Tausug is a name of a race of the people or ethnics  residing in the Sulu Archipelago. Though the term was considered as a merely ethnic of the people of Jolo, today many people are beginning to realize that the Tausug was the name which became the strongest strand of all ethnics under the umbrella of the Royal government of the Sultanate of Sulu Darul Islam.

Before illegally annexed to the Philippines, the Sultanate of Sulu had a successful government for more than 300 years. Now the Sultanate government had been reinstalled by the Tausug citizens last 17 November 2010. The long period hegemony of the Sultanate government had caused the Tausug cultures well preserved from one generation to the other. Only most of Tausug cultures still unexposed to the outside world – especially their food. The Tausug food is unique, hence it deserves to reach all people around the world. Enable that they can truly understand the Tausug race from another aspect of their lives - food. 

In the Tausug food we can find food which symbolizes unity of all ethnics regardless of their social status be it they a Buranun, Samal, Bangingi', Kalibugan, Yakan, Jama Mapun, Mulbug, and others. One staple food eats by everyone after rice any food made from cassava such as Piyutu, Siyanglag and Biyanban.  These foods are widely available anywhere in the Sultanate of Sulu territory or in places where the Tausug living. 

On this write up I would like to summarize few recipes of the Tausug which originated from the Island of Jolo. Such as the Tiyula’ Itum (black soup) Kinilaw, Siyagul, Piyalam, Piyassak, Kaliya, Piyanggang manuk, Suwan-suwan, Adubu manuk, Paksiyu, Tiyula ista’, Tiyula’ sina’, Siyanglag, Piyutu, Biyanban. And to name few of some sea foods such as Tihi’-Tihi’, Bat, Tayum, Sikad-sikad, Kahanga plus the fruit vegetables cook by the Tausug in their own way like the unripe Jackfruit, unripe Marang (variety of Jackfruit), Dabung (bamboo shoot) unripe banana, Pusu’ (banana heart) and many more. These few examples if to cook by the Tausug their taste would be different. Moreover, its originality will not lose.

Some Tausug foods like Tiyula’ Itum, Siyagul and others mostly added with chili pepper. As some locals say that “Without chili pepper the food has no taste”. Another spice which makes the tiyula’ itum and siyagul different from the other is the burned coconut or the “siyunug lahing”. The burned coconut will not only give strong aroma but it also becomes the color of tiyula’ itum soup. Tiyula’ itum is very important to the Tausug especially during special occasion. Tiyula itum will also serve as head of all viand. Without it at the center of a food tray, to some, it is incomplete. Tiyula’ itum is a food that symbolizes the Tausug pride most likely the ethnic Buranun. 

The most popular food besides tiyula’ itum is the Siyanglag, Piyutu and Biyanban. These foods originated from one source – the cassava. Before the Cassava becomes Siyanglag or Piyutu it has to pass through certain stages. Starts from to uproot the cassava in the garden down to peeling its skin, and when everything is clean the next step is to grate it. After grating the next step is to remove the juice from the pulverize cassava until it is completely dry. After all these steps prepare all things needed before cooking.

As a replace to rice most Tausug usually eats Siyanglag, Piyutu and Biyanban. It is a custom of Tausug to eat first Siyanglag, Piyutu and Biyanban before rice. Tausug could easily identify someone he is not originally from Sulu once he doesn't eat first any cassava food. The Tausug love to eat cassava food because it would last in stomach more than six hours compare to rice. The cassava foods are almost compatible with all viands especially the roasted fish mix with seafood.

Sulu archipelago is a home to a seafood. The most loved seafood of all Tausug especially the Samal are the Agal-agal, Gamay (variety of seaweeds) and some sea urchins like Tihi’-Tihi and Tayum. These sea foods will  be eaten fresh, except the Agal-agal have to pass few processes before it can be eaten. 

Being people living in the island surrounded by seas, the Tausug lavishly eats fishes. Everyday fish always present on the table. Whenever there is a rice and cassava food, the fish must be there. There is a type of cooking fish, I am not sure if this is originated from the Tausug, with the vinegar and some spices – we called it Liyawal or better known as Kinilaw. This type of raw food is best to eat with cassava and roasted fish in the seashore or during a picnic. Usually, the Tausug use to prefer this once a week. They believed liyalwal could not be eaten daily because of the acid present in the vinegar and lemon. To some, they eat this food for healthy purposes especially if one has low blood pressure.

