Meet More Chances

An Ilocos Norte trip won't be complete without stopping by Batac City
which is tagged as Home of Great Leaders. Gen. Artemio Ricarte (El
Vibora) of the Revolutionary Government;Gregorio Aglipay, the
religious reformist; and the famous President Ferdinand E. Marcos.
They are just a few of the people who played a great role in the
Philippine history and politics.

The Marcos Museum and Mausoleum is open for public. Aside from this,
Batac City is known for its famous Empanada and Miki. These street
foods will sure give your tummy a delight.

Batac Empanada

Actually, the city is already celebrating Empanada Festival every 23rd
of June, along with the City Chartered Day of Batac. A Dance Drama
Showdown is held, as well as other activities like cooking and eating
empanada and a fireworks display. The empanada is said to be a
reflection of the creativity and resourcefulness of the people.

Empanada is an Spanish influenced food, a stuffed bread or pastry that
maybe baked or fried.

Batac empanada's crust or shell is orange in color. The atchuete used
in colouring is natural. The dough made of rice flour is crispy once
its fried. The size is bigger than the other empanadas available in
Manila.

The filling is a mix of meat and vegetables.  The vegetable makes up
more than half of the total filling, which are shredded green papaya
and boiled monggo beans or bean sprouts, seasoned with pepper, salt
and the seasoning granules.

Empanada is usually served with half-cooked egg but you may request
the vendor to cook it a bit longer if you want. I can still imagine
how other people loved their empanada with the egg yolk almost
dripping out of the crust. I always requested mine to be well-cooked.

But what makes this empanada filling special is the garlic flavored
sausage which is called Ilocos Longganisa. This tiny garlic-flavored
salty  sausage gives the empanada a kick.

The empanada is best served hot with chili flavored sukang Iloko. If
you prefer sweet sauce then a ketchup would do.


Miki Batac

Miki is the chicken noodle soup of Ilocos Norte. The aroma itself
makes someone's mouth water and someone's tummy  crave to hunger.

The secret to a perfect bowl of miki is the texture of the noodles.
The miki noodles are made from rice flour. Once cooked there should
still be that firm texture, al dente as they say.

It is cooked with chicken broth making it savory. The crispy pork
belly or Bagnet slices makes it insanely delicious. It is actually
served with a hard boiled egg.

Season it with chili flavored sukang iloko, and for me a dash of
pepper, would complete the miki espesyal!


Where to find Batac, miki and empanada?

Batac is located about 472km from Manila. And is 16km away from Laoag
City proper.

You can find food stalls at the Riverside Empanadahan in Batac.
Located just a few meters away from the Marcos Museum, in front of the
Immaculate Conception Academy.


If you're on Ilocos Norte tour, don't miss to taste these delectable
Ilocano food.