Soft Luxe Travels: Taal, Batangas - Finding Treasures in the Palengke (Market)

I wasn't excited to check out the market at first. At first glance, it looked underwhelming. I only saw a lot of stores selling bridal gowns, ball gowns, and Filipiniana clothes. (I wanted to look at the Filipiniana, but we didn't have time anymore.) 

But this market was a case of not judging a book by it's cover. We found a lot of treasures inside. 

Our first stop was seafood!

I bought half a kilo of tawilis. I wasn't supposed to, but my son said he wanted some. Our driver, Kuya Fil, bought 3 kilos! 

This is parus/paros. The vendor said this is great for relieving aches and pains and helps anemic people. She said a doctor told her that. I didn't buy any as I'm not familiar and I don't want to risk it. Kuya Fil said that you can eat this raw, just add vinegar. But he said that if you're not used to eating it, you might get a tummy ache. 

Our next stop was Jhen's and Mutya's stall. Mutya was there. 
 

They also had patis and bagoong balayan, like in Vigan. 

I asked Mutya what these are and she said that they're like incense or sage. You light one up to drive away negative energy. 

Atchara is a pickled green papaya side dish. I made this when I was in grade school and got rashes all over my hands. It's delicious though and I keep a couple of jars in the fridge. It's best with grilled dishes. I like eating it with tapa and salty fried dried seafood like tuyo, dilis, espada. 

A lot of honey in the supermarket in the city are fake. Through my travels, I learned that if you want the real deal, you go to the markets. 

I bought a ton of these for pasalubong (homecoming gift). These are ube (purple yam). At first, I wanted the oval one, but Mutya said that these rolled up ones are better. Just eat a few and you don't have to worry about transferring the leftovers to another container like the oval one. This is actually great for me, as I only eat one spoonful of ube. Now I can eat just a roll or two. 😊

I bought one of these for pasalubong for Kuya Jun, our assistant back home. 

Pinipig (immature glutinous rice). I bought a pack because I want to try a few dishes using this. In Baguio, they sell the fresh green one. This one is dried. 

I got a pack of those rolled tablea (brown paper)

Sweet peanut and bukayo, popular pasalubong items. I bought the thin, crushed ones, as they are easier to eat. 

Tablea - pure cacao balls. We mainly use this for champorado (chocolate rice - yes, you read that right! It's delicious!) and hot chocolate. 

Mutya, busy grinding my 1 kilo order of kapeng barako (coffee), a pasalubong for my husband

One of my jute bags. Both my bags got full, as I got so many things from Mutya!

Mutya also sells sinaing na tulingan (tulingan is a fish that is said to have a poisonous tail.) You have to be skilled to cook this dish. She asked if I ate it. I said no. She said to check it out and take photos for my blog. Aww, thank you, Mutya! By the way, Mutya means amulet, charm, or pearl in Filipino. 

The reveal!

A lot of people say that this is a delicious dish. Knowing my sensitivities, I shy away from things that might trigger them. 

We were looking for the stall that sells Taal's famous empanada. The one with pancit inside. Mutya told us to go to Rowena's, but they only had vegetable, chicken, pork, and beef empanadas. A family friend told us about these empanadas. Too bad we didn't find any. I was curious to try. 

Our final stop was Jonjon & Joanne's tapa. They have pork, beef, and chicken. They also sell different kinds of longganisa. 

They've been featured by a few local shows

This spot is really popular. It's a whole section of stalls selling tapa and longganisa, but theirs is the only one who has a lot of customers. 

I bought all 3 kinds of tapa. Kuya Fil bought the pork and some longganisa. Kuya Fil and I were left in the market as my son was feeling hot, so mom took him to the car. I later learned that he threw up. We're both heat sensitive. Plus he probably had acidity as he hasn't eaten yet. 

Stay tuned for Part 3: Cutchare y Tenedor Restaurant. 

Please also follow my food blog, Lady E Eats,  for reviews of the food I bought. 

I will leave you with this short clip of the tilapia: