Nilarang na Bakasi: The Dish Behind Cordova's Fiesta

Nilarang na bakasi, Cordova's signature eel stew, is the dish behind the town's original Bakasi Festival name. Here's the story of the dish, how it's cooked, and where to try it at the eatery that put it on Netflix.

If the Dinagat Festival is Cordova's biggest show of the year, nilarang na bakasi is what everyone's actually thinking about while they watch it. The dish gave the festival its original name, Bakasi Festival, before it was renamed Dinagat, and it's still the one thing every visitor gets pointed toward once the street dancing wraps up.Bakasi is a small reef eel, technically a species of moray, that thrives in the muddy, grassy tidal flats around Cordova, especially near Barangay Buagsong. Fishermen catch them using a bantak, a woven bamboo trap shaped like a small vase with a narrow neck, built specifically to lure eels into muddy crevices where they like to hide. It's been a livelihood staple here for generations, long before it became a food-tourism draw.The dish itself, nilarang (also spelled linarang or larang), is a sour, spicy stew. The eel is sautéed with garlic, onion, and ginger, then simmered with tomatoes, fermented black beans (tausi), chilies, and a souring agent, traditionally kamias (bilimbi) or tamarind. The result lands somewhere between a sinigang and a tom yum: tangy, a little fiery, and rich from the eel's naturally fatty, tender meat. Some cooks make it more of a paksiw-style dish instead, pan-fried and simmered rather than turned into a full soup, but nilarang is the version Cordova is known for.The name most tied to it is Florencio "Entoy" Escabas, whose eatery Entoy's Bakasihan in Barangay Buagsong became internationally known after being featured on Netflix's Street Food series. Tatay Entoy has been serving bakasi for decades, cooking it nilarang-style, fried, and prepared as kinilaw, and the place still draws visitors who watched the episode and came looking for the real thing. It's open Monday to Friday from 6 AM to 9 PM, and weekends from 6 AM to 10 PM, and prices stay genuinely local, some dishes have been reported as low as ₱40 to ₱50 a serving.A few things worth knowing before you go: bakasi should always be bought and cooked live, most vendors keep them in salted water until it's time to cook, and reputable cooks know to remove the apdo (gall bladder) before serving, since it's bitter and best avoided. If you're squeamish about seeing the eels prepared fresh, it's worth mentally preparing for that part, it's very much part of the experience here.If you're in town for the Dinagat Festival in August, this is the dish to build your food stop around. And if you miss the festival dates, Entoy's and similar spots around Buagsong serve it year-round, no street dancing required.