How one of the world's rarest salts is made in the Philippines
Asin tibuok, nicknamed the dinosaur egg, is one of the rarest salts in the world. In the 1960s, salt-making families in the Philippine island of Bohol would trade it for food and other goods. But the craft nearly disappeared in the late 20th century when younger people left the trade for more profitable careers. See more at: https://www.facebook.com/KabilinAlburAsinTibuok?mibextid=ZbWKwL
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00:00 (egg cracking)
00:02 This salt is known as the dinosaur egg,
00:07 and it's one of the rarest in the world.
00:09 Only a few families on a small island
00:13 in the Philippines still make it.
00:15 It takes eight hours of nonstop cooking
00:19 to transform seawater brine into this artisanal salt
00:23 called asin tibuak.
00:24 (speaking in foreign language)
00:30 (speaking in foreign language)
00:34 In the 1960s, families in Buol
00:39 traded asin tibuak for food and other goods.
00:43 But the craft nearly disappeared in the late 20th century
00:46 when younger people started favoring jobs that paid cash.
00:50 Nesta Manungas and his siblings
00:53 decided to revive it 13 years ago,
00:56 but it hasn't been easy.
00:59 A law bans them from selling the traditional salt
01:01 in their own country.
01:03 So how do you find a new market for an old craft?
01:08 We traveled to the Philippines to find out
01:11 how this rare industry is still standing.
01:15 Coconut husks are what give the salt its distinct taste.
01:23 Nesta keeps thousands of them soaking
01:26 in a saltwater pond near his workshop.
01:30 (speaking in foreign language)
01:33 It can take two days to chop 3,000 coconut husks
01:43 needed to make one batch of salt.
01:45 JJ Nogorada has been working here for about a year.
01:50 Nesta and his wife adopted him when he was four years old
01:55 after his mother died and his father became ill.
01:58 (speaking in foreign language)
02:03 The husks dry in the sun for a day.
02:13 Next, Nesta sets them on fire, starting from the bottom.
02:24 He learned salt making from his father and grandfather
02:27 when he was 15 years old.
02:29 But like many other young people,
02:32 he left three years later to look for less laborious careers.
02:35 (speaking in foreign language)
02:40 Today, his team of four does most of the work.
02:50 The husks burn continuously for a whole week.
02:54 (speaking in foreign language)
03:00 The pile of ashes left behind is called gassang.
03:13 Workers break up any large pieces by hand.
03:20 This is one of the most essential ingredients.
03:23 Workers cover the rattan filter, called saksak,
03:27 with a bed of fresh palm leaves to keep it from leaking.
03:31 They pack the ashes in and spend an hour
03:35 compressing them with a wooden stick.
03:47 Then, about 1,300 gallons of seawater
03:50 get pumped through the filter.
03:52 What comes out on the other side
03:55 is a salty brine called tasik.
03:57 This step alone can take a day and a half.
04:01 (speaking in foreign language)
04:07 (dramatic music)
04:10 Nesta patches the stove with a mixture of ashes and water
04:23 before each use.
04:25 The frequent high heat often damages it.
04:28 (speaking in foreign language)
04:33 (dramatic music)
04:36 Then, he balances clay pots called gon
04:51 between metal rods.
04:53 It can take a whole hour to get it right,
04:57 but Nesta says that's quick.
05:00 (speaking in foreign language)
05:04 One rock out of place could ruin months of work.
05:17 (speaking in foreign language)
05:22 (dramatic music)
05:25 Nesta's family left the trade in 1983
05:40 after their workshop was destroyed in a typhoon.
05:42 In 2010, his brother Chris convinced him
05:46 to restart their business to save the tradition.
05:51 Since then, other family members have also joined the trade,
05:55 like his cousin, Josephine Sumingit,
05:58 one of the few potters in town who makes the clay pots.
06:02 She learned how when she was 18 years old.
06:04 (speaking in foreign language)
06:09 (dramatic music)
06:12 Back at the workshop, the team prepares the fire
06:33 with mahogany wood and coconut fronds.
06:35 Nesta has strict rules in place
06:39 before any cooking begins.
