One thing I love about the Philippines is how abundant our resources are, especially when it comes to fish and seafood. Truth be told, when we first visited Roxas City — dubbed as the seafood capital of the country — my husband and I were pleasantly surprised by the bounty of fish and seafood, like tiger prawns literally sold on streets. Also, there are quite a few options that are not available in the wet markets in Manila, making us city dwellers jealous of their access to fresh produce.

As an example, salmon is organically cultivated in Roxas City. However we learned that most of it is exported and little is left for the citizens to enjoy and access. A business decision I imagine, it would still be nice to have this available to all of us. What happens though is the premium salmon parts such as fillets and steaks are exported, and those that are not as sellable overseas are left for the locals to consume. This is exactly the reason why we see a lot of salmon belly strips in the market — this part of the fish is not entirely exported (foreigners prefer the fillet or the steak cut of course) and therefore makes its way to the wet markets and supermarkets for you and I to buy.