Tamilok

A business trip to Puerto Princesa? Yipee! Puerto Princesa City, the capital of Palawan is also known as the "city in a forest" - all thanks to the very successful environment conservation programs of Mayor Hagedorn. I was looking forward to the fresh air, green scenery and of course - the local foods!
One of the foods I wanted to try is called "tamilok". Tamilok is mangrove worm (in reality it is a type of wood boring mollusk). I heard that it was eaten raw and dipped in vinegar ("kilawin" in Filipino, the Philippine version of ceviche).
I first tried it served by one of my managers. (I think he wanted to see how adventurous I was) The tamilok he served was frozen, so I had to peel each one from the ice with my fork before dipping it in the vinegar mixture. It wasn't bad, not particularly tasty though, and there was an odd aftertaste.
I would have given up the tamilok as something I will not eat again, if I hadn't tried the FRESH variety!
After touring the underground river in Sabang, our group went to a local restaurant for lunch. A young lady peddling tamilok approached us. I asked if it was fresh. She said it was caught just that morning. Intrigued, I bought a few hundred grams from her. She placed the tamilok on a saucer. She gave me another saucer filled with her vinegar-chilli blend. The fresh tamilok was easier to examine than the frozen variety. The whole length was translucent, with white and black areas. They were quite long - around 6 to 8 inches. I used my fork to get one, dipped it into the vinegar mixture, and placed it in my mouth. It tasted soooo gooood! The frozen kind was a far cry from this taste sensation! If I were describe the taste, I would say they tasted similar to raw oysters with a subtle nutty flavor in the end! Delicious! I was glad that my companions declined from experimenting. I finished the whole plate by myself! Burp!