06:42 Everyone needs to remove jewelry or watches
06:44 and refrain from eating oily foods.
06:46 These are based on superstitions
06:49 passed down for generations.
06:51 Finally, it's time to start cooking,
06:56 and it's all hands on deck.
07:00 Jojo tends to the fire,
07:03 while two others pour brine into the pots.
07:06 They continue to fill them as the water evaporates.
07:10 The process can take all day,
07:13 ending when each pot is filled with salt crystals.
07:17 These ladles are made from seashells
07:20 since they are heat-resistant
07:22 and don't contain synthetic chemicals.
07:25 Temperatures in the workshop
07:26 can reach up to 104 degrees Fahrenheit.
07:29 (speaking in foreign language)
07:36 (speaking in foreign language)
07:39 Popong Poblete has been making salt here
07:44 since the workshop opened.
07:46 Today, he handles most of the cooking.
07:49 (speaking in foreign language)
07:54 (upbeat music)
07:57 After eight hours, all the pots are finally full,
08:01 but the salt won't be ready until they crack at the bottom.
08:04 They sit to cool overnight.
08:07 Workers take each pot out of the stove the next morning.
08:14 (upbeat music)
08:16 (speaking in foreign language)
08:20 Workers take each pot out of the stove the next morning.
08:24 (speaking in foreign language)
08:29 Workers crack open the bottom of the pot
08:42 to reveal the salt.
08:43 Coconut husks are the perfect cleaning tool
08:48 to remove any dust.
08:50 (upbeat music)
08:52 Most of the people who work with Nesta today
08:54 had never made salt before,
08:56 but now say they love the work.
08:59 (speaking in foreign language)
09:17 One batch makes 110 eggs.
09:20 They can make up to four batches a month
09:22 if the weather is good.
09:23 One pot of asintibuok can last a whole year.
09:28 Nesta's sister, Veronica Manunga Salupan,
09:32 is in charge of managing and marketing the workshop.
09:35 (speaking in foreign language)
09:40 (speaking in foreign language)
09:44 But selling it has been their biggest hurdle.
09:55 A national law passed in 1995
09:59 requires all salts sold in the Philippines to be iodized.
10:03 (speaking in foreign language)
10:07 (speaking in foreign language)
10:11 The asin law was meant to combat malnutrition
10:17 and prevent goiters,
10:18 which are often caused by iodine deficiency.
10:21 But the law devastated small-scale salt producers
10:25 who couldn't afford the expensive machinery
10:27 required to add iodine to their salt.
10:29 National production dropped from 85% to 7% in 31 years.
10:37 Nowadays, most of the salt in the Philippines
10:40 is imported from Australia, China, and Mexico.
10:43 Lawmakers proposed a bill in 2017
10:48 that would exempt natural sea salt producers
10:50 from the asin law, but it's still pending approval.
10:54 (speaking in foreign language)
10:57 Artisanal salt producers have felt the impacts
11:03 of similar laws across the world
11:05 since the 1990s.
11:06 Nanga Pura is one of the last farmers making Baolong salt
11:11 in the seaside village of Kusamba in Bali, Indonesia.
11:15 (speaking in foreign language)
11:19 She spends her days carrying baskets full of seawater
11:24 and pouring them on the volcanic sand
11:26 to filter out the salt.
11:28 (speaking in foreign language)
11:33 For years, an iodine law similar to the one in the Philippines
11:37 made it hard for farmers like her to sell salt in stores.
11:41 Without regular buyers or frequent tourists,
11:44 Nanga is often left with unsold stock.
11:47 Salt farmers make so little that most have left the business
11:51 for better-paying jobs at nearby hotels and tourist spots.
11:54 And even though Nanga has loved this work so much,
11:59 she doesn't want her children following the same path.
12:02 (speaking in foreign language)
12:06 Nowadays, she sells her salt to a cooperative
12:14 that adds the iodine.
12:16 Kusamba salt farmers received
12:20 a geographical indication certificate
12:22 from the Indonesian government
12:24 to help them find a suitable location
12:26 for their business.