 Besides these sea foods, the Tausug is also vegetarian. Aside from leafy vegetables the Tausug uses to cook unripe jackfruit, marang (variety of jackfruit), dabung (bamboo shoot), and unripe banana. These unripe fruits vegetables usually cook with coconut milk and dried fish and some spices. As this fruit vegetable cooked, we called it Giyataan. Giyataan means to cook with coconut milk. The guardian is delicious to eat at lunchtime. The presence of coconut milk, dried fish and turmeric in giyataan would unveil the secrets of unripe fruits like jackfruit, marang bamboo shoot and unripe banana.

Through these foods, we can see how the Tausug surviving despite of chaos and poverty they face for centuries. There is none Tausug who left their homeland without recalling these foods. How delicious the food in other countries would be, the Tausug food still number one of them because it's there where their identity as Tausug lies.

Tiyula’ itum is the best among the Tausug viands. The origin of this food is not yet known even among the Tausug, but people believed the tiyula’ itum is really a Tausug cuisine because of the presence of the burned coconut.

Tiyula itum is believed to increase libido also increases high blood pressure. Tiyula’ itum is a combination of the word tula’ and itum. Tula’ is cooking with soup and itum is black because of the burned coconut as the main ingredient being mixed to the meat.

Tiyula’ itum is always cooked in the famous occasions of the Tausug. And it is also the main viand place at the center of the tray together with different recipes.

Follow the steps below to make a delicious Tiyula itum.

INGREDIENTS:

1 kg. Beef

Turmeric - 2 thumbs

Ginger - 2 thumbs

White Ginger - 4 thumbs

Lemongrass - 4 pieces

Burned coconut - ½ coconut

Coconut milk - 1 ½ liter

Onion - 1 piece

Black pepper - 25 ml or ½ teaspoon

Vinegar - enough to wash the meat

Msg. (optional)

Salt to taste

Chili pepper (optional) - 10 pieces

Garlic - 5 cloves

Oil - 3 tablespoons

Sugar - 1 teaspoon

Guava leaves (optional) - 3 pieces

METHOD:

      Slice the meat into cubes

Wash the meat with water then finally the vinegar

Pound the burned coconut, lemongrass, black pepper, white ginger, ginger, turmeric, chili pepper, garlic separately, with pestle on mortar.

Mix the meat with burned coconut and 1 tablespoon of oil.

Squeeze the turmeric and produce at least 1/8 cup of its juice.

Squeeze the ginger also produce 1/8 cup of its juice.

Squeeze the white ginger and produce ¼ cup of its juice.

Heat the pan or small caldron

Put 2 tablespoon oil

Sauté the onion first then garlic until its color turn to brown.

Add the lemongrass and black pepper and mix them well.

Place the meat on the sauteed spices.

Allow to boil the mixture for 5 minutes don’t mix yet.

Cover the pan or small caldron.

If the meat is easily to tear off pour the turmeric, ginger and white ginger juices to a mixture. Mix the mixture thoroughly. Then add chili pepper and guava leaves.

Let it boiled for 3 minutes then add the coconut milk.

Allow to boil for 5 – 10 minutes.

Add salt and msg. if the meat is already cooked. After adding salt let it boils for another 3 minutes.

Do not add salt at the beginning.

*This entry was taken from Kakaun Sug: Beyond Recipes, Where the Courageous Tausug starts Manuscript authored by Sharif Aliazer Sharif Abdurajim, edited by  Neldy Jolo

Before I married to a Tausug I really don’t have any ideas about their food. How it taste, looks like and to cook it. However as I entered through their culture, by means of marriage, I began to discover a lot particularly about the food which sustaining them. Before, I don’t like to eat their food in a sense that it can’t stimulate my appetite. Perhaps I’m not use of eating them and not part of a culture where I grew up. Along the way, my curiosity brought me to taste the Tausug food. At last, I had entered to the culture apart from mine.

One of my favorite is the Kinilaw, it’s really appetizing. The mixture of unripe mango, vinegar and other ingredients really give a great taste to this appetizer. I also like the Tiyula Itum (black soup). This Tausug traditional cuisine is really delicious. I frequently eat this black soup during the wedding and other occasions we’ve attended. As I’ve noticed this cookery is the symbol of Tausug identity. Although the tiyula itum is spicy but I can assure that it’ll fit your taste.

