The Five Wonders at Bankerohan

The wonders at Bankerohan market offers to Dabawenyos everything 

that makes a Pinoy food to a perfect dish.

FRUITS

Davao offers the perfect place to grow various kinds of fruits. It abundance of tropical fruits has made its name all over the country and far abroad its boundaries. Incredible fruits that make your kind of dish perfect.

We might even call Davao Philippine's Banana Republic No. 1 - our agricultural sector is said to earn $1billion a year by exporting bananas all over the country, Asia and to Western Countries, might it be as fruit or as delicious banana chips. Banana are a great food choice here in the city: Php 5 for Banana BBQ sprinkled with sugar is a good snack along the way! Dont to miss out the well known Beef Stew with Banana pieces! a local delicacy!


Especially Durian which is cultivated in the fertile grounds in Calinan, you can buy at its lowest price at Bankerohan crossing. Even off season you can make a good bargain of PhP50 to 100. Of course, during the peak season in Davao, around August, you can get it as cheap as Php 20 to 35 depending on the kind and seize. I can much recommend Puyat and Arancillo (native Durians) that are said to be the sweetest types that have a smooth texture in its spiky cover. But to those who have some health issues like high blood pressure, beware, it might shoot your score a bit too high. Despite that fact, Durian is a unique dessert that adds a rafinesse and a smile to your guest's lips. Different. Rich in flavour. A food of Gods.


Jacks Fruits is huge and prickly - might be mistaken by the first look as Durian. The inside shows a big number of yellow pods which have an amazing sweet taste. Experienced Filipinas know how to perfect dishes by adding the yellow fruit in Fruit Salads, Binignit or Beef Stew!

VEGETABLES

Food, food, food... and vegetables cannot be left out at a Filipino dish. Like Malungay, a tree with small green leaves. The leaves are full of minerals and has a good dose of Vitamin C. Soups are refined with that kind of healthy leaves - quite affordable at Php10 at Bankerohan!

Eggplant are renowned for its deeply purple, glossy beauty as well as its unique taste (yet pleasantly bitter) and spongy texture - which makes it to another essential ingredient in the Philippine cuisine. Eggplant also contains important phytonutrients, many which have antioxidant activity (free radical scavenger that has been shown to protect cell membranes from damage). 


Another amazing vegetable to work with in dishes is Ampalaya. Ampalaya is a quite bitter taste, the most bitter among its kind. Research about Ampalaya has shown that Amplaya increases the production of beta cells by the pancreas, which improves the body’s ability to produce insulin. Insulin controls the blood sugar for diabetics which is quite important. Aside, it is an excellent sources of Vitamin B, iron, calcium, and phosphorus. It is also rich in beta carotene which we need for our hair and nails.

FISH

Tilapia, a fresh water fish which is caught in shallow streams and rivers along the seashores of Davao river or the wider sea. Another fish in Davao is the Lapu-Lapu, a quite tasty fish if steamed or cooked well. Especially nice with vegetables and sweet-sour sauce, daw. The fish was named after the hero of Mactan, Lapu-Lapu, who is known as the first native of the archipelago to have resisted Spaniards attempt to colonize the island, and is now regarded as a Filipino hero. Two ladies there showed me all their fishes from fresh over to tried fish, the Bulad.




A salty delicacy here! The smell was different, it smelt like sand and the wide ocean, which was a surprise to a girl who used to live merely out of the fridge back home.