The National Food Showdown is an annual competition involving student and professional cooks from Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao and the National Capital Region.
Winners from the four principal regions later compete in Manila for the championship.
I sit in the team of judges in the various regional legs. Judging is hard work but a pleasurable experience. For one, it affords us a unique food trip!
The finalists surprise us with what their respective towns and cities have to offer.
In Cagayan de Oro, we are pampered with all sorts of food.
If the Visayan leg is held in Cebu, Lita Orbina spoils us with her discoveries.
In Baguio, Anthony de Leon hosts us at the Baguio Country Club.
A few months ago, we were holding the Showdown elimination in Bacolod, a food paradise. There are places here that are must-visits.
Sharyn’s Cansi House
I love the pancit Molo and the gigantic fried lumpiang ubod at Bob’s, Felicia’s ensaymada and, of course, Tita Pat’s Bacolod Chicken House.
In my last visit, a new place was added to my list: Sharyn’s!
Our host, Aboy Evaristo of the famous Bacolod institution Aboy’s Restaurant took us to Sharyn’s Cansi House which specializes in cansi (or kansi) —a dish very similar to Batangas’ bulalo.
The main difference is, cansi contains batuan, an ingredient found only in Bacolod. Batuan looks like a firm green guava. Like guava, it is a souring agent commonly used in the Visayas.
When added to cansi, the result is a mildly sour broth.
Cansi flakes look like adobo flakes and are extremely delicious, too. Dark brown and crispy, they could be mixed with rice.
Sharyn’s cansi arrived piping hot with a huge bone with wobbly bulalo or bone marrow in the middle.
Also attached to the bone was a huge cut of very tender beef shank with all the gelatin in it. Yummy!
The soup was rich, a bit sour and outstanding. Poured over white rice, it was a great dining experience. The melt-in-your-mouth bone marrow was also poured over rice, and the taste was unbelievably great.
It wasn’t the best white rice but, at this point, it didn’t matter. My focus was on both the crispy cansi and its soup counterpart. It was one of my best meals in Bacolod.
Cansi is a very Pinoy dish that would make any foreigner flip. It’s something Anthony Bourdain would be glad to discover.
Sharyn’s Cansi House, C-58 Narra Ave., Capitol Shopping Center, Bacolod; Tel. (034) 4331374.
