Aside from the Lukot seaweed and Imbao shells, you will see another pile of tiny grape-like seaweed called Lato. It is a rich collage to show you of what PalomponTabo Market has to offer. In my parents farm, Lukot seaweed is a vital ingredient to their signature seafood kinilaw with “hatok” or coconut milk along with fresh Tangigue sashimi, diced tomatoes, onions, ginger, vinegar as well as salt and sugar to balance the flavors. You buy it fresh, wash it with fresh water to remove the sand and store in the fridge while preparing the other ingredients. It is my favorite seaweed and I personally call it “green seafood spaghettini” because it is just that, it resembles a small seafood spaghetti. I walked further and found this pile of Lukot seaweed. It can be added to soups, or as a sashimi seasoned with fresh calamansi, or my family’s favorite, roasted for a few minutes on coal embers just enough for it to open and offer its sweet and succulent flesh as shown below. The Imbao shells can be prepared many ways. (Woman Vendor with Imbao shells and bottled Sisi) I remember, we used to eat this seasoned with fresh kalamansi to complement the other food during a Sunday lunch at San Juan beach. She also has one more bottled “Sisi” left, a delicacy of fresh baby oysters. This woman is very busy organizing and piling her “Imbao” shells in groups, one of the shellfish variety that can be collected by hand on the sand flats of Tabuk Sanctuary during low tide. You will see from the participating vendors that their catch is fresh, non-commercial and only in small quantity, preventing over-harvesting or over-picking of the shellfish products. I will go ahead and call it a seafood mecca for anyone who loves their fish and shellfish products very fresh. I have never seen a town market offering so many seafood products all at one time. And it shows in the Palompon Tabo Market with its abundant fish, seafood and varied shellfish products. It is perhaps due to this protection and support of the Tabuk Marine Sanctuary that Palompon is blessed in return with the many gifts from the sea. It is also strategically located across Tabuk Marine Protected Sanctuary, planted with different kinds of lush mangrove now home to a rich marine, bat and bird sanctuary. Though primarily an agricultural town, it is also a coastal town involved in fishing as its major livelihood. kilometers and composed of 50 barangays, Palompon is located in the northwestern coast of Leyte bound by my other hometown of Villaba and Matag-ob on the north Ormoc City and Merida in the east Isabel on the south and the Camotes sea on the west. Palompon Leyte is close to my heart being the hometown of my father who is a “tuminongnong” (born and bred) Palomponganon. (This was the view and weather from my room window at the farm.) It always amazes me that while Lando raged and dimmed the Manila skyline for several days and flooded several areas in Luzon, the sun remained strong and steady in Villaba, making way for a rare, sparkling laundry Monday. So what does one do when nature unleashes a strong and wide-reaching typhoon like Lando? Armed with my trusty Fuji X30, I went to work and visited the rich and bountiful Tabo Market of Palompon Leyte. All ships and supercat trips were cancelled until the sea and wind calmed down. Just when I was about to head back to Cebu, I got stranded an extra day. While Typhoon Lando raged in Luzon, I was visiting my family in Villaba Leyte.
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