The Tausug bangbang are also unique in their respective way. Like the wadjit, though it’s just made from combination of few recipes, the taste is very delicious. For me it’s perfect with any soft drinks or hot coffee and tea. Also with the Panganan and Panyam, so far after 4 years immersing with Tausug only these confectioneries I love to eat most. I am glad to the Almighty Allah for choosing me to become a part of the Tausug and being able to taste the secret taste of their food. I know no matter what type of food it is the most important it is good and lawful.

Jameelah Abdurajim

Panggi-panggi is a kind of Tausug confectionery. Some Tausug called it Ligut-Ligut. Ligut is literally means rotation, whirl or revolution. Suppose the popularize name is not panggi’-panggi’ but Ligut-Ligut because the latter is nearest to the attributes of this confectionery. Perhaps, some Tausug called it Ligut-Ligut because when making this bang-bang it needs to make a rotation in a form of number "8". In reality, the name panggi’-panggi’ is difficult to trace as where it came from. Panggi’ means cassava or tapioca. But if to check the recipe of this confectionery there is no cassava involve. Perhaps we need to do more research as why this confectionery called panggi’-panggi’.

This confectionery is delicious to eat with tea and black coffee. It is usually served on any occasions in Tausug culture. During the night of “Pagjaga-jaga” or on the eve of an occasion, this bang-bang is served to the people attending, because this confectionery is easy to prepare. The bang-bang is nicely to eat after few minutes taken out from the wok. The panggi'-panggi' lover could able to finish 5-10 pieces while still hot.

In Zamboanga public market there is a coffee stall where we used to go if want to eat panggi’-panggi. Although the place is quite unfavorable in sanitation, still many people going to the stall just to buy the confectionery. I and friends frequently went to the stall after we spent hours in front of the computer screen. After spending at least 20 minutes there we’ll back to the café to do some unfinished work on the net. This bang-bang is difficult to forget because of its yummy taste.

The bang bang was sold by that time 1 pilak each. By now the price maybe increasing to a 2 pilak, but in Sabah its price still RM 20 cents each.

Here is how to make this simple but delicious bang-bang.

The recipe I got from the book “Traditional Cuisines of Sabah”, pp. 97.

Ingredients for the batter:

500 g rice flour }

200 g all purpose flour }

150 g caster sugar } mix well together to form a smooth paste

200 ml thick coconut milk }

3 eggs }

4 cups cooking oil [for deep frying]

Method:

Heat oil in a wok. Using your hand, scoop a handful of batter and pour the batter down into a hot oil to form the figure “8”. Fry until golden brown and then drain. Repeat until all batter is used up.

You will need a lot practice with this method especially in shaping the figure “8” with your hand. Keep the fire low when doing it.

Wadjit is a Tausug confectionery made from black and white glutinous rice. This bangbang is widely available in most coffee shops and bangbang stalls in Sulu archipelago. Wadjit is a favorite not only by a coffee and tea addict but almost all Tausug irrespective of tribes and places.

I frequently ate wadjit when I was in Zamboanga City, Sulu. As there were times babu’ whom I considered as expert cook, often cook this type of confectionery. I did love to eat wadjit especially if she mixed it with durian and ginger. As Tausug dictum says,” Maig manga in taynga mu hansipak bang kaw makakaun wadjit masarap” which literally means “your ear will remove if you can eat delicious cookery such as wadjit. Honestly a plate of wadjit isn’t enough to a person if it is cook nicely.

Wadjit is also called as hiyuwal. The term is taken from the attributes of mixing the food while on pan with ladle. It is believed by some Tausug that this delicious bangbang is not good to eat by a child especially them who can’t talk yet. It can cause tongue-tied to a child. There are times if a child is unable to speak well some Tausug would conclude that the child had eaten a wadjit. Though it sounds untrue, the author convinced that the idea wouldn’t have been come to being if it wasn’t happening. However, to believe it is another story to a modern man.

Bangbang wadjit mention here is made from black glutinous rice. But the color itself doesn’t limit the name wadjit. As there are many Tausug also cook wadjit using white glutinous rice then they add food color. Wadjit can also be prepared even without wrapping in banana leaves. Mostly the wadjit, which is selling in food stalls particularly in Sandakan, will just put in a tray. Then it will be cut according to the standard price of bangbang. In Sandakan the price for a wadjit is RM 20 cents. There are also wadjit wrapped with banana leaves sell with the same price.

