The Dangsilog Effect

Danggit (dried rabbit fish), sinangag (garlic fried rice), and itlog (fried egg) make up a meal that is popularly known as Dangsilog. It is quite ordinary for Filipinos to combine the first or last few letters of all the components of a meal to come-up with a single name to associate the meal with. Here are examples of some famous meal combinations: Tapsilog (Tapa, Sinangangag, at Itlog), Tocilog (Tocino, Sinangag, at Itlog), Longsilog (Longanisa, Sinangag, at Itlog), Chicksilog (Chicken, Sinangag, at Itlog), and Pakaplog (Pandesal, Kape, at Itlog).

I had this meal for breakfast during our vacation in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan (it was such a nice place, by the way); this was a free breakfast that came with our hotel accommodation. Since I am a big fan of danggit especially when soaked in sinamak or pinakurat, I somewhat enjoyed the meal but I felt that the danggit didn’t even reached my stomach. At first, I thought that the 2 pieces of danggit were just samplers; I felt bad when I learned that everything that I should be expecting were already in front of me.

After finishing the tiny meal and a cup of 3 in 1 coffee mix, I stopped myself from ordering more and instead planned to go to the public market in later on to purchase more danggit for my satisfaction.

We had a scheduled city tour that day. As our tour guide arrived, I tried to set aside my cravings to enjoy the wonderful places that we are about to visit. Before we left, I asked our guide if he could include the city’s public market as our last destination for the day in which he gladly agreed without any hesitation.

Off we went to tour the city of Puerto Princesa and its neighboring towns; it was such a fantastic experience. We first went to the handloom weaving showroom were different weaved products are made and sold. Our next destination was Mitra Ranch; it was a peaceful place that overlooks the captivating Honda bay. We also went to the crocodile farm where we had the chance to feed the crocodiles and had a picture holding the little ones. The famous Bakers Hill was our next destination. Imagine a bakeshop, restaurant, and park all in one place – no wonder this place was part of our tour. Here are some of the pastries and pasalubong that they are selling.

Miniature Cakes

Dice Hopia and Hopiang Hapon

Hopiang Monggo and Hopiang Ube

Galletas and Butter Toast

Butterscotch and Polvoron

We finally reached the highlight of the tour, Puerto Princesa Public Market. I immediately left the van and went in the dried seafood section to purchase danggit. As I entered the section, I got mesmerized by the different dried seafood varieties that were crowding the place. I got a kilo of danggit but I felt that it was not enough so I also got half a kilo each of dried dulong, labahita, pusit, bisugo, and some other varieties. All my frustrations a while back faded away – it really felt good to see all the dried seafood sold at a very low price.

At the end of the day, I ended up having a large carton full of dried fish. We weren’t able to have danggit for dinner that night because the carton needs to be completely sealed for air travel the next day. When we arrived in Manila, I had the best dangsilog and dried seafood buffet breakfast ever.

Are you a Dangsilog lover too?

What particular dried seafood do you like best and why?