Greetings!
We Ilocanos pride ourselves on the simplicity of our dishes. A boiled vegetable combined with a fish sauce dip is already a delicious dish for us. We love to boil almost any leafy vegetable like Spinach, Sweet Potato Leaves, or Bitter Gourd Leaves, we also love to boil Okra and Eggplant.
When it comes to delicacy we Ilocanos also have lots of it. And one of the most famous is the "Buro" or "Fermented Rice". Buro can be bought in all local markets in our province. Buro is fermented rice with Tilapia. It is mostly sauteed with spices and cooking oil.
Also, one of the vegetables that we love to boil is the flower of Vegetable Hummingbird. It is a flower characterized by its white color. It is mostly eaten during summer (summer is the season for Vegetable hummingbirds).
The flower of the vegetable hummingbird is almost tasteless but it has a little bit of bitter aftertaste (which is barely noticeable).
There are only two variants of Buro, the white variant and the pink variant. But their taste is the same the only difference is the color.
Buro is characterized by its sour taste and the smell is like spoiled rice, hence, it is fermented. It is only seasoned with salt when cooking, nothing else. Buro has a long lifetime when cooked/uncooked because it is already spoiled since it is fermented, in short Buro is edible spoiled rice.
We also love to partner boiled vegetables with Buro. And one of the vegetables we love to partner with Buro is the boiled flower of the Vegetable Hummingbird.
With that being said, here's how I prepare and cooked Buro with boiled flowers of Vegetable Hummingbird.
Note: I bought the Buro from a local market nearby.
- Fermented Rice (Buro)
- Vegetable Hummingbird flower (Bulaklak ng Katuray)
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Onion
- Cooking Oil
- Salt (to taste)
Peel and slice the onions
Peel and slice the ginger
Peel and slice the garlic
Remove the green part and remove the pollen stick of the Vegetable Hummingbird's flowers (then wash afterwards)
Put the Fermented Rice in a bowl then add some water
1. boil some water
3. When the water is boiling put all the Vegetable Hummingbird Flower
4. Press down the Vegetable Hummingbird flower using a ladle so that the flower will be boiled evenly
5. Wait until it turns transparent
6. When the Vegetable Hummingbird flower has become transparent turn-off the heat
7. Put it in a bowl and set aside
8. Sautee the garlic, onion, and ginger in a cooking oil
9. When the onion, garlic, and ginger turned golden brown add the fermented rice
10. Stir
11. When the water is reduced add some cooking oil then let it simmer for about 2-3 minutes
12. After 2-3 minutes turn-off the heat
13. Transfer the cooked fermented rice to a bowl
Put them together in a bowl then serve, or you can serve them in a separate bowl.
I am a Computer Engineer, blogger, farmer, gardener, father, and husband. I love countryside living, nature, farming (rice/vegetables), and has two decades of experience as an I.T. professional
