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How to Cook KBL (Kadyos, Baboy, Langka): Ilonggo Comfort Food

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When I was younger, we used to make big batches of soup dishes whenever it’s Sunday. It’s a family tradition to share one special dish on weekends when everyone is home. One of our favorites would be the KBL, which is short for Kadyos, Baboy, and Langka. How to cook KBL is pretty easy — it’s the ingredients that matter.

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~ A bowl of steaming KBL by Atty. Arnel Sigue. It’s complete with batwan, tanglad (lemongrass), and green chili. Photo by Atty. Jocelle Batapa-Sigue. ~

What KBL Stands For

KBL stands for the three main ingredients of this dish.

  • K is for Kadyos or Kadios, which is Pigeon Peas in English
  • B is for Baboy or Pork meat. Legs and tail are often used
  • L is for Langka or Jackfruit. The unripe one is used in this recipe

The name itself does not say anything about how KBL is cooked, but Ilonggos already know what dish this is with the simple mention of these three letters.

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~ This bowl of KBL used a high proportion of kadios. Photo by Atty. Jocelle Sigue. ~

For us, it means a huge pot with steaming brown soup that satisfies not only the tummy but also the heart. It is often eaten with steamed white rice because the soup is already dark maroon-brown because of the kadios. Even the pork is stained this way.

Soured with a local fruit called batwan and given a kick by some green chili, we just have an emotional attachment to this dish. It means comfort, love, family, and sharing a meal. Even when you eat it alone in a Bacolod restaurant serving native Ilonggo cuisine, you will certainly feel a wave of emotion washing over you.

Batwan: Souring Agent for KBL

In Bacolod City and most parts of Western Visayas, we use a lot of batwan in our homecooked meals.

Batwan (or batuan), or Gamboge (Garcinia binucao) in English, is a tree similar to the Mangosteen fruit.

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~ Batwan fruits. These are commonly used as souring agents for soups like cansi as well as our famous Bacolod lechon. ~

Not only is batwan very abundant on the island of Negros Occidental, but we also prefer the taste because of its unique character. It does not only provide sour notes and acidity to the dish, but it also turns the soup a bit creamier in consistency.

How to Cook KBL (Kadyos, Baboy, Langka)

There really is no exact measurements when cooking KBL. It’s up to you to estimate how much you want to prepare. Like for a family of four, how much pork would you need? Then you can adjust your other ingredients.

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~ Another bowl from the Sigue household. Apparently, this family loves their KBL. True blue Ilonggos. ~

But here are the basic components of the KBL — an Ilonggo favorite dish.

KBL Recipe: An Ilonggo Dish

Ingredients:

  • Pork hocks * (legs), blanched
  • Hot water for boiling
  • Salt **
  • Kadyos (pigeon peas), rinsed and soaked***
  • Unripe jackfruit, sliced
  • Batwan fruits
  • Green or red chili
  • Lemongrass leaves, tied in a bunch
  • Kamote tops, optional

*Note: Pork cubes or ribs may also be used. Just make sure that you include some pork fat because it adds to the flavor of the dish. Moreover, you may want to add a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger while boiling the pork hocks for its health benefits.

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~Sliced batwan. When cooked, what will be left will be the peel and the seeds. ~

** There are those who use artificial pork flavorings as well as pepper and vetsin (umami). But the native way of cooking would just to season with salt.

*** Soaking the kadios will remove the phytic acid–a natural substance found in plant seed. It is considered an anti-nutrient because it hinders the absorption of iron, zinc, and calcium in the body. Phytic acid may then promote mineral deficiencies.

KBL boiling in the pot in our kitchen. Watch the video below:

Procedure:

This process is how our cook at home does it. Other cooks may have different procedures but the outcome is pretty much the same.

