Illustration by H. Pong Pagong holds the Adobong Kangkong we prepared.
“Pagmulat ng mata, langit nakatawa sa Batibot, sa Batibot. Tayo nang magpunta tuklasin sa Batibot ang tuwa, ang saya. Doon sa Batibot tayo na, tayo na! Mga bata sa Batibot, maliksi, masigla. Doon sa Batibot tayo na, tayo na, mga bata sa Batibot, maliksi, masigla!”
One of my favorite shows when I was a kid was Batibot. It was an educational children’s show much like Sesame Street. My favorite character was Pong Pagong, a mild-mannered turtle who loved to eat kangkong.
While I had no problems eating veggies as a kid (as far as I can remember!), I loved kangkong more because of Pong Pagong. Just as his buddy Kiko Matsing would enjoy his bananas, Pong would enjoy his kangkong. And because my favorite character enjoyed it, why, I should enjoy it too, shouldn’t I? Thus developed my love for kangkong.
Adobong Kangkong is very easy to prepare. All you need are two stalks of kangkong chopped into bite-sized pieces, 3 tablespoons of vinegar, 3 tablespoons of Knorr Liquid Seasoning, 1 chopped onion and several cloves of chopped garlic. In a heated pan, saute the onion till transparent. Mix in the garlic and cook till almost golden. Slide in the kangkong and drizzle with the liquid seasoning and vinegar. Saute. Add vinegar and liquid seasoning to meet your desired taste. At this point, your sauteed kangkong will be very aromatic already. Ay, sarap. Adobong Kangkong is comfort food.
You can also add ground pork here. Make sure it’s cooked through before adding in the kangkong. H and I are consciously cutting down on meat so we didn’t put any in this dish. Our Adobong Kangkong was just as tasty.
While Pong Pagong and his buddy Kiko were taken out of Batibot due to some licensing issues, they are Batibot to me. Kuya Bodjie and Ate Sienna are too. But it was that gentle turtle who captured my heart. From his baseball cap placed sideways on his head, to his pink skin, to his one hand eternally stitched to his tummy, to his sneakers. And so Pong Pagong, this Lasang Pinoy 18: Adobong Kangkong dish is for you!
Hi! I'm Toni Tiu,
and I've been blogging at
at Wifely Steps since 2003. This started as a blog to help newly weds adjust to married life. It has evolved into a home and parenting blog. I write about things close to my heart -- good eats, good reads, family, marriage, and the little things that make everyday happy.
anj
May 28, 2007 at 4:15 pm (17 years ago)ako din, ako din! paborito ko si pong pagong. wheeeee! at favorite ko rin ang kangkong. sosy name: swamp cabbage. hehe! ala lang.
Toni
May 28, 2007 at 4:30 pm (17 years ago)anj: parang hindi maganda/sosy pakinggan kapag may “swamp” sa pangalan hehehe.
tofubaby
May 28, 2007 at 5:07 pm (17 years ago)yummy! Kangkong! I like it crispy fried. Problem lang ako sa kangkong, kapag di ko sya na nguya masyado, di ko sya kayang tunawin.
rach
May 28, 2007 at 6:11 pm (17 years ago)Hi Toni. I loved watching Batibot too and Pong Pagong was among my favorite characters. I’m fond of adobong kangkong too!
Christianne
May 28, 2007 at 7:02 pm (17 years ago)LOL! Have to admit, I only liked kangkong as a kid because of Pong Pagong too 😀
scott
May 28, 2007 at 10:27 pm (17 years ago)ang interesting naman ng mga blog entries mo! kakatawa pa!
faye
May 28, 2007 at 10:51 pm (17 years ago)hi, toni! maybe i should also try the adobong kangkong. i used to eat kangkong in chowking. sarap din kasi ng bagoong nila. mahal nga lang ang kangkong dito. kaya minsan spinach ang gamit namin like sa sinigang.
btw, may batibot pa ba?! tc.
cyberpunk
May 29, 2007 at 2:26 am (17 years ago)i love kangkong too…and Pong was a big influence…
argh, miss ko tuloy si Pong
Jaymie
May 29, 2007 at 7:52 am (17 years ago)Aaaw pong pagong! kaka-miss! I wish our kids would be able to watch him on TV too
Yes, I’m a kangkong lover too. Like them best in sinigang na baboy.
delish
May 29, 2007 at 8:02 am (17 years ago)i love crispy kangkong 😀 and kangkong when it’s with liswik… or sinigang
cookie
May 29, 2007 at 8:26 am (17 years ago)Kangkong! Sarap!! My kids are lovers too. Kangkong Soup is what my kids call sinigang. Nagka-senior moment naman ako. I believe I was a pre-teener na when Batibot was being shown!! Yun sikat kasi nung time ko sila Alice Kamatis. Tanda ko na!!
lady cess
May 29, 2007 at 11:01 am (17 years ago)i love kangkong too. kangkong in sinigang, adobo, steamed with bagoong
yummY!
Chateau
May 29, 2007 at 11:18 am (17 years ago)Aw, Pong is so cute! And so sweet naman this LP post is dedicated to him. I hope he is reading this, hehe. Or at least Kuya Bodjie para mairelay nya kay Pong!
watson
May 29, 2007 at 11:35 am (17 years ago)Wheeeee! Masarap talaga ang kangkong, kahit talbos lang sya!
Meeyagirl
May 29, 2007 at 12:59 pm (17 years ago)ang cute naman ng illustration ni H
parang i heard somewhere that the Pong Pagong costume was made by the same people who made the Sesame Street puppets? Pong was supposed to be introduced in sesame street pero hindi yata natuloy, so they licensed the character to pinas na lang and then Sesame was born (which later on became Batibot). totoo kaya? 😛 anyway, you already know how i feel about kangkong *wink*, pero i could never outgrow my love for pong
weeeee! 😀
iska
May 29, 2007 at 8:56 pm (17 years ago)i love adobong kangkong! isa yan sa hindi inuurungan ng 2 alaga ko (yung malaki at mailiit). yan nga din sana ang entry ko e…. hahaha
na-encounter kong sosy name nya: river spinach!
stef
June 4, 2007 at 9:53 pm (17 years ago)hahaha!!! fan ako ng kangkong, but not of pong pagong!
-dennis-
July 21, 2007 at 9:22 pm (17 years ago)Pong Pagong (and most of the Batibot mascot) is actually owned by the Children’s Television Workshop, producer of Sesame Street. It was lent to the Philippine Children’s Television Workshop for 18 years, until the show folded up due to budget constraints and lack of merchandise support. I am part of the Batibot generation kaya sobrang miss ko na rin si Pong at Kiko!
keyuki
September 30, 2007 at 5:17 pm (17 years ago)Heehee. I stumbled upon this while looking for pictures of Pong Pagong for a report. XD
I agree. I miss Pong Pagong, and Kiko Matsing, even if I barely remember how they look like (kasi my brother and sister would tell me about them all the time, eh I belong to the generation where Irma Daldal and Manang Bola, etc. were the main characters in batibot already T__T). Now I realise — They were H-U-G-E. Big-Bird-like. But I love them more than Big Bird or even Snufflelafagus.
My friend’s father was actually Pong Pagong under the costume! XDDDD They’re in CA now; and I barely catch her online. That’s the most I can say. Unless you guys are in CA, then you can hunt him down. XDDDD