Antique’s famous dish featured at DOT’S Kain Na! festival

SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, ANTIQUE — Antique’s famous dish “Pasta Porbida” was introduced to the public during the Department of Tourism (DOT) Kain Na! Culinary and Travel Festival held in Iloilo City on Saturday.

Antiqueño Chef Jose Ramlo Villaluna, trainer of the DOT Kulinarya Training Program, said the dish is upgraded from the old Spanish version of Porbida (chicken adobo) by adding pasta, chili flakes, and coconut wine or biti-biti to make it more flavorful.

“Porbida is a special dish introduced by the Spanish colonizers to the locale people in Sibalom and San Remigio towns which they served to their guests,” he said in an interview Monday.

Villaluna said with the addition of more ingredients, the dish is presented in a more modern way.

He said Pasta Porbida is cooked by sautéing onion with achuete oil, garlic, native chicken cutlets, and adding chicken broth and Alupidan leaves (Tetrastigma harmandii) that are abundant in the municipalities of Sibalom and San Remigio.

“Coconut milk is also being added towards the end of the cooking process to make the dish creamy and tangy for people to love eating it,” he said.

Villaluna added the Antique Provincial Tourism Office is planning to step up the culinary scene in Antique by having the dish served in restaurants.

Meanwhile, the provincial government, through the Antique Provincial Tourism Office (APTO), had a ceremonial chopping of the native lechon, or roasted pork suckling, which the province is promoting during the Kain Na! last Dec. 7.

Antique Vice Governor Edgar Denosta and the provincial board members with DOT Regional Director Helen Catalbas joined in the ceremonial chopping of roasted pork.

Last November, Antique was launched as the Native Lechon Capital of the Philippines. ■

Porbida is a special dish introduced by the Spanish colonizers to the locale people in Sibalom and San Remigio towns which they served to their guests.