Kapampangan Takeouts You Should Get as Pasalubong

When in Pampanga, there are limitless food options to choose from. And why not?

Pampanga is the Culinary Capital of the Philippines. There’s no shortage of dining spots in the area. What’s more, these food establishments carry the best eats unique to the province. From the unusual to the ordinary yet full of flavor, here are the best Kapampangan finds you should get as pasalubong for loved ones.

1. Betute

There is bound to be food in the list that isn’t part of your daily dining choices. The Betute is wild frog stuffed with seasoned minced pork. You can buy it for P90 per frog in Everybody’s Cafe in San Fernando.

 

Source: Apag Marangle

The wild frogs are seasonal and are only caught during the monsoons making the Betute a limited delicacy. The name Betute comes from “butete” meaning tadpole. The bloated tummy of the deep fried frog represents the image of a tadpole.

2. Fried Camaru

The same cafe serves crunchy Camaru or wild crickets. The field crickets are usually fried, so they’re crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. Each piece is best paired with a vinegar dip. A platter of Camaru costs P220. The dish’s unique flavor as well as taking with you is well worth the hefty price.

Source: GMA News | Stanley See

3. Pindang

Pindang is a dish made of fermented meat. The meat, more often than not from kalabaw, is cooked in water and oil until it turns reddish brown. It is sour, soft, and sliced in thin cuts. Pindang is best paired with fresh tomatoes, sukang sasa, and steamed rice.

 

Source: Our Awesome Planet

The same dish inspired the all-time favorite breakfast Tocino. Lolita Hizon was kind enough to help a meat vendor save the remaining unsold pork. She used the traditional recipe for pindang and adjusted the seasonings that ended in a unique blend of sweet and salty. She named it “tocino,” same as the sweet Spanish dish. The success of the mixture paves the way for the famous Pampanga’s Best Tocino.

4. Sizzling Sisig

There’s no shortage of sisig platters in Pampanga, but Mila’s and Aling Lucing’s have the best ones in the province.

 

Source: It’s The Walking Stick

Mila’s secret to their tasty sisig lies in the pig’s head. The head is boiled, fried, diced, and seasoned. The sisig doesn’t have eggs or onions unlike the ones in Manila. You can choose from the two types they offer. They have the special fried sisig which is P200 per order and the plain kilawin style that is P150 per order.

The small eatery of Aling Lucing houses one of the best sisig servings in all of Angeles. The meal is simple but full of flavor. It includes onions and sauteed meat. A serving of sisig is P185.

5. Pancit Palabok

Kapampangans go all out in their meal preparation. It’s no wonder that their pancit palabok is one of the specialty.

 

Source: Flickr | Risa

Susie’s Cuisine prepares palabok the old way. They have their recipe for sauce that makes it each platter special. It has chicharon and tinapa bits, boiled egg, and topped with spring onions. A solo plate only costs P50! Another restaurant that offers cheap palabok is Razon’s. A plate of pancit is P65 only. The well-cooked glass noodles are full of special sauce and other ingredients.

6. Buko Pandan

Who knew fresh coconut strips, pandan jelly, and creamy condensed milk could make a satisfying dessert?

 

Source: Google Images

Buko Pandan came from the province of Bohol, but Nelly Co of San Fernando made it available for everyone. She and her husband established Nathaniel’s Food Corporation in 1994. They started in a family garage and transformed into a restaurant known for its high-quality service. Nathaniel’s received various awards as a top performing restaurant. At the same time, their buko salad is now called “Pampanga’s Famous Buko Pandan Salad.”

A half-gallon of Nathaniel’s Buko Pandan is P450.

7. Kakanin

A pasalubong wouldn’t be complete without native kakanin. Expect no less from the Culinary Capital when it comes to a bilao of assorted sticky snacks.

Pampanga also has a fair share of kakanin with ube – Kalamay Ube, Ube Lakatan, and Halaya Ube. Another sticky specialty is Moche. It is made of rice dough with bean paste filling. Sweet coconut milk is poured on top. If you want something different, try the Biko Kalabasa. It is rare to find a sweet snack made of ingredients we use for ulam.

Source: TripAdvisor |  wilexplorewil

Susie’s Cuisine in Angeles City has the best Tibok-Tibok, Biko, Suman, Kalamay, Halaya, and Sapin-Sapin.

Tibok-Tibok is a Kapampangan pudding made of carabao’s milk. It is similar to Maja Blanca, but the carabao milk provides a hint of saltiness. Susie’s has other variations of tibok-tibok that includes bits and whole corn. A bilao costs P400 while a slice is only P20.

8. Halo-Halo

A cool and refreshing Filipino treat comes in the form of halo-halo. Pampanga’s halo-halo is simple. Other makers include several toppings on the ice, but Kabigting’s in Arayat only puts three – halayang red beans, cream of corn and homemade pastillas.

First, the crushed ice is fine and smooth. There are no lumps and rough surfaces. Then, there are the pastillas and red beans. The pastillas is made of carabao’s milk while the bean paste looks like dessert fillings. All of these are combined in a cup with milk. Each cup is P60.

 

Another version of the cold treat comes from Razon’s. Razon’s is from Guagua and turned into a successful restaurant chain. It has branches all over the country. Razon’s halo-halo has the traditional ingredients – saging na saba, macapuno and leche flan. The halo-halo also has smooth crushed ice that melts in the mouth. The ingredients are combined in a tall glass dessert where you can see the layers. An order of halo-halo is P99.

9. Cheese Bread

Source: Pepper

It’s not just an ordinary pasalubong. The cheese bread from L.A. Bakeshop has crispy, golden balls of dough with a cheesy crust. The flavor and texture are the same as monay, but L.A.’s bakes the clusters into perfection. Each piece is baked fresh daily.

L.A. Bakeshop at San Fernando is the “Home of the Original Cheese Bread.” A box has thirty pieces of bread and costs P180. It is perfect with a cup of tsokolate batirol.

10. The recipe for awesome Tsokolate batirol

Nothing beats a warm cup of chocolate on the days you feel down. Now that the cold days are on its way, we are likely to share a cup with the family.

Learning how to recreate the tsokolate batirol helps you save on coffee shop trips. At the same time, kids will love the idea of staying at home to watch their favorite movie. The perfect tsokolate batirol uses tablea or chocolate tablets and stirred until you reach the right consistency.