Showing posts with label Street Food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Street Food. Show all posts

May 2, 2011

Day Old Chick and Tokneneng!

NOTE: SAM'S ITLOG ON STICKS AT ROBINSONS PLACE TACLOBAN IS NOW CLOSED FOR UNKNOWN BUT DISAPPOINTING REASON/S. :/

After we had Fried Siopao to start Day 2 of our Food Trip at Kenz, we headed to Robinsons' Place to find other unique food and have refreshments. I've been passing by to this kiosk named Itlog On Sticks for months now. I'm intrigued of one of their product named Day Old Chick. Now basically, they are one day old chicks that are batter-fried. You can eat it whole because the bones are very brittle and just adds up to a crispy texture. I had this fear about Balut as mentioned in one of my posts, and eating the chick with the bones breaking. But my friend Jess told me, it shouldn't be like Balut because it would already taste like fried chicken. Now when we talk about fried chicken, that's my forte. So we ordered the option Platter 1 costing Php 58.00, which has three pieces of day old chicks, and eight pieces of batter-fried quail eggs, known locally as Tokneneng. 
Now, why do such cruel things to innocent little chicks? Day Old Chicks are actually rejects from poultry farms that focus on egg production. Since only females can reproduce, males are then rejected and are killed even at birth. They may look very cute and adorable, but it is said that male chicks in the western part of  the world are killed at a number of 250 million every pain-staking year. 
The apdo or the gall-bladder tastes bitter that is why it is removed before cooking. Now, I get a taste of what I think I fear. I did it head first. I don't know why, but I just did. To my surprise, it is very crispy and delicious. For me, the head is the most delicious part. Then I munched on the tiny legs. The body though has this tough texture, I don't know maybe it was just a bit undercooked. But over-all, day old chicks aren't as horrible as balut. They are just plain fried chicken, only smaller. Tokneneng on the other hand, is very easy to shove into your mouth because they're just quail eggs dipped in an orange batter then fried. After we had DOC and Tokneneng, we brought pearl shakes at Zagu which I chose strawberry. After Robinsons, we went down town because we were to buy slippers. 

April 29, 2011

Barbecue! at Brgy. Marasbaras, Tacloban City.

One boring afternoon at school, I was with my friend Jess. We were to enroll for summer class but the office was too busy preparing for the graduation rites. It was then 4:30PM when I suggested to do a food trip around Tacloban. We then went to Marasbaras first, the corner going to the City Hospital to be exact. There is a market and food stalls all over the place. 
About a 15 minute drive away from down town Tacloban, Marasbaras is the last Barangay before entering the neighbor town which is Palo. It's also where you can enter V&G subdivision. On a waiting shed for passengers resides a barbecue stall who has made its name for years now with their delicious barbecue and signature sauce. 

From chicken, pork, hot dogs, and even down to the exotic ones, like tripe, beef and chicken skin - they all serve and cook them hot for a few minutes. The small establishment is a must try, because not just is it delicious but is very affordable too. We ordered braised beef skin and my friend suggested we sandwich it on a monay, which is a round bread almost the same with a burger bun. Then we also ordered chicken skin.
The food was absolutely scrumptious and melts in your mouth. I'm not a fan of exotic foods but I have to say I liked these, for the record. They also sell sweet Filipino desserts, made mostly of sticky rice.

Fried Bopis!

I had a food trip with my friend Jess, which recently was the champion of our extra-rice challenge in Mang Inasal garnering ten extra-rice for the record. Our food trip route started in Marasbaras, a developing Barangay bordering the city from the next town, Palo. The street was filled of street food vendors, from barbecue, fried chicken, tempura and fish balls, balut and penoy, and bopis. Bopis is a spicy Filipino dish of pork lungs and heart sautéed in tomatoes, chilies and onions. 

