Lucing and Corazon

Sisig

The province of Pampanga is a popular food trip destination. After all, it is the birthplace of many of the country’s most famous dishes. Many Kapampangans have actually profited from their province’s culinary flair. From the famous Cabalen buffet to Razon’s Halo Halo parlor, these homegrown restaurants have made their way into mainstream Filipino consciousness. Some great deal of marketing may be credited for their popularity but one cannot deny that it is the Kapampangan dishes that make Filipinos return with jest to these establishments.  One such Kapampangan dish is the sisig, a sizzling platter made of ground pork, all from a pig’s head. Usually in Filipino fiestas, the head of a lechon or roast pig is a staple leftover. Now who would want to feast on a pig’s snout? After the Second World War, one entrepreneur thought of an ingenious way to recycle the pig’s head. Then, sisig was born. Sisig is fried on a sizzling plate, marinated with calamansi and chopped chili to add flavor. It is usually crunchy and is a favorite in almost every Filipino restaurant in the entire country. However in Aling Lucing’s, which claims to be the birthplace of sisig, it is soft, oily but all the same delicious. Most travelers in Pampanga never miss a visit to Aling Lucing. Although the modest, rundown shack is at best dark and grubby, it arguably serves one of the best sisigs in the country. Aling Lucing is located in Angeles City, itself a famous food destination in Pampanga. It occupies an unpretentious old building, nearly halfway between the Hispanic center of the city and the infamous Fields Avenue, home to the many brothels that catered to the American servicemen. Its infamous reputation still holds today.

Aling Lucing is its only kind in the country, that’s why during any large-scale event in Angeles, the place is sure to be filled. During the recent Hot Air Balloon Festival in Clark Field, the restaurant was so full that customers were setting up extra chairs and tables themselves. The fact that the sisig is cooked in a dingy kitchen doesn’t seem to discourage them. Also, the restaurant itself is lacking in lighting as much as it is unclean. The smell of lethal vehicle emission permeates the interior and every corner of each chair and table is teeming with thick gray cobwebs. Nevertheless the people come here not to observe the disgusting surrounds, but to have a taste of its famous soft sisig, the pioneering plate which made the dish a household name.

Luckily, coming from a trip to a dog shelter in Tarlac, we found Aling Lucing almost deserted even if it was lunch. There were hardly anyone, except for a lone Caucasian who cautiously digged into his sisig, meticulously observing every bit of scoop. Indeed the grubbiness of the place can get to your appetite, but once you smell the aroma of fried pork sautéed and seasoned with calamansi, it seems like the restaurant’s unappetizing aura fades away and is forgotten. At first bite, the sisig’s soft texture feels rather different and even unsavory. Soon after, the warm feeling of well-cooked pork and the added texture provided by the sauté conjoin to form one delicious concoction that will make one like to have some more. Even the famous TV food traveler Anthony Bourdain particularly acknowledged sisig in his notoriously sarcastic food travel program, although he had nothing but innocent expressions of delight over the novelty of its taste. Aling Lucing did receive some big time recognition after he included this restaurant in his itinerary, a testament that indeed, its sisig is a must-try even for the discerning traveler.

Halo-halo

            Pampanga is also known for other delicacies such as the halo-halo, the most famous dessert in the Philippines. It is said that the best halo-halo was made by the original Razon’s eatery in the town of Guagua. Good thing luck has chosen our side and that Razon’s did open several ‘authentic’ branches of its famed eatery a dozen or so miles nearer in Angeles. Unfortunately this city, like many other cities in the country, lies amidst a sea of unplanned, haphazard urbanity as a result of third world development, so it was hard to search for the authentic halo-halo. Coupled with some great deal of miscommunication among locals, we were brought to this pompous rainbow-colored house that sold the self-proclaimed famous Corazon Halo-Halo, a name akin to the street where this cute little piece of tackiness is situated. Moreso, it is rather suspicious that Corazon shares all but two letters from Razon’s. The discerning traveler should know that difference, as it will take only those two very same letters to deprive one’s self of Pampanga’s authentic halo-halo. Needless to say the halo-halo is so famous that every other street corner in the country plays host to a stall that sells it. Usually served in tall soda glasses, it is a hodge-podge of different sweet little chops of other pieces of dessert. In a typical halo-halo, there is ube or sweet yam, pandan jelly, leche flan and a menagerie of different other little sweet cubes and spheres. All this is stuffed into a tall glass and covered in crushed ice, a staple for the halo-halo since it is a summer fare. Then, milk is poured into the concoction to add creaminess and flavor. The seemingly careless mix of food explains the name of the fare. Halo-halo literally means “mix mix.” Unfortunately, mouth-watering as it sounds, we didn’t get to try the ‘authentic’ Pampanga halo-halo. Razon’s tries to keep its halo-halo uniform in all of its branches, but nothing beats the feeling of having tasted the real fare in the original store. I must say that a short detour to Guagua would have been well worth it. Nevertheless Razon’s is present pretty much in most major cities in the country. In Manila, the restaurant is found in a lot of shopping malls. Although one wouldn’t really know the difference between the halo-halo served in the capital and the one served in Guagua without having a profound tasting of both, it’s also quite comforting to know that the halo-halo in any Razon’s is good nonetheless. Perhaps the longing to taste the authentic one calls for another trip to Pampanga. Surely, a visit to the north is one that is guaranteed to satisfy the palate!