Sikad-Sikad

Mindoro's geographical location made the island a gateway to both Luzon and the Visayas, thus various ethnic groups from both regions easily migrated here, making the island a cultural hub.  When migrants from all over the archipelago migrated and converged here they also bring with them their own unique culture. I don't know if those migrants wanted to preserve their ethnic culture, and  pass them down to their children and grandchildren like their ancestors before them. But one thing is for sure, exogamy in a social setting as such cannot be avoided, and a union between two distinct ethnic groups produces  a unique culture.   Thus one's attachment to an ethnic origin was lessened, if not totally lost, due to the multiplicity of one's ethnic origin in the first place, making identification with the term "Filipino" and "Mindoreno" much easier. This is especially true to the third generation descendants of post-war migrants like me.    

I for instance, was born to an Ilocano mother and a half Kapampangan half Tagalog father. But I grew up in an Ilocano home because my parents are living with both my Ilocano grandparents.The only Kapampangan food I learned to eat during my youth was burong talangka since it was the favorite dish of my father. Sisig which originally also came from Pampanga is my all time favorite Kapampangan food, but I learned to eat it only much later when I started drinking beer, but that's another story. But I grew up in a home where more often than not Ilocano foods such as saluyot, pinakbet, palakang bukid, bulanglang, kuhol, hito, dalag, daing etc. and mostly vegetables with bagoong in them were served.

So a few days back, when my family is eating dinner together I got curious about a seashell which frequently appears in our daily menu, these last few weeks or so. Not that I am complaining, as a matter of fact this particular seashell  became one my favorites because it really taste good. But this seashell only started appearing in our meals after I came back from a year long sojourn in Manila, so I knew right away this is not an Ilocano food. So I asked my mother about it, the seashell is called sikad-sikad and she learned to cook it from a family friend who gave it to them when my aunts from the United States came home. 

 Sikad-Sikad Seashells (Tinola Style)

So I visited our family friend to investigate, I really wanted to know the ethnic origin of this food. I  found  out that she learned eating and cooking sikad-sikad when her family stayed in Romblon for a decade.So it appears from a glance that sikad-sikad is a Visayan food since Romblon is mostly populated by Visayans. And as I found out later, "sikad" is also a Visayan word meaning "kick" in English or "sipa" in Tagalog. The seashell appeared to be named as such, because it uses its claw to jump out of the sand. 

          Sikad-Sikad Meat and claw

 
A quick Google search told me that Sikad-Sikad is a favorite food in Palawan, Sorsogon and the Visayas,  as been blogged by culinary enthusiasts. And they are also in consensus that, the best  way to cook it is with gata or coconut milk.