This case however, bopis was beef and it was simply stir fried seasoned with salt and pepper. The vendor told us the bopis we ate were beef tripe. It was skewered in bite size pieces over tooth picks, which was Php 1.00 each. They had a vinegar dip with onions and garlic, giving the simple bopis flavor a twist. We had around thirty sticks before we tried other food in the place.

The recipe I would share is not the traditional bopis recipe, instead I will show you guys how the street food vendor prepared it.

Ingredients,
1. Beef Tripe
2. Beef Heart
3. Salt and Pepper
4. Garlic

For the dip, just mix it all together.
1. Vinegar
2. Chopped Onions
3. Lime Juice
4. Chili (Optional)

Procedure,
1. Boil bopis for about 5-7 minutes to make it tender.
2. Season it with garlic, salt and pepper.
3. Skewer with tooth pick, optional. Then fry it over high heat just to make it crispy for about 2-3 minutes.
4. Serve with the dip.

April 16, 2011

Banana Cue and Turon! (Summer in Baras, Palo, Leyte)

Due to climate change and global warming, the supposed to be Summer in the Philippines has been interrupted by unexpected or unwanted raining. Having fun in the sun was definitely out of reach, but lately even when it's cloudy, the rain seemed to be less in touch in our locality making it possible for us to feed our wanderlusts and go out to the beach or anywhere with the feel of summer. 

Last Tuesday, I went on to visit my high school friends who resides in Baras, Palo, Leyte - yes this is the place where the Red Beach in the WWII was. I was hoping of a get-together because it has been a while since I've met with my barkada (Filipino for gang), but because one of my friends participated on a basketball summer league in their locality and had a game that time, I invited my other friend to go the beach before the game started. I was longing for the beach for months now and I really wanted to get myself wet and play on the sand for hours and hours. But because I didn't bring some extra clothes, we just strolled around there and enjoyed the scenic view. These are the times I thank the Almighty One, for making such a beautiful world for us to live in. 

Though the sun was out because it was cloudy, it was still a fine day. Most beaches here in the Philippines aren't white or anything close to that, common on the beaches on the western world. To those who are seeking for a unique beach experience, Leyte's beaches are a must-try. With moderately strong winds affecting the waves, the province's stretch of beaches are perfect for Skimboarding which lately has been attracting locals and even foreigners to try out this rising sport in the Philippines. 

But to those who aren't daring enough to try out this sport -  trust me there are a lot who doesn't wanna do this, I've been there and I've done that, and ended up bruising my ankle bone, who said having fun at the sand isn't a good thing? 

Way back into my childhood and until now the best thing about going to the beach is building up sand castles or just loafing around while lying back on the sand. The fine black sand makes up a signature for the beaches here in the Philippines, though there are also beaches that have white sand in the country, the island offers a distinct and definitely Filipino summer episode on your adventures. People also enjoy kiting and angling through the beaches here. 


So after our beach stroll, we decided to go to the basketball court where the league was held. Half way there, we saw this road side kiosk selling Banana Cue and Turon. A banana cue according to Wikipedia is a popular snack food in the Philippines of deep fried bananas coated in caramelized brown sugar. Banana cue is made from a type of banana called Saba. While a Turon, also known as Banana Lumpia, is a Philippine snack made of thinly sliced bananas (preferably Saba or Cardaba bananas) and a slice of jackfruit, dusted with brown sugar, rolled in spring roll wrapper and fried.


So here are the recipes for each. First up is the Banana Cue:

INGREDIENTS: 
Bananas pref. Saba
Panutsa or Melted Brown Sugar 
Cooking oil for frying
BBQ sticks
PROCEDURE:
1.) Peel the bananas and dip it over the panutsa or sugar syrup. 
2.) Deep fry in hot oil which is about 5-10 minutes.
3.) When its cooked, use a tong to get each and place on a strainer for oil to drip out.
4.) Make a skewer with the bananas, enjoy!
And next is Turon! 
INGREDIENTS
* Bananas pref. Saba or Cardaba
* Panutsa or Melted Brown Sugar
* Cooking oil
* White sugar
* Spring roll wraps
* Water


METHOD
1. Slice bananas then dip on water to tender.
2 . Sprinkle white sugar over wet bananas.
3 . Place some bananas and wrap with spring roll wraps.
4 . Deep fry until golden and transfer to paper towel on a plate to absorb oil.


