Ivatan Cuisine

Through the years, the Ivatan cuisine has since evolved, adapted, and adopted foreign tastes. But its traditional simple cuisine, despite the influence of modernization, has remained unique and has wowed tourists and locals over the years. Ivatans boasts of simple but healthy cuisine that will surely lead you back to Batanes!

Enjoy the cuisine original to Batanes:

1. Bagun a yuyunu - Salted small fish (local anchovies)
   
2. Vunes - Dried young gabi stalk chopped in fish, beef, pork, or fowl.
   
3. Lataven - Raw fish mixed with minced ginger and onions,  calamansi juice,
   hot pepper,  and blanched with boiling fish broth.
   
4. Lunyis - Salted pork fried in its own lard
   
5. Chinavules - Steamed young gabi leaves mixed with diced ginger, garlic, onions and salt.
   
6. Uved (called Tabtab in Sabtang island) - Grated banana corm mixed with minced fish or ground pork or beef.
   
7. Yellow rice - Sticky rice cooked in yellow ginger (turmeric) extract and pork

IVATAN RECIPES

1. UVED

Quick Description:    Minced banana corm mixed with minced fish, beef or pork

Ingredients: 

2 cups minced uved (minced suten banana corm/root)
1 cup minced pork
1 clove garlic
¼ cup minced onion
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 cup (pork) blood
1 tsp. ground pepper
Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Mix together uved, pork, pamienta, onion, pork blood, and salt.
2. Sauté garlic till golden brown. Add the uved mixture and cook until tender.

 

2. VENES KAN KUYTA (Venes with Octopus)

Quick Description: Dish consisting of dried gabi stalk, mixed with minced fish, beef, pork or fowl

Ingredients:

2 cups chopped/minced venes (dried gabi stalk)
1 cup coconut cream
2 cups coconut milk
1 cup ground kuyta (octopus)
1 clove minced garlic
Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Soak venes for at least 30 minutes and chop thoroughly.
2. Mix venes and kuyta.
3. Sauté garlic and add the kuyta mixture.  Simmer for few minutes then add the coconut milk and the coconut cream.
4. Add salt to taste.

3. Yellow Rice

Quick Description:    Rice mixed with yellow ginger (turmeric) extract and pork

Ingredients:

2 cups rice
2 tbsp. yellow ginger extracts (turmeric)
2 tbsp. oil
1/8 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped pork
2 tsp. salt
2 cups water
Dust of lime

Procedure:

1. Grind and extract the juice of the yellow ginger.
2. Sauté garlic and onion.
3. Add the pork and stir till golden brown then add water, yellow ginger extract and salt.
4. Allow to boil and add the rice
5. Cook until done.

 

4. LATAVEN A DIBANG (Kinilaw na Dibang)

Quick Description: Dish of raw fish mixed with condiments.

Ingredients:

2 pcs. Dibang (Flying fish)
¼ cup vinegar
6 pcs. Calamansi
¼ cup minced onion
1/8 cup minced ginger
Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Clean and fillet the flying fish into bite sizes.
2. Add the vinegar and set aside for a few minutes, then add and mix all the remaining ingredients.