-defying
activity since the farmers can only harvest it on sharp and slippery coastal rocks. Gamet farmers
brave the strong winds and large waves from November to March to collect the seasonal
seaweed. A strong blow of wind or wave could knock a gamet gatherer into the pointed coral
rocks. The risk of being washed away by the sea is also present. Apart from the harsh
environment's challenges, farmers can only collect gamet through handpicking since the local
government banned scrapping tools.

Despite the danger and difficulty, gamet farming is a lucrative source of livelihood for Ilocanos.
The locals also call it "black gold" because of its high price in the market. As a tribute to the
prized seaweed, the municipalities of Burgos and Sta. Praxedes celebrate the "Gamet Festival"
annually.

Sukang Sasa (Nipa Palm Vinegar)

Philippine native vinegar (from left to right): Sukang Irok or Sugar palm vinegar, Sukang Sasa or
Nipa palm vinegar, Sukang Tuba or Coconut wine vinegar, and Sukang Iloko or Sugarcane
vinegar.[/caption]

Sukang sasâ or sukang nipa (nipa palm vinegar) is a traditional Filipino vinegar made from the
nipa palm sap (Nypa fruticans). It is also known as sukang Paombong after the town of
Paombong, Bulacan, where it is an important local industry. However, the production of this
vinegar can also be found in different parts of the Philippines.

The Philippines has four main types of vinegar: sugarcane, coconut, sugar palm, and nipa palm.
Among the four, nipa palm vinegar is the hardest to make.

The back-breaking process: Making the traditional vinegar is a lengthy process that starts with
the farmers bending the stalks (tunod) of nipa and kicking the base of the plant for three
consecutive weeks. Then, the fruit bunch at the end of the stalk is sliced off to stimulate sap
production.

Nipa vinegar farmers religiously trim (pagkakarit) the end of the stalks every morning and
afternoon to produce sap. Afterward, the farmers harvest the small amounts of sap that have been
collected in plastic containers attached to the nipa. The farmers likened the collection of nipa sap
to caring for a child since you need to attend the nipa stalks from time to time. They venture to
the muddy fields every day until they collect enough sap for fermentation.

The sap collected is stored in tapayan or earthen jars for fermentation. In 2 to 3 weeks, the liquid
is ready to be sold as sukang sasa.

Heirloom Rice of the Cordilleras

[caption id="attachment_9568" align="aligncenter" width="560"]

Kalinga
Jekot (ka-li-nga dye-kot), medium-grain native sticky rice with rust-red bran from the rice
terraces of Kalinga.[/caption]

Last but not least of native ingredients are the colorful heirloom rice varieties of the Cordillera
region. Heirloom rice are seeds passed from generation to generation. The indigenous
communities in uplands were able to sustain their terraced wet-rice cultivation and were
protected from Spanish interference.

The rice varieties come in various colors and shapes. One unique variety is Ominio, a dark purple
moderately glutinous variety with a pleasant chocolatey aroma.  It is used for rice desserts and
for making traditional rice wine.

The back-breaking process: Heirloom rice is harvested using traditional farming methods

especially in remote communities of the Cordilleras. Since these varieties grow in rice terraces in
high elevations, they can only be planted and harvested manually with little to no help from
carabaos or machinery. Moreover, maintaining the stonewalled terraces in the rugged and steep
mountainous landscape is also an arduous task.

The planting of these rice varieties is also an intricate affair. Aromatic native varieties tend to
attract rats in the field. Because of this, all aromatic varieties must be planted with a
synchronized method within the area.

READ - Philippine Cinnamon: The underrecognized native spice

The indigenous peoples of the Cordilleras are deeply connected to their agricultural heritage. The
heirloom rice varieties are the heart and soul of the terraces and have been part of their cultural
practices for hundreds of years. Several of the planting sites of native rice have even been
recognized as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.

Heirloom rice varieties (from middle to outside circle): Inawi, Minaangan, Ominio, and
Imbuucan.[/caption]
Support our native ingredients

Many of our traditional food items are affected by climate change, competition with mass-
produced and imported products, and lack of successors in production. Four out of five of the
featured ingredients, the asin tibuok, landang, sukang sasa, and varieties of heirloom rice, are
listed in the Ark of Taste, an international catalog of endangered heritage foods. There are still
hundreds of native ingredients out there that need immediate safeguarding.

However, it is not too late for them. We can help by supporting the local industries that produce
these food items. If you see these products online or in the market, purchase them and explore
their uses.

These artisanal and indigenous ingredients are not just ordinary food items. They are products of
hard labor and centuries of mastery. But beyond their painstaking production, they are
indispensable parts of our collective identity as Filipinos.