On the way to the league, we finished our snack and watched our friend play basketball. Here in the Philippines, summer leagues are indispensable as it serve as a stepping stone for locals to hone their skills on their respective sports, and enable themselves to get discovered into the mainstream of where they excel.  These leagues are usually held when Fiestas are coming, especially this May where fiestas are almost everyday on different towns and cities. 

March 8, 2011

BALUT! (The Classic)

According to Wikipedia, A balut is a fertilized duck (or chicken) egg with a nearly-developed embryo inside that is boiled and eaten in the shell. It doesn't look any different from any hard-boiled egg when it is still in the shell. And when you crack it open, you'll see the surprise or to others: You'll see the Horror! Not all people love this food, actually I'm not an avid fan. I can eat a few of this, but not to the extent of loving it. 

Most people prefer to eat this during the night where there is low light which provides minimal visibility to the balut and what is inside it. Because when you actually see what's inside, you will be disgusted - well to those who doesn't like it anyway.

So while waiting for the multi-cab on our way home at about 8:30PM, a balut vendor passed by and we called his attention. He was riding a bicycle and placed his basket of balut and penoy between the handles of the bike. So he stopped by where we were standing and asked what we liked. My friend told him we'd have balut and three of our other friends ordered penoy - which are plain and not fertilized eggs as described on my past blog. Penoy is for those who are faint hearted and won't accept the challenge of eating a balut. Okay so enough of the swagger and more of the eating part. 


Warning! The next photo will be graphic, and the faint of heart should not see. Well most of my friends who viewed it who doesn't like balut was disgusted and closed my tab instead. 



So I had two that time. I cracked it open. This time there was broth on the balut so as I partially opened the egg shell, I placed salt and vinegar inside  it and sucked the broth and it tasted like what else? Balut. When there was no broth anymore, I opened it and with the low light I looked for the chick and my strategy as always was to munch on the chick first so there would be no problem anymore. Because the light was very dim, I wouldn't see what I'd be eating and that really helped - a lot. I munched on the chick first and chewed it quickly because that was to me, the "gross" part. And when I was finished with the chick, everything was easy. As I finished mine also my friends, so we bought seconds and I did my strategy again. So when we finished eating balut, we went back to school to rinse off the broth that spilled into our hands. We went home and I brought one home so I can take pictures. 

March 3, 2011

Fried Balut (Kwek-Kwek, A Tacloban City Mini-Adventure)

This one would be a bit different from my past food blogs, as my subject or in this case subjects will not just be about food but also the City of Tacloban, or may be at least a part of it.

It all started with an IECEP (Institute of Electronics Engineers of the Philippines) seminar  on Fire Alarms, Security Systems, and Automatic Identification Systems. I am an ECE student so I had to attend this. It was held at the conference hall near the Balyuan Tower used to be. To add up historical facts, the Balyuan Tower (which was now demolished) was used as a watch tower in the past to alarm the residents of dangers. Balyu, in Waray-Waray means trade. And Balyuan, is where you trade. It is called Balyuan because this was the place where the bigger statue of Sto. Niño in Basey, Samar was exchanged with the smaller Sto. Niño statue of Tacloban. For those who didn't know, Tacloban City in the province of Leyte used to be a fishing village of the Municipality of Basey in the Samar province. A festival is held here every year to celebrate that exchange. The statue is said to be miraculous.