For this confectionery I picked a recipe from the book “Traditional Cuisines of Sabah” which was written by wives of representatives in Sabah. Their group was known as BAKISA.

Here are the steps to be followed if you want to cook this bangbang.

Ingredients ‘A’:

300 g glutinous rice (Soaked overnight)

4 tbsp water

Ingredients ‘B’:

30 g caster sugar

45 g ‘gula Melaka’/palm sugar

30 g brown sugar

8 pieces screwpine leaves

 ¼ tspn salt

200 mls thick coconut milk

Banana leaves for wrapping

Method:

Steam ingredients ‘A’ over high heat with three pandan leaves. Sprinkle with 4 tablespoons of water after 15 minutes. Continue steaming until rice is cooked. Cook ingredients ‘B’ in a pot tills syrupy. Add in add in cooked glutinous rice and simmer until quite dry. Scoop out and press onto a tray and let cool. Cut to desired shapes and sizes, or wrap in prepared banana leaves.

Sago has long been existing in the world. Its origin as reported by the Society of Sago Palm Studies is from the extending area of Moluccas to New guinea. Sago is eaten as staple in Malay Archipelago, as mentioned in Singapore Food History site until it was displaced by rice. This food is continued to be eaten many centuries ago in areas where rice is expensive or not available, such as Timor, the Northern Moluccas, the Aru islands, Buton and Selayar.

The presence of Sago in the Tausug way of life can be traced during reign of Sulu Sultanate. As mentioned by James Warren in his book “The Sulu Zone”, page 87, “there is one vegetable production in the Sooloo dominions of great consequence---sago---- no place has greater abundance or more excellent sago trees than the coast of tirun… The Tidong exchanged the granulated sago to the Taosug for as little as a dollar a picul. While on the other side, the Tausug offered the products which included sago to the English for trading purposes as reported in the International Trade in the Sulu Sea, 1791.

Recently the popularity of sago among the people of Nusantara (likusantara) is still buzzing. A research conducted about industrial production, processing and utilization of sago palm derived products by the group of researchers which says, “sago palm is gaining much importance as a crop par excellence and a starch crop of the 21st century, due to its being an extremely sustainable plant with an ability to thrive in most soil conditions.”

With the presence of valuable technology nowadays there is no other reason why most countries in likusantara can't produce billion of dollars out of this stuff. The importance of technology use to process the sago contributed much to produce good quality. if to compare the sago sell in Malaysia and other parts of South East Asia particularly Sulu we can see big differences. Obviously, Malaysia has high tech equipment to process the product. This judgment is base on the finish sago product sells in Malaysia.

The multitude uses of sago is clearly elaborated in this article, “Sago pearls can be boiled, either alone or mixed with other foods, and consumed directly as a carbohydrate source. Sago is also widely used, together with rice, corn and potatoes, in the manufacture of noodles in Malaysia. The other industries that make extensive use of sago are the monosodium glutamate industry, the soft drink industry in the making of various syrups and the glue industry involved in plywood manufacture. New uses for sago include its use in the manufacture of biodegradable plastics, alcohol, ethanol and citric acid. In other words, sago starch is a very versatile multiple-use product.

To the Tausug, the finished product of sago is called Lumbia. Tausug used to cook it in different type of dishes and confectionery, such as sindul, roasted lumbia, (in replace of cassava) and other local bangbang. Sago, like tapioca, comes in different grades - small, medium and large pearls. Hence if you like to cook lumbia make sure you are aware of these grades.

Being a Tausug and currently residing in Sandakan, I chose to post the Bangbang lumbia, which is very popular today in Tausug community in Malaysia. Though this kind of recipe originated from the Malay kitchen the Tausug as belong to malay stock have adopted it. According to Neldyjolo he had seen this type of confectionery served in wedding occasion and sold by the Tausug in cake stalls in Sulu. However, to some Tausug bangbang makers in Sandakan confessed that the cake sago is new to them it is here where the knew how to make it. This type of confectionery called in Malaysia “Cake Sago” while in this post I named it Bangbang Lumbia.

Here are the simple instructions to follow in making this delicious cake.