  • Clean and blanch the pork with a little salt. Discard the broth.
  • In a big pot, boil water and add the blanched pork slices and the drained kadios. Make sure the water level has covered the pork.
  • Season with salt and bring to a boil until meat is cooked.
  • In another pot, boil water. Add some salt and blanch the unripe jackfruit slices. This will remove the sap, which has quite a bitter aftertaste. Remove from the water, drain, and set aside.
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~ Unripe jackfruit being blanched in a different pot. ~
  • Check the pork if it is tender enough. If you are using pork hocks, the skin should become jiggly.
  • You may need to add more hot water if you want more soup. Adjust the seasoning. Bring to a boil again.
  • Add the blanched jackfruit slices, batwan, lemongrass bunch, and green chili.
  • Bring to a boil until the jackfruit and batwan are tender. Stir gently to let the batwan disintegrate and mix into the soup. Serve hot with steamed rice.
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~ This bowl of KBL was prepared by our cook. The soup is not so dark because we didn’t use a lot of kadios. There’s just so much uric acid going on around the house. ~

Note: If you are adding kamote tops, stir it in when everything is cooked and cover. It will just wilt with the heat. No need to cook.

Health Benefits of Kadyos or Pigeon Peas

Kadyos (or kadios) is pigeon pea in English. It is scientifically known as Cajanus cajan. It is a very old crop that goes by a variety of names, like Congo pea, Angola pea, and red gram.

Meanwhile, the Philippine variety appear to be small black beans to Filipinos, which is why it earned its moniker, black-eyed peas. Affordable, nutritious, and delicious, kadios is a a popular ingredient in Ilonggo cuisine.

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~ Raw kadios beans. Photo by Maricar Dabao. ~

Homecooked dishes like KBL (Kadios, Baboy, Langka) and KMU (Kadios, Manok, Ubad) feature this humble pea.

Pigeon pea is a good source of protein, dietary fiber, and various vitamins and minerals, such as:

  • Thiamin
  • Magnesium
  • Phosphorus
  • Potassium
  • Copper
  • Manganese

Furthermore, kadios also has a very high folate content. This is good news for pregnant women, especially for most mothers and homemakers who are concerned with the tight family budget! Research shows that 100g of mature raw pigeon peas provide 114% (76% for pregnant women) of the daily requirement of folate.

Jocelle’s Food Trip In Bacolod City

Here in Bacolod City, I learned that Atty. Jocelle Batapa-Sigue and husband Atty. Arnel Sigue usually cook big batches of KBL every Sunday. They do it because they have an abundant supply of kadios regularly. The KBL is Atty. Arnel’s family recipe and he is the one cooking this dish on weekends.

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~ Atty. Arnel Sigue in the kitchen, whipping a batch of KBL. ~

Whoever wants to order can just pick up hot KBL in take-out containers from their residence in the Bacolod East Area. Remember, it’s only available every Sunday — a wonderful dish to share with the whole family.

From My Kitchen: Other Recipes in this Blog

Want to cook some more? Check out some of the other recipes found in this blog. Just click on any of the links below:

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8 thoughts on “How to Cook KBL (Kadyos, Baboy, Langka): Ilonggo Comfort Food

  1. Yummy! Thank you for sharing this recipe, Mommy Sigrid! I let my sister read your blog and she is planning to cook this KBL dish by next month ???? (before her birthday!)

  2. Wow, KBL is so delicious! This is the first time I’ve heard of batwan as a souring agent. For this kind of dish, in my home province, I think using adwas leaves as the souring ingredient would be good to bring out the best taste.

  3. Among the KBL recipes I’ve tried, my favorites would be my mother-in-law’s cooking and that of Manoy’s Patahan in Villamonte, tho they use kidney beans instead of kadios. Would love to try Atty Arnel’s KBL as well. And maybe one day I would get to cook it myself.?? Will save this recipe for reference. Home cooked meals are the best!

  4. Naalala ko si Lola With this Kind Of Tradition Mommy sig.Mahilig din yun magluto pag Weekends tapos shineshare nya sa Compound namin.
    Di pa ko kakatikim nitong KBL pero mukhang Masarap..

  5. Sarap naman nito. Something new to try! Never ko pang na-try ‘tong KBL and it looks so delicious talaga. Thanks for sharing the recipe, ma. This is one of the reason why I always love to visit your blogs post, it’s because there’s always something new to try and learn.

  6. Something new recipe to try! Diko pa na-try ‘tong KBL before, will definitely make this yummy recipe soon. Looks so yummy talaga, my whole family will surely love this dish. Thanks for sharing this very helpful and detailed procedure on how to make it. It helps a lot. I’m looking forward for more of these kind of blog post of yours, ma. God bless you.

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