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Gourmet Society PH: The Only Philippine Street Food Infographic You Need to Digest Right Now
The Only Filipino Street Food Infographic You Need to Digest Right Now
A
couple of ages ago, this newbie blogger potato went ahead and tried blogging
for sanity’s sake. One thing led to another, he managed to score an article that
got published by Singapore’s leading Lifestyle Site: The Smart Local, all thanks to
Filipino food.
And
now, I pay homage to that distant happy memory by giving Filipino food another
shot at stardom, this time through the eyes a fellow Filpino creative. It’s
time to get to know Filipino Street Food
through this cool-and-old-school infographic-induced blog post from the Gourmet Society
PH.
It’s about time to get to know
Filipino street food. It’s good for your soul!
*****
/ Source /
Adidas – chicken feet on a stick,
barbecued. And yes, the name refers to the famous sneaker brand. The many tiny
bones make it an especially fiddly roadside food, but you’ll be impressed by
how the veteran snackers make short work of it.
Balut – the legend of the humble
fertilized duck egg has reached such epic proportions that it even made its way
onto a Fear Factor episode (it’s that scary
to some people). Eating the tiny baby duck straight out of the shell is also a
popular way of terrorizing expats.
Banana-Q (aka banana cue) – cardava banana (saging
na saba) on a stick, covered in brown sugar and deep fried. The
caramelized sugar makes a deliciously thick, crunchy brown crust.
Betamax – coagulated pork or chicken blood,
cut into cubes, put on a stick, and barbecued.
Binatog – boiled white corn kernels
(sometimes mashed) mixed with coconut shavings.
Buko – coconut. Juice from a freshly
cracked fruit is poured into a jug then flavored with sugar. The meat is then
shredded and mixed with the juice, and the whole thing chilled with huge chunks
of ice. The vendor ladles it into plastic bags and you drink from that with a
straw.
Calamares – squid rings dredged in flour and
deep fried, dipped into vinegar.
Cheese sticks – bits of cheese rolled with lumpia wrappers
and then deep fried, sometimes sprinkled with cheese powder.
Chicharon – deep fried pork skin. It’s so
thin sometimes, it’s like eating crunchy, salty, savoury air. Best when dipped
in vinegar.
Chicken skin – bits of chicken skin dredged in
flour and deep fried, then wrapped in little paper bags and eaten like popcorn.
Day-old chick – if you thought balut was
scary, you’re gonna have a bad time with this one. It is what it sounds like: a
day-old chick, deep fried. Not for the faint of heart.
Fishballs – this is the first thing that
comes to mind when you say Filipino street food. They look more like discs than
balls, and nobody really knows what’s in them (we assume flour and fish), but
no one’s complaining. Besides fishballs, the vendor will also usually have
squid balls and chicken balls, all frying together merrily. You and your
friends crowd around the cart, take a barbecue stick, stab around in the hot
oil for what you want, then dip it into vinegar, sweet brown sauce, or spicy
brown sauce. When you’re done eating, you tell the vendor what you had
(everybody keeps their own count), and he’ll tell you how much you need to pay.
It’s a beautiful system.
Goto – congee or rice porridge, although goto actually
refers to the strips of beef tripe which is included in the porridge. Hard
boiled eggs are extra. Sometimes, you also get tokwa’t baboy (deep
fried tofu and pork with vinegar) on the side.
Halo-halo – literally “mix-mix”, this is
sweet bananas, sweet beans, chewy tapioca balls, and different kinds and colors
of jelly all heaped into a tall glass, topped with shaved ice, a piece of
jackfruit or flan on top of that, and then drowned with milk.
Helmet – another scary one, this is
deep-fried or barbecued chicken head. Don’t ask and don’t stare.
Isaw – skewered and barbecued chicken
intestines, dunked into vinegar before eating. Another icon in the Filipino
street food scene, this item has made it several times into local pop songs
Iskrambol (aka scramble) – pink banana slushy
topped with powdered or condensed milk and a drizzle of chocolate syrup. Some
vendors will take the trouble of using Hershey’s squeeze bottles, although you
can be pretty sure that the contents have been replaced.
Kamote-Q – chunks of sweet potato on sticks,
covered in brown sugar and deep fried (see banana q).
Kikiam – similar to fish balls, although
these are brown and long and have a distinct taste. Also deep fried and dipped
in vinegar or brown sauce.
Kwek-kwek (aka tokneneng) – quail eggs
dredged in a wet orange flour meal and deep fried. Sometimes, regular chicken
eggs are used. Think of it as a local street version of scotch eggs.
Turon – like banana q, except the banana
is wrapped in lumpia wrappers, and then coated in brown sugar
and deep fried. The good turon will have bits of jackfruit
inside the wrapper.
Mais – boiled sweet corn, often called
Japanese sweet corn.
Mami – noodle soup with bits of chicken, kikiam,
and vegetables. You can have a hard boiled egg to go with, but that’s extra.
Manggang hilaw – very, very sour, and if you’ve
had one, your mouth probably watered at the mere mention. It’s that potent.
It’s topped with bagoongI (fermented baby shrimp) which is
often salty-sweet.
Mani – plain old peanuts. They’re either
sautéed with garlic and lots of salt or boiled plain.
Maruya – banana fritter dusted with sugar.
Pakwan – sliced of watermelon usually
peddled in tiny carts with clear plastic sides and surrounded with ice.
Pig skin – pork skin boiled in salted water,
then skewered and barbecued.
Pinya (aka piña) – pineapple slices (see pakwan).
Pork BBQ – this is pretty straightforward.
It’s pieces of pork meat on a stick cooked over charcoal, dipped in vinegar
before eating.
Proben – chicken stomach on a stick, also
barbecued.
Sisig – traditionally from the pig’s head
like the ear and cheeks, this is meat chopped into tiny pieces and usually
served on a sizzling plate. It’s perfect with ice-cold beer.
Sorbetes (aka dirty ice cream) – what an
off-putting name for such a delicious thing. This cheaper ice cream is probably
less clean than the ones you buy by the tub (given that the cart really gets
around is exposed to the air), but it’s definitely not dirty. Besides a cone,
you can also get your ice cream sandwiched in a bun.
Soup #5 – soup made from bull’s testicles
and penis, supposed to provide sexual prowess. There are no approved
therapeutic claims to this, but it’s been proven to be an effective pampahulas,
or something that gets you out of your drunken state.
Taho – an early morning staple, this is
very silky tofu curds scooped into plastic cups mixed with brown sugar syrup
and little tapioca balls.
*****
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