Ingredients:

1 kg. Sago pearl

½ kg. White sugar

1 coconut – produce 1 ½ liters of coconut milk

Method:

Pour the sago pearl to a small basin (Sago pearl has plenty of colors)

Add the coconut milk

Let it soak for 30 minutes to 1 hour

Add white sugar then mix them

Put the mixture sago on any type of basin as long as it is fitted on the steamer.

Steam for 40 minutes

If it’s already cooked, slice sago cake to any size you prefer,

Then coat the sago cake with grated coconut.

Since I started blogging about the Tausug recipes my mom is always the first reference I ask before I go anywhere to find additional information about the topic. It is because I considered her as an expert cook for Tausug dishes.

After few weeks I didn’t write anything about recipe, there is an idea came to my mind to change the topic from sea food to confectionery and dessert. Enable to continuously revealing the secret of Tausug food. It is a culture of the Tausug during wedding ceremony to serve the guest with bangbang (confectionery) and coffee or juice before they proceed to eat rice and other dishes. Among the confectioneries serve on the table is bangbang Pasung.

Bangbang Pasung has a cone like shaped made from flour, rice flour and sometimes cassava. This bangbang can be found almost in all coffee shops (Kahawahan) in downtown Jolo and other places where the Tausug residing. It can also be found early in the morning sell in any stores in the Tausug community. Sometimes there are Tausug children roaming around the community to sell this type of confectionery.

The origin of bangbang Pasung is unknown to most Tausug. Lately, while searching for term pasung on the net I encountered information about it on Wikipedia written in Malay language – “KUIH TEPUNG PASUNG” (Flour Cake Pasung). As I read the title, I thought it was from Malaysia were this confectionery originated. However as I read further the information I found that their Bangbang Pasung is filled with coconut (Hinti), whereas the typical Tausug pasung doesn’t filled with coconut according to a Tausug bangbang maker. Still the origin of this bangbang is vague.

In my opinion, the origin of name Pasung is taken from the attribute of the stick which is use as a fastener on the side of the cone shape made from banana leaves. Pasung means according to Kamus Laman Mini to handcuff; stocks, shackles, fetters. This definition is the same on the Tausug understanding of the term Pasung.

If to base our discussion on the above definition of Pasung we can conclude that Pasung is originally a confectionary of people in Nusantara particularly Sulu, Malaysia and Indonesia, because the definition of Pasung is shared not only by Sulu and Malaysia but as well as Indonesia.

Whatever it is, the important I will tell you on how to make it so that you can experience the yummy taste of confectionary shackled by a bamboo stick.

Ingredients:

1 kg. All purpose Flour

½ kg. Brown Sugar / Melaka Sugar

1 coconut – produce 2 liters of coconut milk

1 liter of water


Materials:


Banana leaves

Bamboo/broom stick

Method:

Put a fastener on the side of banana cone shape.

Level the mouth of banana cone shape with knife or scissor.

Pour the all purpose flour to a basin

Produce 2 liters of coconut milk

Dissolve the brown sugar with coconut milk or water in small basin. Pulverize the sugar with hand.

Sift the dissolved brown sugar to a basin with flour

Pour the remaining coconut milk to a basin with flour

Liquefy the flour with coconut milk and dissolved brown sugar until it easily to pour to a cone shape. If the admixture isn’t easily to pour add more water to the basin.

Steam the filled banana cone shape on the steamer.

If the admixture goes above half inches from the mouth of a cone shape, the pasung is already cooked.


To make a banana cone shape

Tear 12 X 6 inches of banana leaves and make it a cone shape. Make sure the bottom of banana cone shape is close.

To check it pours the water into banana cone shape and make sure the water permeates slowly.

The Tausug, particularly, living in the hinterland (Tau gimba) of Sulu archipelago is fond of going to the shore to search for sea food or known as “magpanagat” in Tausug language. They usually do it during low tide on the day time. This practice is still carries on up to this time.

Packed with roasted and steamed cassava the Tausug step off the shore to look for anything in the shallow water. The well-known sea food to the Tausug is the edible sea urchin - Sulu archipelago has plenty of this. The good timing to search for the sea urchin is during full moon. According to some Tausug, during this time, the sea urchin contains rich roe. Whereas on the normal days its roe is thin.

