August 14, 2025
CEBU CITY – In a quiet village of Alburquerque, Bohol, a handful of clay pots bubble quietly over wood fires. Around them, skilled hands and patient hearts work on something that has been part of their community for centuries: the Asin Tibuok, a rare artisanal sea salt.
Lemuel Montejo, a photo enthusiast, recently shared a photo of the Asin Tibuok which he also called the “dinosaur egg salt.” It doesn’t look like ordinary table salt. It is shaped like a giant egg and its rustic beauty tells a story, a history specifically.
Asin Tibuok is a heritage ingredient, a unique and rare salt with a flavor unlike any other: smoky, sharp, slightly fruity, and with a whisper of sweetness— it’s the kind of salt that doesn’t just season food, it seasons and nurtures memories.
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Traditionally used in soups and lugaw, it can also be used in other ways— as a finishing salt in your dish or grate it over kakanin and ice cream.
discover its magic.
Nearly extinct
But behind the newfound buzz lies a bittersweet truth: Asin Tibuok is about to go extinct.
In an Inquirer.net article, one of the makers of the unique salt shared that there are now only four families in their community making Asin Tibuok due to lack of interest of the younger generations due mainly to its laborious making process.
The process is painstaking, production is seasonal, and profits often don’t match the work being put out. Younger generations, lured by modern jobs, are leaving behind the heavy labor of salt-making.
In the Asin Tibuok website, they frankly shared how cheaper, mass-produced salts dominate the market, pushing this heritage ingredient to the edge of extinction.
The passage of Republic Act No. 8172 or the Act for Salt Iodization Nationwide (ASIN) in 1995 also triggered local salt-makers to give up the tradition.
Process
Producing Asin Tibuok is a labor of love that can take months from start to finish.
It begins with coconut husks soaked in seawater for months until they’re saturated with the salinity of seawater. These are then dried and burned into ash. The ash is filtered with fresh seawater, creating a mineral-rich brine. This brine is poured into large earthenware pots, set over open flames, and slowly boiled until it crystallizes into a solid block.
Then you have the Asin Tibuok, which literally means “unbroken salt” or “whole salt” in Cebuano.
The entire process is possible only between December and May, when the seawater’s salinity is at its peak. For the Asinderos, timing, patience, and precision are everything.
Asin tibuok: History
The story of Asin Tibuok stretches far back long before the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines. In those days, it was more than a condiment; it was currency.
Once abundant in Sitio Puntod, Alburquerque, salt-making was a way of life. Coastal Asinderos, as salt makers are called, would barter their salt for rice grains from upland farmers.
For generations, this trade sustained communities and preserved a unique craft. Now, only a few Asinderos remain.
Keeping the tradition alive
In Alburquerque, the remaining Asinderos are the last steward of this craft. They continue their work not just to earn a living, but to honor their heritage.
Their hands know every step by heart; their lives are tied to the rhythm of the tides and the crackle of the fire beneath the clay pots.
But they cannot keep the tradition alive alone.
Call for preservation
Efforts to promote Asin Tibuok as a heritage product, to create sustainable markets, and to encourage the youth to learn the craft, are more important than ever.
If Asin Tibuok disappears, we lose more than just a unique flavor. We also lose a piece of history, an identity shaped by salt, fire and sea.
Will we let this centuries-old craft fade away, or will we help keep the fires burning in the clay pots of Alburquerque for generations to come? | With reports from Inquirer.net and asintibuokseasalt.com.