LUMPIANG TAHONG

Among the millions of Filipino dishes that I have eaten, mussel is one of my favorite. It is a seashell that can be found piling itself to a bamboo planted under the sea. One must dive in order to get some.

Mussels can be smoked, boiled or steamed. It should be alive just before they are cooked because they quickly become toxic after they die. A simple criterion is that live mussels, when in the air, are tightly shut; open mussels are dead and should be discarded. The mussel shells open by themselves when cooked.

One dish that I know is the "Ginisang Tahong" which I had first eaten when I was in grade school. It became my favorite and I usually eat until my stomach bursts. Another is "Inihaw na Tahong". My brother says it stinks, but when I tasted it, it is extremely delicious! It is a perfect dish for a seafood addict. But this is not until I tasted "Lumpiang Tahong".

Originally, “lumpia” is made of cooked vegetables enfolded over a wrapper. Meat could also be a possible filling, but hearing "lumpiang tahong"? That is something new.

"Lumpiang Tahong" is invented by a friend. She handed me a pack of “lumpia” as a gift for my birthday. I fried it at home and ate it. It tasted so good that I almost ignored the spaghetti that my sister cooked for me. I insisted for the recipe and here it is. You might want to try it. It is delicious!

Ingredients: mussels, carrots
Onion, garlic
Wrapper, cooking oil
Salt, vetsin

Procedures:
1. Remove the mussel shells then slice the mussels into small pieces. Make sure you remove the black part of the mussels.
2. Sauté the mussels in cooking oil then mix the garlic, onion and carrots (sliced into small cubes).
3. Enfold the sautéed mussels into a wrapper.
4. Fry the wrapped sautéed mussels and you will have “lumpiang tahong”.
You can serve it with any sauce you want. Try it!

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Tammy... Look!!!!

The Tamilok (Teredo Navalis)

An interesting delicacy has stumbled upon by the FOODSTER bloggers. It has been featured in the ABS-CBN News' The Correspondents and has sparked some more reports to sprout out to search for unusual "eats".

The TAMILOK, the shipworm, is a mussel of the genus shipworms (Teredinidae), which include about 80 species living in wooden material of logs, pilings and ships at all temperate and warm coast around the world. It could be found in swampy areas especially in mangroves.

The edible worm is a popular delicacy in Palawan. It is either eaten on site where it is found, specifically in the mangroves (bakawan), or at nearby restaurants that offer the worm at its raw form.

The shipworm body is elongate and wormlike; the shell no longer protects the body, but covers helmet like the anterior parts and acts as a boring instrument. The tunnel connects to the surface with a tiny hole with two siphons for inhaling and exhaling of water. Therefore, from the outside the shipworm is very hard to detect, often the damage appears only when the piling breaks. The locals, with their trained eyes, would break open a piece of rotten wood and extract these creatures like taking noodles out of the bowl.

According to Karen Davila, ABS-CBN’s Correspondent for the Tamilok Episode, “…it is somewhat reminiscent of an umbilical cord, and some people feel uneasy upon seeing it. However, for the Palaweños, it's a tasty dish, and a way to earn a living.” It sold from 20 to 40 pesos a glassful of grey stuff. It is believed that the worm got its local name from a foreigner who saw the worm for the first time and scream to his companion, "Tammy... Look!"

In the interest to really know what it feels to eat the delicacy, I have requested my father (in a business trip) to buy just a glassful of worms but unfortunately, he has not yet arrived as of post time.

For a glimpse of the worm’s adventure through the eyes of grossed out and strong-stomached people, you could go to the ABS-CBN Now! Website , and look for The Correspondents video feed.

Sources: The Great Shipworm
The Correspondents

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