Beng-beng, Pigar-Pigar and Imbaliktad

EACH dish has a story…
Eating outside a public market stall in Mangaldan led me to a delicious meal and a local cuisine history lesson about “beng-beng”.

Beng-beng is Mangaldan’s version and the precursor of the more popular street food Dagupan Pigar Pigar, which is deep fried carabao meat seasoned with salt and pepper and garnished with onions.

The difference between bengbeng and pigar pigar is how the meat is cooked. The bengbeng is initially cooked in its own fat and water before oil is added and brought to boil. For pigar pigar, the carabeef is dropped to an already boiling oil. When the meat is cooked cabbage and onions are added

The stall owner and cook who prepared my meal turned out to be the originator of beng-beng, Belen Aquino of JR Bengbengan. According to her, beng-beng is a Pangasinan word for the meat in the abdomen near the ribs of the cow or carabao. The meat trimmings were once given “free” to the matadors/ butchers of Mangaldan who had them cooked by her wayback in the 80’s even before “Isaw” of Dagupan became famous for cooking “pigar pigar” as concocted by Councilor Chito Samson and the late Manny Vent Cornel. Fast forward to more than 30 years, she now maintains a stall outside Farmacia Petilla in the Mangaldan Public market where you can enjoy beng-beng the way it was “originally” cooked. One advantage of Mangaldan is that it has an abattoir. You can say that the meat in the market is always fresh and newly slaughtered.

Similar to beng-beng and pigar-pigar is the Ilocano’s imbaliktad. It is stir-fried half-cooked beef (sometimes goat or carabeef) seasoned salt and pepper with garlic, ginger and onion and to spice it up some hot chilli. Sukang iloko is also added.

It is pigar-pigar however that has became popular among the three. In Dagupan, the whole stretch of Galvan Street is lined with pigar-pigar stalls that serve the dish almost 24/7. Also, there was a Pigar-pigar festival that was once regularly celebrated. I hope they revive the festival again. Other famous pigar-pigar stalls have sprouted outside the Galvan Street area especially in big barangays Lucao and Bonuan Gueset. Nowadays, there are different variations of the dish perhaps to adjust to the customers’ taste buds (shouldn’t it be the other way around?). Some stalls have innovated how the meat is sliced: thinly and bite-size. Some marinate the meat or add flavours like teriyaki-style. I was told that the original pigar-pigar was mixed with “papait” or cow’s bile/ intestinal juice and liver. Somehow the pigar-pigar of today has lost its exoticness and novelty.

How about you? How do you like your beef or carabeef cooked? Beng-beng, pigar-pigar or imbaliktad-style? The next time you eat out, ask yourself: “what story does your food tell?”

- Written by @SiRVis and published in https://punch.dagupan.com/opinion/2017/06/the-north-vista-20/


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pangasinan comfort food: Dagupan Kaleskes

Image
Dagupan Kaleskes is a dish made out of cow or carabao meat and its internal organs in a hot, delicious, orange colored broth. The dish got its name from ' Kaleskes ' which is a Pangasinan word for intestines .  It is the annatto or achuete that gives the soup its distinct orange color and slightly nutty, earthy and delicately sweet flavor. But most of the yummy flavor comes from the beef and innards (some prefer to use carabeef as it is said to be more flavorful and cheaper than beef).  The meat is slow cooked in a big aluminum basin or casserole usually with charcoal in a brazier or kalan de uling/ ulingan (clay stove). This adds a different scent and flavor to the food. The coup de grace for a delectable Dagupan Kaleskes are the free sebo tan dala (fat and blood)! By the way, the broth is unlimited so you can ask for endless refill.   Kaleskes , a Pangasinan dish is similar to the Ilocano’s Sinanglao and Pinapaitan . It however does not ha...
Read more

A Look Back to July 16, 1990 Earthquake

Image
The July 16, 1990 Earthquake was a devastating episode for Dagupeños and other people affected by it. But it was also a time for resilience, community collaboration and positive will to rise from the crumbles of devastation. In effect, a new Dagupan was born. Here are images from that fateful day:  It has been 20 years. We, as a city should look back to not how painful and scary the July 16, 1990 earthquake was. Instead, we should remember the lessons learned, the sacrifices and the concerted efforts we made to uplift and make Dagupan great again. Are we now equipped and prepared to handle such emergencies? Can we minimize adverse effects in case (God forbid) such disaster happens again? Can we harness the spirit of genuine concern and voluntarism? Can we become one Dagupan again? Photos from Sunday Punch .
Read more

Dagupan City Walking Tour

Image
Dagupan City is replete with events of historical significance and rich cultural heritage making the city a topnotch destination for that glimpse of the illustrious past and a look back into Dagupan’s history. Gabaldon Building Every town in the country that existed as of 1889 has a schoolhouse known as Gabaldon building, named  after Isauro Gabaldon, an assemblyman who authored Act No. 1801 or Gabaldon Act which appropriated Php 1 million between the years 1907 to 1915 for the "construction of schoolhouses of strong materials in barrios with guaranteed daily attendance of not less than sixty pupils.” The Gabaldon building which is the central edifice of the West Central Elementary School is now 102 years old. Constructed in 1909, it is the oldest school house in the city. It also has a historical significance as it served as the Provincial Capitol of Pangasinan from 1942 up to 1945. It was here where the war time governor, Santiago V. Estrada, Sr. and his provinc...
Read more