As an archipelago surrounded by the seas all over, the Philippines is rich in salt, but only one kind of salt in the world is made of coconut milk.
Like Bohol’s Asin Tibuok, Guimaras’ Tultul Asin is a unique heritage Filipino condiment done through a heritage salt-making process that has spanned generations.
Tultul Asin (or Asin Tultul) is a rare, artisanal, block sea salt from Hoskyn, Jordan, Guimaras, known for its unique smoky, rich flavor from being boiled with coconut milk (gata) and a traditional process using seawater-soaked driftwood ashes, making it a valued heritage food that is grated as a finishing salt or used for cooking.
“Crafted through a generations-old process of burning driftwood, filtering seawater and slow-cooking with gata, it creates a smoky, earthy flavor that makes every dish very Filipino,” the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) said of Tultul Asin in its description at the recent National Arts and Crafts Fair in SM Megamall co-organized by the office of Senate Pro Tempore president Loren Legarda.
In an exclusive interview with DAILY TRIBUNE during the fair, Jomar Arganina, representing the fifth generation of Tultul Asin makers, shared that from only two people in their family, including him, Tultul Asin makers in their community have now grown to around 25.
“Ang nanay at tatay ko matatanda na. Hindi na nila kayang magtutul, kaya tumigil ako sa trabaho ko para maipagpatuloy ko. Sa ngayon, kasama ko ang mga anak, mga tiyuhin ko. Sa ngayon, mga 25 na kami (My parents are already old. They no longer can process the salt, so I left my job to continue what they started. Today, I’m being helped by my children and uncles. We’re now around 25),” Arganina shared.
“Tultul means dabbing into hot rice,” he said partly in Filipino. “Kasi sa’min, kapag tinultul namin (ang asin) sa kanin, ulam na namin ‘yon (Because in our hometown, when we dab the salt into the rice, that’s already our main dish).”
According to him, the salt making process involves drenching driftwood into the sea for about a week. Then after seven days, every morning, he and other salt makers gather the driftwood from the sea, burn these, gather the ash, put these in baskets with seawater, and then filter them out and cook for 10 hours in gata.
“Ang kaibahan n’ya sa ordinaryong asin, ito may gata ng niyog at mahirap gawin. Makakagawa tayo ng Tultul sa sampung araw. Sa sampung araw, mayroon tayong sampung bloke na malaki. Ang isang bloke, na-slice namin ng 25 na maliliit (Its difference from ordinary salt is that this one has coconut milk and is so hard to do. We can only finish it after 10 days. Every block can be sliced into 25 smaller blocks),” he explained.
Every small block is priced at P250 and can be used for two to three years.
Indeed, Tultul Asin is not only proof of Filipinos’ rich culinary tradition, but also of the hard work, patience and craftsmanship of Filipino farmers.