FILIPINO FOOD STREET
October 25, 2011 // By Caryl Estrosas
Posted in: Asia // Food / Drinks // Philippines
When in Rome, do as the Romans do—an advice fitting for any travelers visiting a foreign land. So, when you are in the Philippines, testing your palate with the Filipino street foods, while not necessary, is commendable. Not only would it be fun to try the unique local dishes, but it is a great way to immerse and understand the Filipino culture.
It is easy to spot street food vendors; where there are churches, schools, recreational parks, or jeepney terminals, you will also see kiosks, makeshift stalls, or food carts. In suburbs, you will see vendors or hawkers with their bicycles or push carts almost everywhere. Street food is a way of life for many people in this part of the globe. It is a source of income for many Filipino families—some vendors testified that their street food businesses enable them to send their children to school. For students and working adults looking for inexpensive meal, street food satisfy them for just half-the price of a meal in any popular fast-food restaurant.
Instead of dining in a restaurant for an authentic Filipino dish, why not go out in the street and have a quick bite. There is nothing more authentic than those food in the streets—untouched with the modern culinary flair. You will not only get to enjoy the food, but you get to join the locals who are eating with much gusto. Let you save couple of dollars too. In fact, with just $2 USD you’ll get home stuffed. Sanitation can be a bit off though. However, if you are up to the challenge, then prepare your taste buds for a wonderful street food adventure.
Banana Cue
Deep-friend Saba (banana) that is coated in caramelized brown sugar and skewered in bamboo stick. It is best to eat it while hot.
Fish balls, squid balls and chicken balls
Some of the delicious deep-fried balls you can find in the streets. Fish balls are made of finely pulverized fish meats. It is usually flat in shape. Squid balls and chicken balls are some of its recent variation. Typically, the balls are eaten by dunking it into your preferred sauce: spicy vinegar, sweet and sour sauce, or sweet gravy.
Kikiam
A Filipino version of the Chinese quekiam; made of ground pork and vegetables wrapped in bean curd sheets. It is deep-fried to perfection and served with your choice of sauce.
Siomai
Steamed dumplings, originally a Chinese dim sum, made with pork, beef, or shrimp. For just 25 pesos (57 cents USD) or less, don’t expect it to taste like those in the Dim sum house or restaurant.

Kwek kwek and tokneneng
Hard-boiled eggs dipped in orangey batter and fried until crispy. Kwek kwek use quail eggs while Tokneneng use chicken eggs.

Taho
Soybean snack with sweet syrup and tapioca pearls.

Arroz caldo and goto
Rice porridge similar to Chinese congee with ginger and some herbs. Arroz caldo has chicken and egg while goto has beef tripe.
Batchoy
Noodle soup with pork innards or chicken meat, pork cracklings and vegetables

Chicharon
Filipino cracklings made from different parts of the chicken and pig, seasoned, and deep-fried. These include chicken skin (crispy chicken skin), chicharong baboy (cracklings from pork rind), chicharong bituka (crispy, deep-fried chicken and pork intestines), and chicharong bulaklak (cracklings from pork omentum).
Barbecue
Marinated chicken and pork skewered and grilled over hot charcoal. Other grilled food includes adidas (chicken feet), betamax (dried chicken or pork blood), helmet (chicken head), isaw (chicken intestines), and pwet ng manok (chicken ass).

Halo-halo
A Filipino dessert made with a mixture of shaved ice, evaporated milk, and assorted ingredients like beans, macapuno, jackfruit, gulaman, tapioca pearls, sweet potato, corn, and nata de coco. It is then topped with leche flan or purple yam. Halo-halo in restaurants would typically include a scoop of icecream on it.

