Ilocos Region

The Ilokanos
are inhabitants of the provinces of
Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union,
some parts of Pangasinan, Tarlac,
Isabela, Cagayan, Nueva Vizcaya
and Nueva Ecija.

There are also some Ilokanos
in Kalinga-Apayao,
Ifugao and
Mountain Province.

 

Ilokano
is also the term used
to refer to the language spoken
by this group of people.

The Northern Luzon
regions where this language is spoken
is known as Ilokos or Ilokandia

.

A street in Vigan, Ilocos Sur

Burnay jars



Dried tobacco leaves

Ilokos
is known for its many industries, such as tobacco, burnay (jars), bagoong (fish/shrimp sauce),
basi and tapuy (rice wine), and weaving.

Ilokanos are basically known for being a hardworking and frugal or thrifty people.  This may be attributed to the fact that they take hardships in life seriously, owing perhaps to the geographic location of the region.  It is mainly a typhoon belt in the Philippines, and tropical storms   normally wreak havoc on crops and major sources of livelihood.

 
Ilokano cooking is simple and requires
minimal preparation time.
It is also healthy,
making use of
lots of vegetables,
usually boiled.

Some of the
more popular dishes are
pinakbet,
inabraw
and dinengdeng.

Pinakbet is also called
Dinengdeng in Ilokano

 

The Ilocos Provinces

Ilocos Norte
Ilocos Sur
La Union
Pangasinan
Tarlac
Isabela
Cagayan
Nueva Vizcaya
Nueva Ecija

Other Ilocano Links

Baguio City
Vigan, Ilocos Sur
Burnay
Ilocano-Unay
Pinakbet.com

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Pinakbet, a native Ilocano dish,
is essentially a vegetable recipe

Ingredients:

300g shrimps — deveined
2 tsp oil
2 tsp ginger — chopped
1 1/2 tbsp garlic —
crushed
500g shallots
500g ripe tomatoes
300g eggplant — sliced
150g lady's fingers
75ml bagoong isda (anchovy sauce)

Method:
HEAT oil in a casserole. Saute ginger, shallots, shrimps and tomatoes until the liquid thickens. Then add the bagoong. At this point, do not stir.

Continue to simmer until the sauce is thick. Add lady's fingers and eggplant. Cover the casserole and cook for five minutes.  (Note: This dish, common in the northern Philippines, blends all ingredients with bagoong, a shrimp paste.)

 

 

Banaue Rice Terreces