Tibok-tibok is nothing like you’ve ever tasted before. I first saw in on TV on Susan Calo-Medina’s Travel Time and from that very first encounter I was very much enamored with how potentially amazing this delicacy can possibly taste like. The name certainly sounds unfamiliar – the term tibok is the Filipino term for “to throb” or “pulse” and that’s certainly not the thing you first think of when you’re dealing with a sweet dish.
It can only be bought in the many branches of Susie’s Cuisine found all over Pampanga – roughly about 1 hour away from Manila. According to the TV feature, the tibok-tibok is reminiscent of maja blanca. Most people would actually be thrown off by this comparison. For one, tibok-tibok does look a lot like maja blanca it’s immaculately white and is sprinkled with a good helping of latik or toasted coconut. The similarity ends there. The Pampanga delicacy is made with carabao’s milk ; a dairy product with a lot more fat compared to cow’s milk making it packed with calories (read: deliciousness)! It’s just really creamy and the amount of sweetness is just right – it’s a good counterpoint to the very velvety texture of the dish.
Unlike the maja blanca the tibok-tibok is a stand alone dish. It doesn’t have inclusions (like corn) and personally, I enjoy it more without the latik topping. At just 20 pesos per serving, it’s one of the things that visitors to Pampanga should try.
I know that this photo piqued your curiosity so do yourself a favor and try it for yourself. A ticket to Pampanga is just around 99 pesos one-way and Pampanga is replete with many other unique dishes for you to choose from. Susie’s also serves a great Palabok! And I dare say, it’s a LOT better than Razon’s.
What makes the dish so quirky? It’s obviously not an aborted duck embryo or a rotting piece of meat that’s being pushed as a delicacy but the tibok-tibok is quirky in the sense that it sort of has its own “category” as far as food goes. It’s ability to be hard to describe and tough to compare to other dishes make it a must-try delicacy.
The simple substitution of carabao milk (a milk that is notorious for spoiling really fast) made the tibok-tibok the unique entity that it is. It sort of looks familiar so to the unsuspecting diner expecting a maja the first forkful of the tibok-tibok would be a very interesting experience. I actually take people to Pampanga just to see their reaction. If you enjoy seeing people’s eyes light up in response to good food, this is a real great and cheap way to do it. Sometimes, quirkiness doesn’t have to hit you in the face with a sledge hammer – it pays to be subtle at times.
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This post was written as an official entry to the Philippine Travel Bloggers Blog Carnival on Quirky Food. I know this is nowhere as quirky as the other food posted but the tibok-tibok is just as interesting and I dare say, just as delicious. 
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My Lola used to make tibok-tibok. I could still remember, that as a kid, I created holes on her tibok-tibok with my fingers (ang lambot kasi), and she wondered how come there were holes… until she caught me red handed! Haha. She’s no longer making tibok-tibok — which I think was better than Susie’s — because according to her, cooking it is very tedious and tiring.