Talking about urchin roe, according to westonaprice.org, “some exotic roes include sea urchin roe, called uni by Japanese and scallop roe... In Australia, scallop roe is called coral, probably due to its bright orange color.” To the Tausug the name of roe is called as unud tihi’-tihi’. In addition, the roe, as mentioned in the Wikipedia, are a prized culinary delicacy in Japan and Chile, among others. .., and can retail for as much as $450/kg.[5] The Japanese serve it raw as sushi or sashimi, with soy sauce and wasabi, while the Chileans prefer lemon, onions and olive oil.

Sea urchin is a general term used in English but for the Tausug, there is a specific name for this creature such as the Tihi’-tihi’ and Tayum. Tihi’-Tihi’ has assortment of color while the Tayum only possessed black hue. The strange is that even these creatures have different colors they have similar roe taste. The Tihi’-Tihi’ has shorter spines while the Tayum has long.

The look and shape of a sea urchin has been described in this article, “A sea urchin skeleton (called the "test") is made of hard plates that surround the body and form a rounded shape, like a flattened ball. Sea urchins are covered in spines that both provide defence and help them move. In some species the spines are poisonous. Urchins usually live on the sea floor or in tide pools, where they eat algae, seaweed, tiny organisms, and organic material sifted out of sediment.”

There was assumption of the Tausug, according to them, people who loved to eat Tihi-Tihi’ can’t be easily infected by illnesses and there’s a possibility they can live longer. Is it true? Whether it is true or not, just leave it there. Let us witness the confession of experts on this matter.

According to biologynews.net, “...the sea creature’s genome is remarkably similar to humans’ and may hold the key to preventing and curing several human diseases.” Also on the same site they added, "Sea urchins could very well provide a new set of antibiotic and antiviral compounds to fight various infectious diseases." I think even though the Tausug, who loved to eat Tihi-tihi’, are not well-informed about the benefits of this beautiful creation, the best things they left with us is the way on how to eat it.

In Sulu Archipelago, Tihi'-Tihi' can also be found in most markets. The people who sell it were the Samal or Bajau Laut (one of the Tausug sub-ethnic). The Tihi’-Tihi’ placed inside a bottle is already mixed with sea food like sea cucumber and other sea vegetables. Unfortunately, if not during Ramadan this food rarely found in the market.

If you want to experience magpanagat do it with some friends during holiday or weekend. Before going to the shore, make sure to pass by in the market to buy the following:

Unripe Mango

Lime

Calamansi

Chilli Pepper

Brown roasted coconut powder (Pananglag)

Onion

Agal-agal

Piyutu, Siyanglag or Biyanban

To be safe during “Magpanagat activity” do provide safety gadgets, protective gloves, shoes, pain relieving medication and vinegar (vinegar soaks may help dissolved embedded spine). To the Tausug, embedded spine can be easily dissolved by urine.

Here are few tips to make Tihi-Tihi’ Salad

• Pull Tihi-Tihi as many as you can from sea water then collects all its roes and put in a basin.

• If you are familiar with sea cucumber and knew how to classify which one can eat raw or not, do get it then remove all the sticky on its back. If it already cleaned, slice it into pieces then mix it with roe. (Sea cucumber can be optional to those who don’t know how to categorize it). The typical sea cucumber included by the Tausug with roe of sea urchin is called as Bat Bantunan or Bat Taddik. This sea cucumber dwells inside the sand. The Tausug experts “Magpanagat” knew a lot of sea vegetable to be added with roe, such as the dugu’-dugu’, lukut-lukut, kitut (variety of sea cucumber), and others.
  

• Peel the unripe mango and Onion then slice it.

• Slice the agal-agal then mix them with roe and sea cucumber in a basin. Squeeze the Lime or Calamansi then add the sliced unripe mango.

• After preparing make sure you already have fish ready to be grilled if not you miss the other delicious things on the shore.

Enjoy!

Are you boring? No idea what to do? If that so, text or make a call to your friends invite them for a picnic. If you are in Jolo, Igasan beach would be the best beach to go to. However, for this it’s up to you to choose what beach you like to spend your weekend with friends and families.

Before you are going to plan what sort of food you like to eat on the shore, try first this suggestion: go to the public market before the sun bursts and buys the readymade Piyutu (steam cassava) or Siyanglag (roasted cassava), in Sulu and in Sabah, this food is highly available. If this food is not available in your country, white rice would be okay. Then buy a striped mackerel (to be grilled using coconut husk) and tuna or big eyed round scad (tamarung) to make a kinilaw. After that, buy a green or red Agal-agal (sea vegetable or edible sea weed) and gamay (edible seaweed). For the Tausug, this type of weekend party is a part of their culture. In fact, the food I suggested here is just a portion of the food usually eat by the Tausug on the shore.