Calamares
Deep-fried breaded squid rings

Kakanin
This is a Filipino term for a variety of rice recipes. Some of the popular kakanin you will see in the streets are:
Puto: Rice cakes that comes in variety of colors, sometimes topped with cheese
Suman: Steamed glutinous rice, wrapped in banana or coconut leaves
Bibingka: Glutinous rice grilled in a clay pot
Palitaw: Sticky snack made from glutinous rice, served with sesame seeds and grated coconut
Sapin-sapin: Colorful, layered rice cake made from glutinous rice, topped with grated coconut or toasted coconut milk curd
Biko: Dark sweet glutinous rice cake
Maja blanca: Cocounut cake

Day-old Chicks
This is literally a one-day-old male chicks. They are deep-fried, served with spicy vinegar and eaten whole.

Balut
Saving the best for last is the balut. It is a hard-boiled three-week old duck egg, high in protein, and believed to be aphrodisiac. It is very notorious because of how it look, with its nearly-formed embryo. The proper way of eating balut is to suck the amniotic fluid first before peel it off to eat the chick and the yolk.

There is no glamour eating street foods, but why seek for glamour when you want fun and adventure. Your palate may not be the same again once you have tasted the Filipino street foods. As double-dipping is very common especially for fish balls, a little piece of safety advice: request for a separate plastic cup instead for your choice of dip. Vendors usually keep a separate bottle for their sauces. Also, be watchful on how vendors prepare and cook their food.
Pascual,Rossel B. Mrs. Angela Mandane
HRS12A1-2 English

FILIPINO STREET FOOD
SUMMARY:
Street food is ready to eat food or drink sold by a vendor in a street or other public places such as at a market or fair. It is often sold from a portable food booth, food cart or food truck. And meant for immediate consumption. Today, people may purchase street food for a number of reason such as to get flavorful food for a reasonable price in a sociable settings. Here in the Philippines, it is easy to spot street food vendors; sometimes they are in front of the churches, schools, recreational parks or jeepney terminals. Street food is a way of life for many people in our country because it is a source of their income. Some vendor testified that their street food business enable them to send their children to school. For students and working adults looking for inexpensive meal, street food satisfy them to just half the price of a meal in any popular fast food restaurant. Instead of dining in a restaurant for an authentic Filipino dish, why not to go out in the street and have a quick bite. There is no glamour eating foods but why seek for glamour when you want fun and adventure. Your palate may not be the same again once you have tasted the Filipino street foods. But be watchful on how vendor prepare and cook their foods.Now that many pollutants are everywhere, eating street food is dangerous. Even in many progressive countries, street vendors are selling newly-cooked food that lure the palate or taste buds of bystanders. I didn't have any grudge with the vendors but authorities should issue health warnings and certificate to ensure people of the safeness of the food they are selling. Even we're selling food at home, we must ensure the safety of the ingredients we are using. Food Poisoning can cause fatal effects or even death to people who are at risk when eating street food. Street vendors serve their food hot but are we sure it's safe?
Calamares as street food
Aside from banana cue, barbecue or kebab, fish ball, balut (duck egg with 17-day old chick), kwek kwek (flour-coated egg), isaw (chicken intestines) and betamax (cooked cow's or pig's blood made into barbecue), calamares (fried squid rings) is the new street food being enjoyed by Filipinos especially in the crowded city of Metro Manila,
Philipines.
It's good to savor and eat the newly-cooked street food, especially calamares. You can eat it with sweet-and-sour dip (vinegar-sugar- garlic-onion-pepper, salt and flour mix). Yet, there are dangers lurking when eating street food.
Philippine Street Foods
During breaktime from work, you can see people in all walks of life who are in tight budget are crowding food stalls along the main streets in many cities in the Philippines (just like any crowded cities in Asia or other parts of the world) to eat street foods. It varies from viands or entrée, snacks and finger foods. Street foods are the alternative food if you want to be a spend thrift. The taste of the food can be compared to the food being prepared at famous fast food and restaurants. The only difference is the price; it's more cheaper. Tourists, local and foreign, are also enjoying this kind of food setting. Eating along the street, can be relaxing, but there are also dangers that can cause health problems for me and you.
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