Tinubong. If you have tasted the tupig (an Ilocano delicacy), this was somewhat like that, only difference was that instead of using banana leaves, they used a foot long bamboo trunk. Three pieces of tinubong cost about p100.
Condiments. Part of the Ilocano cuisine is the dinengdeng, a dish using vegetables (of any kind - mix and match) cooked in broth with bagoong balayan (fish paste). People from Ilocos can make their own fish bagoong, but nowadays, they seem to prefer using the seedless bagoong kind. Of course, bagoong can also mean patis (fish sauce), which is also available from different shops. Also part of the Ilocano eating is the spiced vinegar.
Bagnet. Ilocos' version of the pork chicharon. These big chunks of meat are first boiled before they are dried and fried. The process is repeated until the skin pops. A kilo cost about p400, and although this is considered one of the unhealthy foods, people just can't seem to resist it because while the skin is very crunchy, the meat is very tender. Some restaurants use bagnet in cooking their pinakbet.
Balikutsa. Very sweet, and very hard. If the candy "tira tira" is part of your childhood, eating this can be a bit nostalgic, as they taste pretty similar.
Wines. Basi is wine made from sugar cane... according to my brother and cousin, the Ilocano Basi and Vinegar go through the same fermentation process. The sweet ones will become wine, the sour ones will become vinegar. Other wines available are the Duhat Wine (black plum), and Tapoy (pronounced as tah-peuy), a wine made from fermented rice.
Taro Chips. One of the chips that I always wanted to buy and eat. These were of the savory kind, and had a hint of garlic that can "bite" your tongue. Still, I loved eating it. Unfortunately, each pack is now sold at p40, I tried to haggle - 3 for p100, but the store owner didn't want to, so I wasn't able to buy.
There are still so many food items from Vigan that I wasn't able to take pictures of, especially the processed meats, but since I travel there from time to time, I still have so many chances of exploring more Ilocano flavors.
*** Jenn ***
I come from a family who loves cooking and eating. I never had any formal training in cooking and that I taught myself how to cook based on the handed down recipes, but I could say that I can cook good food. In 2008, I started documenting my food trips for my