Agal-agal is a delicious sea vegetable yet has health benefits and can be used for many purposes. It’s called as carrageenan if it is already extracted and can be found in the Atlantic Ocean near Britain, Continental Europe and North America. An article found in this site is unveiling the health benefit of agal-agal which says, “The laboratory of Cellular Oncology at the National Cancer Institute reported that a comparison of a variety of compounds revealed that carrageenan, a type of sulfated polysaccharide extracted from red algae, is an extremely potent infection inhibitor for a broad range of sexually transmitted HPVs.” (See the research - slides 50, 51.)

Aside from that Agal agal is also a fine source of iodine, calcium, iron, phosphorus and vitamins as has been reported. On the same site the usefulness of agal agal is also revealed, “This sea weed is mainly used as a gelling agent in desserts, puddings, pie fillings, and aspics.”

In Sulu, agal-agal has seriously contributing to the economy of the Tausug. This sea weed is planted in a strategic location usually near the shore because its survival relies on the sea current. When the demand for sea weeds is increasing in the world market the mass cultivation for this plant in Sulu has booming.

According to BFAR “Seaweed farming used to be an alternative livelihood in the 80's.” One of the islands in Sulu Archipelago producing volume of dried Agal-agal is Sitangkai. 

Back to the kitchen, to eat for fresh agal-agal, without extracting it, follow the steps below.

Ingredients:

1 kg fresh Agal-agal

2 thumbs of ginger

1 big onion

2 pieces tomato

Vinegar

2 pieces calamansi

Salt

Soy sauce (salty)

Water

Method:

Slice the agal-agal into small pieces then boil it for 5 minutes. Do not overcook it!

After boiling, remove the juice and get only the sliced agal-agal.

Clean the boiled agal-agal with clean water

Put the cleaned boiled agal-agal on small basin

Peel the spices

Cut the ginger, tomato and onion into tiny pieces. Then mix them with boiled agal-agal

Add little vinegar, soy sauce, calamansi juice and salt. You can also add Monosodium glutamate and chilli pepper if you like.

It’s up to you to add more spices to make delicious agal-agal sauce.

If you haven’t been heard of the term “Gamay” this is the time you make aware of it. Gamay is a Tausug language for edible seaweeds. It is popular among the people of Sulu. Gamay is consume almost everyday by the Tausug most likely during picnic or any other food gimmick.

Of all the months it is during Ramadan where plenty of gamay can be found almost in many markets starts from Sulu Archipelago up to Sabah. This is because the Tausug do loved to consume this raw food to gain more energy after fasting for 12 hours and more. This sea vegetable is nice to match with grilled fish with hot sauce and boiled cassava (Iyaman panggi’).

Aside from the Tausug, gamay is also known in other cultures in Asia. As have been mentioned in the http://hubpages.com/hub/Edible-Seaweed is that thereare several cultures, such as the Japanese, that consume seaweed as a part of their daily diet. It is because the gamay is contained more minerals, vitamins and proteins. 

Another research which unveiled the secret of this raw food is also found on the same site which sounds, “If you are looking to just improve your health or a bit of any energy boost, you should seriously consider adding edible seaweed to your diet, either in raw form or as seaweed health supplements”.

Thus to eat gamay is not only giving us satisfaction but it has a quality which contained various significance to our health and skin. In Japan, gamay is called as Wakame seaweed. According to http://hubpages.com/hub/Edible-Seaweed “Researchers have found that the Wakame seaweed is one of the primary reasons Japanese live so long and retail youthful looking skin.” 

In this world full of inorganic food why not to add this sort of food to our daily diet? For the Tausug whether they are aware or not the fact about gamay that’s doesn’t matter, because to eat this type of raw food has been part of their culture since time immemorial. 

If you’d like to eat the gamay just go the market place if you are living within the vicinity of Sulu archipelago and Sabah. If not try to find in your shore, dive and search for it. 

There is no recipe for gamay as far as the Tausug way of eating is concern. To prepare, clean first the gamay with water (not warm) at least 30 seconds to a minute before eating. This is to ensure the gamay will not wilt because it is delicious to eat if it’s crunchy. Try it at home!