Ilokano dish: puke-puke
Posted by: Fats in: Takaw at Sursur!Dinner tonight was soy chicken with vegetable noodles in carrot sauce. Below is a photo of the noodle dish. I used the stock from the chicken to cook the noodles and the carrots. Then I served this on a plate with lettuce under the noodles and grated cheese on top.
In addition to the noodles and chicken, I decided to make some of that Ilokano eggplant dish called “puke-puke.” The name doesn’t sound very nice in either English or Filipino, and I’ve no idea what it means in Ilokano. 
Anyway, my mom used to cook this, which her older brother loves, and I’ve learned to love just as well. The original dish requires grilled eggplants but because we didn’t have a grill, I just boiled the eggplants, peeled and mashed them. Then I sauted the eggplants with fish sauce and shrimp paste. My mom actually used bagoong balayan or fermented fish paste but that wasn’t available at the moment. Then, egg and finely chopped garlic is added. The whole thing is then mixed until the eggplants are mashed and the egg is cooked. Below is a photo of “puke-puke.”
The nice thing about puke-puke is that it can keep for a few days. In fact, it tastes nicer after a day or two and when cold.
Hmmm… I seem to do nothing but cook all day! (and my partner says he does nothing but wash dishes all day!)
August 2nd, 2007 at 9:34 pm
Fats,
I accidentally found your blog at Marne’s blog. Very nice. I like your Puke-Puke recipe. Hahaha, and from your picture it also looks consistent with the name. A similar looking dish in Kapangpangan is Buro, made out of fermented rice. Sarap ding iulam sa mga prito. Rod
August 11th, 2007 at 1:38 am
Ikaw Rod ah, what dirty keywords have you been searching on the web? Ahaha!
Hey, I’ve tried that kapampangan Buro - the one with rice and fish. MAGNIFICENT! Funny, years back, when our housekeeper saw it in the ref she threw it away - akala nya panis na tirang pagkain, kasi panis na rice tapos tinik ng isda! 