12:27 (speaking in foreign language)
12:31 But Indonesia imports around two million tons
12:42 of cheaper salt every year,
12:45 and the farmers face stiff competition.
12:47 (speaking in foreign language)
12:53 Nanga's main customers are tourists who come here
12:55 to see the traditional methods and often leave with salt.
12:59 (soft music)
13:01 Like Nanga, Nanga's customers are also tourists
13:06 who come to visit the salt factory.
13:08 (speaking in foreign language)
13:12 Nanga's customers are also tourists
13:17 who come to visit the salt factory.
13:19 (speaking in foreign language)
13:23 Nesta also depends on a foreign customer base.
13:26 Tourists are his main buyers.
13:30 He also sells some of it online to other countries.
13:33 (speaking in foreign language)
13:39 Restaurants are also required to use iodized salt,
13:52 but some have been taking a chance
13:53 and adding a sinti buwok to their menu.
13:56 Chef Jordi Navarra has been buying it
14:00 from Nesta since 2018.
14:03 His award-winning restaurant, Toyo Eatery,
14:05 in the country's capital, Manila,
14:07 serves contemporary Filipino cuisine.
14:11 We prioritize using local ingredients
14:13 and serving up our own versions of Filipino dishes.
14:18 The salt is the perfect finishing touch
14:21 to the best-selling dessert, leche flan ice cream.
14:26 The restaurant's pastry chef, Bettina Tenedo,
14:28 showed us how to make it.
14:31 Firstly, we start with melting sugar.
14:33 We use raw turbinado sugar from Negros in a pan
14:37 until it reaches a hard crack stage.
14:39 They pour a mixture of egg yolk, sugar, and milk on top
14:45 and steam it for one hour.
14:46 It's chilled and then churned into ice cream.
14:52 I don't think the ice cream could be complete
14:54 without the sinti buwok.
14:56 I just think they're the perfect pair.
14:57 I've had the chance to visit the sinti buwok maker
15:03 in Bohol together with Chef Jordi,
15:06 and you get a better appreciation
15:08 of what these people are doing,
15:10 which is not just basically making salt,
15:12 but preserving heritage, preserving culture.
15:19 Nesta and Veronica say it's been difficult
15:21 finding the next generation of our sinti buwok producers.
15:25 Even their children are hesitant to take over the business.
15:46 Weather here has become more unpredictable in recent years.
15:50 Nesta and Veronica have to watch out
15:53 for heavy rains and typhoons,
15:55 which have been hitting the island
15:56 even during the dry season.
15:59 In 2021, Super Typhoon Odette ravaged the Philippines,
16:04 with Bohol being one of the hardest-hit areas.
16:07 The storm destroyed their workshop,
16:10 and they couldn't complete orders for months.
16:14 We were so worried that the typhoon would come again,
16:18 and that we'd be washed out.
16:19 But it's not like that. We're still working.
16:21 We're grateful to God.
16:24 Many of our customers have sent us 500 pesos,
16:28 and 1,000 pesos to help us with the work.
16:33 They spent three months rebuilding it,
16:35 and in March 2022, they finally reopened.
16:41 Despite the challenges, Nesta and Veronica
16:43 are confident in the team they have now.
16:46 We're blessed to have two young ones,
16:50 Zai Zai and Kem.
16:52 They're the only ones who are not doing anything.
16:54 I'm not here, and Nong Esther is not here.
16:57 But they did what they had to do.
17:01 Other salt makers in Bohol have also started up again.
17:09 Nesta and Veronica know how difficult the work is,
17:13 but they believe the legacy of Asinti Buak is worth it.
17:17 And they're proud to be carrying on the tradition
17:20 in their ancestors' honor.
17:22 Now, I'm happy.
17:25 My heart is full of joy.
17:27 Because I'm emotional.
17:30 I'm emotional because of this question.
17:34 I'm emotional because I know
17:38 that my father and grandfather are happy.
17:43 Because that's the legacy they left us.
17:46 We thought we'd never make it.
17:48 I want to congratulate them on their work.
17:56 I want to thank them for their hard work.
18:00 I want to thank them for their hard work.
18:05 I want to thank them for their hard work.
18:10 [music]