The seminar ended around 3:45PM so we went out for air at a small dock at Balyuan fronting the sea to San Jose and a few miles away from Basey, Samar. The place which used to be an area for look out was eventually made into a tourist spot or a local park, with the Balyuan Amphitheater where concerts and gatherings are held. (Check out this blog for details of the Amphitheater:  


Locals who enjoy angling (fishing by hook) take their time  sitting or hanging out on the dock while they wait for fish to take their baits and reel in their catch. To my surprise, most of the anglers use banana as a  bait. I don't know if this was common or not, but to me this was a new one. As seen on the photo, the anglers just sit by the dock and wait - this would take minutes or even hours. 

The bay walk concept in Balyuan attracts Taclobanons (local way to call residents in Tacloban)  to chill out the place and feel the sea breeze. Students nearby flock the area after school to relax and just enjoy the scenic view. The twist however is the place gets a make-over when dusk strikes. Balyuan unveils her different side, the Night Life. Just as any city or town would be, there is this side where people break out from their shells and enjoy the company of friends and ALCOHOL. Barbecue stalls occupy a third of the place and turns Balyuan into a night life destination. These barbecue stalls not just serve barbecue but also beer - and a lot of it. Usually, group of friends gather and enjoy barbecue and beer but you can also see couples enjoying their time together. They share hours of laughter and fun with the slight or even heavy influence of alcohol, well to those who drink liquor anyway. 


So after we had air, we headed to the food stalls in front of Sto. Niño Church that faces the Rizal Park. Outside that park are food carts that sell a wide array of street food. From fried Isaw (tripe), pop corn, shakes, tempura, fish balls, buffies (pork internal organs and fats), and almost any food that involves sticks as medium for eating. 

But the cream of the crop in the area would be the Fried Balut. De-shelled fertilized duck or chicken egg and dipped in a special batter then fried. I didn't grew up eating this, actually I never loved it. I am terrified of it and I would run out of adjectives that would describe how much I dislike eating this Frankenstein contraption. I mean who would love eating duck fetus? There would be a few, but I'm not a part of them. My friends told me to eat one, because they did. So I readied my stomach. Cleared my mind - from my gruesome past of balut. Here it comes. There goes nothing. I'm gonna get myself through this. I thought of munching on the chick first so I would have bliss after that. I closed my eyes after seeing where I would take a bite and then munched on where the chick was. So after a few nibble, the chick was inside my mouth and here goes the inferno - well I thought it was. To my surprise the chick was so little I didn't feel the bones crack or anything, it actually tasted like chicken - because it was, but unborn.  Then I added more vinegar and salt after consuming the "gross" part. I finished the balut and so did my friends. 

We were about to get seconds, but the vendor told us that she only had one last balut and the others are Penoy which are only plain (unfertilized) duck or chicken eggs. They told me that I should have the Balut because it was my first time and should get myself to start loving it. I accepted the challenge, thinking that the experience would be the same. This time, I nibbled not on the chick first but on the yolk. I was confident that eating the chick was just easy like a balut ago - because I wasn't totally looking on the chick. I was surprised and well, shocked that it was almost in full shape - not like before, this one had already grown its beak. To escape embarrassment, I had to eat this because I had no choice. I would also disgrace the soul of this chicken or duck that I'd only be wasting its body, so I had to consume it. I closed my eyes again and munched on it. This time I felt bones and its beak breaking as I sink my teeth on the chick. My eyes got teary and got myself choking for a bit because I only thought of the disgust. Then I told myself, "It's mind over matter" so I chewed on the chick quickly so I could get through the taste of destruction - well to me it was. I finished the balut but got me into another bad balut experience. Well my motto for food that I don't like is "Keep eating it until you like it." So may be it wasn't my day to be a fan of it, but I'll keep on trying until I can call it my comfort food. 

After my horrific balut eating stint, I flushed it all down with mango shake that only cost five pesos which would be around 9 US cents. The reason behind this cheap price though is because it is too commercial and we may say - too much ice was put in. But yeah, it was enough to clear my tongue with the aftertaste of balut.

Tacloban City is a beautiful place, and if you were to look in the big picture - Tacloban is about to premiere as one of the most beautiful cities in the Philippines. Well in the future, if things go right. 

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