Fried Crabs
(Photos by Gerard Pareja)
SEASONED restaurateur Winglip K. Chang has relaunched another culinary destination in his chain of restaurants to include Majestic, Tsay Cheng in the Grand Convention Center and Kuya J’s in Ayala’s Food Terraces.
The latest is the Isla Sugbu Seafood City. An array of the freshest seafood catch on a bed of crushed ice and an aquarium of live seafood occupy the center stage of the restaurant, giving it a wharf-like ambience.
Crawling inside the aquariums are king crabs, tiger and bamboo lobsters, shrimps; red tilapia, grouper and pampano swimming around. I caught sight of the much sought-after “diwal” or angel wing clams that are harvested only in the waters of Negros and Capiz.
Grilled Diwal
The huge crabs were still wriggling trying to free themselves from the tight knot around their bodies. The Pitik or Slipper Lobsters were partly buried on crushed ice along with varieties of fish like pampano, mol-mol (parrot fish), mahinlo, etc.
An impressive open kitchen in front is teeming with activity where a culinary team is ready to cook the fresh choices of diners.
A “Sutukil” showdown added to the excitement of the relaunching. Popular actor and Kuya J’s endorser Jericho Rosales led Team Blue while Team Yellow was led by actress Mylene Dizon. “Sutukil” actually stands for the words Sugba (charcoal-grill), Tinuwa (soup) and Kilaw (Kinilaw), which basically describes Cebuano cookery.
This is a popular street food trio served in restaurants and carenderias. Tinuwa is derived from the Tagalog dish Tinola, a soup dish of chicken sautéed in garlic, onions and ginger, flavored with patis or fish sauce and finished with the addition of sliced green papaya and young sili leaves.
Tinuwa is a simpler version of fish soup boiled with sliced tomatoes and spring onions. The Tuwa showdown was more adventurous with Jericho using crabs, shrimps and squid, while Mylene used shrimps only.
I loved the Sugba dishes of salmon fish and squid. Jericho even prepared a sauce cooked with tomatoes and selected condiments The Kilaw used fresh, raw slices of yellow fin tuna marinated in native vinegar and spices.
The restaurant is currently offering a variety of Sutukil Packages—Squid Sugba, Shrimp Tinuwa and Fish Kinilaw or Fish Sugba, Fish Tinuwa and Shrimp Kinilaw. One can mix-match the ingredients to their liking.
The seafood feast that followed the Sutukil showdown was scrumptious. The Steamed Grouper in soy sauce was bursting with freshness.
Kilaw Dish
The huge deep-fried crabs were eye-popping with the carapace filled with deep orange crab fat or aligue. We had to eat with our hands to get to the fleshy part of the crabs.
The pièce de résistance was the sweet and succulent “Diwal” which I have not eaten for a long time. “Diwal” is am Ilonggo term that means “sticking out tongue” since the feet sticks out of its shell like tongues.
The bivalve actually disappeared at one time and was said to be on the brink of extinction due to over-harvesting. After a total ban to harvest, the clams have been rehabilitated. Seafood City is always worth the trip to enjoy these prized clams and its fresh offerings!
Sugba dish