I've been to provinces in Visayas and Mindanao but I haven't explored much of Luzon just yet and so far, I've only been to Subic, Pampanga, Batangas, Tagaytay, Bicol and Baguio. Been dreaming of visiting Ilocos for the longest time, mostly because I wanted to see the strip of colonial houses in Vigan and the infamous sand dunes of the region, and of course, taste authentic Ilocos food.
My first taste of the Ilocos empanada -- the orange-colored meat pie of the north --was at the WOW Philippines clam shell pavilion in Intramuros that gathered products of every region in the Philippines to showcase to Manila residents and tourists alike. After that experience, the pavilion was closed and so my craving for the Vigan longanisa-filled empanada had to take a back seat until I make that 12-hour or so trip to Ilocos.
Empanada Nation
It's a good thing that my sweet friend Marnie Herrera-Lapus happened to be helping the owners market the one-year old Empanada Nation restaurant and invited me and fellow bloggers for an afternoon of feasting on Empanada Nation's pride: authentic Ilocos food, including yes, the orange-colored empanada.
A long table laiden with various Ilocos fare was prepared for us when we arrived at their Quezon City branch. Of course, one can appreciate and savor the food more with a little bit of story. According to them, during holidays in Ilocos, when you want to find out who are back in town, the Empanadahan is the place to hang out for an authentic Ilocos night life. Students on semestral breaks, Ilocanos working outside Ilocos, and even vacationers never fail to visit the place. They all missed the empanadas while they were away! And maybe this is one of the reasons why three young Ilocano entrepreneurs namely O'Brien Pangan, Venice Marie Velasco and Juan Carlos Gil, the owners of Empanada Nation, invested on the idea of bringing Ilocos products to Manila.
Empanada Nation started small and opened its first take-out counter store along Roces Avenue corner Scout Tuazon in Quezon City last July 10, 2010. After just three months of operation, it added a dine-in area to accommodate the increasing patrons who crave for the Ilocano taste. To reach more market, they opened the second branch in April 10 of this year at Pearl Drive in Ortigas. Their Ilocano food offering included Rice Meals -- King's Meal, the best seller fit for a king, features sliced bagnet, two pieces of longanisa, one red salted egg, unlimited special fried rice and KBL or kamatis, bagoong and lasona (Ilocano term for onions); Bagnet Meal with sliced bagnet, half red salted egg, special fried rice and KBL; Longanisa Meal with three pieces longanisa, half red salted egg, special fried rice and KBL; and Sulit Meal with two pieces longanisa, special fried rice and KBL.
King's Meal
Special Fried Rice with garlic and longanisa bits
For their empanadas, they have the Ordinary or Vegan Empanad which contains just vegetables and one egg; the best seller Special Empanada with one egg, one longanisa and vegetables; Double Special Empanada for the longanisa lovers with two pieces longanisa, one egg and vegetables; and the Double-Double Empanada, a super hearty treat with two pieces longanisa, two eggs and vegetables. Want more flavor and fillings or want less due to diet? You can custom order your empanada while you wait.
Authentic Ilocos Empanada...as you like it!
To mark its first year anniversary, Empanada Nation relocated its original QC branch to a bigger place to serve their customers better. Their new address is 26 Sgt. Esguerra Avenue, Brgy, South Triangle still in QC. And because they wanted to delight their customers even more, they are adding more Ilocano favorites in their menu: Sarabasab, grilled pork belly and liver mixed with tomatoes, onions, and vinegar; Crispy Dinuguan, Ilocano version of dinuguan; Igado, stewed pork entrails; Crispy Bagbagis, crispy intestines similar to chicharon bulaklak; Inabraw, local vegetables cooked with fried or grilled fish and bagoong broth; Pinakbet, local vegetables slow cooked in bagoong with lots of tomatoes; Puqui-Puqui, Ilocano eggplant dish; and Adobong Utong, adobong string beans.
Sarabasab, Ilocos kilawin, tastes much like menudo without the sauce.
Super tasty Igado with red pepper and garbanzos
Ilocos Pinakbet, you bet!
Peculiar-named Ilocano eggplant dish: Puqui-Puqui
Aside from tasting authentic Ilocano dishes, we also learned how empanadas are assembled and cooked from watching the cooks do their work through the glass windows of the kitchen. Here's the step by step photos:
STEP 1: The orange dough is cooked on a deep pot and is constantly stirred until the mixture is smooth and soft.
STEP 2: A piece of circular dough is flattened by a rolling pin to become the thin empanada crust that will hold the fillings.
Step 3: Assembly of the fillings in a round pattern: bean sprouts, longanisa and fresh egg.
STEP 4: The flattened dough with fillings is folded in half and open ends are pressed to secure the contents.
STEP 5: Empanada is then deep fried until crust is crisp.
STEP 6: Cooked empanada is placed on a steel rack to cool and for the excess oil to drip.
STEP 7: Empanada served hot and crisp. Yum! Best eaten with Ilocos vinegar.
Hungry now and craving for this authentic Ilocos empanada? Visit the Empanada Nation branch nearest you -- the Pearl Drive, Pasig branch is open from 9 am to 9 pm from Monday to Saturday while the Sgt. Esguerra, QC branch is open from Monday to Sunday: 10 am to 10 pm from Sunday to Thursday and 10 am to 12 mn on Friday and Saturday.
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