Citra Mina, Davao

I'm craving for this tuna chicharon of Citra Mina. I had done rounds of grocery tours ( here in Manila) looking for it or some other brand of tuna chicharon but found nothing. It's made of tuna (fish) skin. So crunchy and spicy, dipping it to a vinegar mix makes it so much more delicious.




Well, I guess I have to visit Davao again just so I could fully indulge on this awesome junk crunch. Unless, otherwise one of my kindhearted Davao relatives read this and you know send some lovin' package of Citra Mina's.




This was at Citra Mina in Davao City. I love this fish store with lots of  TUNA! Right  there were so much variants of tuna and at  lower prices compared to what we have here in Manila.

Cousin specifically pointed to us how we should not pass on the availability of the big eye toro ( huge variant of tuna with so much flavors ). She said it was rarely available so we made sure to take some pieces of it back home. While there in Davao, cousin had served some recipes around the special big eye.




tuna ceviche




tuna in coconut cream




So if you get to visit the city, make sure to squeeze in some time to visit Citra Mina. I also took home some of the processed cold cuts and they were good, especially the tuna longanisa. Chao!

Halal

As we entered the province of Cotabato, predominantly Muslim populated, I had to shout out to the rest of my relatives inside the car to look outside the windows and read what I had just seen by the road_ "baboy for sale, pang lichon" ( pig for sale, good for roasted suckling pig). As we all know, pig/pork is a no no food for the Muslim, very anti-Halal. so I had to asked one of my relatives who hailed from this province, yet is a Christian herself, what was that?!!!! Remember, I was there during the height of Ramadan of this year. She said that this particular town ( which name slips my memory at this time) which we were passing by was not a 100% Muslim town. Alright.

After few kilometers, she announced that we were almost in Cotabato City. It was high noon, brother said he couldn't wait to get to the town to eat. Cousin/host suggested a stop over to a pata house, a whaat?? pata!( pig knuckles)? Take note that this area was strictly Muslim majority.

The eatery was like a turo-turo in Manila where one points and orders what he likes from the pots.

Was it only me_ all dishes seemed alike to me. One color and all in tomato sauce. The server said they were three different dishes, one was chicken and the other two were beef dishes.




I ignored the three and asked for the namesake dish_ pata. I was surprised when a soup was served. I was expecting a pata tim (pig knuckles stew) or crispy pata (crackling pig knuckles). Not bad, it was like bulalo but was not. It was more like batchoy with beef innards and beef parts including in a kare-kare dish. The soup was so hearty I didn't finish a bowl, I'm kindah not so fond of highly cholesterol-led dishes. But it was delicious okey.








Half of the place was a pizza eatery. Had I not gotten full by the hearty soup, I might want to order its Halal pizza , might be a tuna to try.

Breakfast at Moon Garden

Settled in the best  breakfast spot (see here) in Moon Garden , we were ready for our hearty breakfast.



kapeng barako, fresh milk, fresh pure mango shake

courteous & efficient staff

plates making you hungry?

longanisa,egg, garlic fried rice & pickled veggies

my pick - homemade corned beef, garlic rice, egg, pickled veggies. . .yummmmmm!

adobo flakes, egg, garlic rice & pickled veggies. . . adobo flakes were too dry for me



crispy paksiw na bilong-bilong,egg,rice & veggies.. hubby liked this plate so much

french toast in honey, honeyed banana, egg

 fresh guyabano shake

flambe banana

natural yogurt w alfonso honey



need i say more?

{{If you were wondering why there were more than four plates_ they were combination of our weekend long bfast.