Tags: Exotic Food, Food Preparation, Truly Pinoy Food and Drinks
By Paulo Padre
TINEG, ABRA — This remote town goes under the spotlight every election period, when supporters of feuding political families are known to have injured — and sometimes kill — each other during polls.
Yet during the rainy months of May to July, another subject literally becomes talk of the town, not just in Tineg but throughout the province of Abra. It is not about election fever; it is about “beetlemania” over the Philippine Beetle.
Abra is a landlocked province in the Cordilleras, bordered by Ilocos Norte and Apayao up North and by Ilocos Sur and the Mountain Province down South. Its inhabitants are mostly descendants of Ilocano settlers and members of the Tingguian tribe.
In Ilocano, the Philippine Beetle is called abal-abal, more popularly known in Tagalog as salagubang. The abal-abal is also known in Itneg — another Abra dialect — as ab-ableng and ararawan or “bug in the fields.” It is this bug that finds its way to the homes of locals not as a pest but as a delicacy.
In Aking mga Tula, the abal-abal is described as an insect that looks like a June beetle but darker in color. It is gathered during the first rainshowers of May to July along the river banks (ig-igid ti waig) at dusk when they fly out of the sandy soil, where a whole community of abal-abal hunters arm themselves with hunting nets. Some locals even believe that putting pomade on their hair attracts the abal-abal, making them easier to just catch them by hand.
Blogger AC Coloma, a native of Abra, explains how they catch the abal-abal in their farm:
“Abal-abal burrow underground, go out in the evening and stay in trees (usually mango trees). The common way to catch more than just one is through shaking the tree vigorously until they fall to the ground. However, this is applicable only after a rainshower.
Another way of catching them is by going to places where they thrive, making a knot in a tree nearby or a bamboo stick with a knotted hay on the end and thereafter rubbing chili on that knot. The scent of the chili attracts the abal-abal so they will swarm in that spot.”
It is said that abal-abal which have just gone through the larval stage are the best ones to cook because they are still soft. After the festive act of gathering the protein-rich abal-abal in the fields, their prickly wings are removed before cooking.
Here is a recipe for Sautéed abal-abal from Foodster:
INGREDIENTS:
Abal-abal (Philippine Beetle or salagubang)
Cooking oil
Vinegar
Pepper
Salt or soy sauce
PROCEDURE:
Sauté the abal-abal in a small amount of cooking oil then mix with pepper and salt or soy sauce. When half cooked, add a small amount of vinegar. Stir until the beetles become dry and toasted. You can also fry abal-abal if you like them brittle.
Photos from Aking mga Tula, Mannurat.com, Foodster, AC Coloma’s blog and Wikipedia.
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