A Taste of Kwek Kwek, Isaw and Other Pinoy Street Foods

It’s been ages ago when I ate any street food. I can’t recall when but I remember that I am usually a “suki” of street foods when I was still studying in UP Diliman. That university has many street vendors and many students buy from them because they are cheap while many students have no money. I usually buy monay with cheese for my lunch – fishballs and kikiam for afternoon merienda – and I eat my favorite corn in a cup.

Now, I rarely eat those things because I doubt the cleanliness of street foods in the city of Manila. Last week, after the usual date with My Beloved, she decided that we eat this:
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Fried Isaw

Taking a closer look:
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Fried Isaw
Fried isaw for sale.

That is a fried isaw and that costs about 5.00 pesos per stick. For the uninitiated, isaw is chicken’s intestines and it is usually barbecued. However, the isaw that we ate was fried instead. Just like ordinary isaw, it is also dipped into a vinegar. The lady that sells this fried isaw makes good vinegar dip and this is the reason why many people buy at her stall.

After eating fried isaw, she dragged me to the nearby stall that sells these:
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Kwek Kwek
 These are not balls. These are kwek kwek!

Kwek kwek (a.k.a. tokneneng) is a popular street food. It is just a boiled egg that is wrapped in a flour breading that was colored orange and then fried. You could choose either the chicken’s egg or the smaller itlog pugo (quail’s egg). Just like the fried isaw, kwek kwek is tastes better when dipped in vinegar. For 8.00 pesos, the lady will give you a bowl wherein you can put some cucumber and pour the vinegar. Since I'm a vinegar addict, I drank the whole concoction after finishing the kwek kwek.
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Kwek kwek with vinegar
 This is how you eat kwek kwek.

Other version of the kwek kwek is the balot kwek kwek. Instead of egg, what is wrapped by the orange flour is the balot (balut). Balot is a fertilized duck or chicken egg with a nearly formed embryo. My Beloved is fond of balot and she also likes the balot kwek kwek. I tasted balot kwek kwek in Plaza Miranda, which is beside the Quiapo Church.

The next morning, I discovered that my breakfast is kikiam, which is another popular street food and is usually sold with fishballs.
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Kikiam
 Kikiam for breakfast.

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31 comments:

  1. kaya kong mabuhay ng isaw lang lagi ulam. :)))) ikaw kaya mo? lol pero mas trip ko ung inihaw ng isaw kesa ung prito na nasa pic mo..may natikman kasi akong prito, nandiri ako sa lasa. haha

    and that's what *toot* and i usually do if he's here in dasma... kwek2 pati ung mga squid balls! sarap nun.. pramis. hindi ko pagpapalit sa pizza ng greenwich ung mga street foods. hahaha.

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  2. Haha! Eh sa pizza ng Yellow Cab, ipagpapalit mo? :-P

    Astig ka ah...talagang naadik sa isaw. Di ka ba magka hepatitis kapag ganun? :-P

    I remember, the best isaw is in UP Diliman. Ang daming nakikipilang naka kotse dun.

    Aha! Naalala mo pa yung chessy moment n'yo ah. Uy....nakakakilig naman kayo. ^_^

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  3. Uhmmm namiss ko ang kumain ng mga iyan...college lang din ako nung huling kumain nyan...ok nmn kasi malinis namn din ang pagkain hehehe...

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  4. @Jag: Subukan mo kumain uli't.

    Masarap yung mga yun. Baka hinahanap na ng bituka mo ang mga yun. :-P

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  5. yummy pinoy street foods are the best

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  6. but we're not always sure of it's quality better to buy on those store who has cleaner surroundings

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  7. love the Isaw...pag ako kumakain ng kwek kwek... tinatanggal ka yung balat haha.. mas gusto ko kasi yung itlog lang

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  8. nakakaasar ka! tumutulo laway ko habang tinatapos ko ang article mo... naku! kumakain ako niyan hanggang ngayon... masarap naman... saka wala akong pakialam kahit marumi pa siya...lol

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  9. I want kwek kwek!! Quack! Quack!! Haha!!

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  10. Isaw? Isaw what? LOL!! OK just kidding there! SO it's actually chicken intestines? Nice or not?

    Btw, does iSaw anything to do with iPhone? Wahahaha!!!

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  11. Ooh! Balot sounds scary! Nearly formed embryo? OMG!! Is this legal? LOL!!

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  12. I don't mind trying these street foods when I visit Manila! But I think they are quite unhealthy right? Cos all fried stuffs and the orange colour is artificial colouring?

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  13. sarap kwek kwek! dito sa village min, may nagbebenta ng streetfoods kada weekend, suki rin mga anak ko ng fishballs & kwek kwek, tsalap!

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  14. @Poorprince:

    I agree with you. Buying from stalls for these street foods does not guarantee that what you will eat is masarap.

    If it is delicious, then it will be expensive. Well, I guess not all street vendors sell dirty food. Many of them are also conscious on cleanliness of their foods.

    Thanks for the visit. ^_^

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  15. @bluedreamer:

    Haha...ikaw pa lang ag nakilala ko na umiiwas sa balat ng kwek kwek. :-P

    Kwek kwek is nice if masarap din yung sawsawan.

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  16. @bluedreamer:

    Haha...ikaw pa lang ag nakilala ko na umiiwas sa balat ng kwek kwek. :-P

    Kwek kwek is nice if masarap din yung sawsawan.

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  17. @Xprosaic:

    Bwahaha....sige. Maglaway ka lang. :-P

    Pasensya na ha. Hindi ko lang matiis na wag i-shar ito eh. Masarap ang ating street foods and it is worth sharing to people living outside of the Philippines.

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  18. @Foong:

    Quck Quack! Haha...well, that sound also fits kwek kwek because goose eggs could also be used as an ingredient. ^_^

    Haha...and you can't get over with isaw. Well, I guess there is an iSaw in iPod..and that is related to the chainSAW massacre movies. :-P

    Nah! Just kidding.

    Ahahaha...nope Foong. Our balot is legal. It is an embryo of geese.

    Don't worry about the kwek kwek. There are many street food vendors that are clean when they sell their food. The food coloring is also safe.

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  19. @Claire:

    Talaga? Wow...baka maadik sa street foods ang mga angels mo. Pero no problem. Masarap naman talaga eh. ^_^

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  20. Waahhh, namimiss ko na yang mga pagkain na yan..wala nyan dito, tapos nung bakasyon ko pa hindi ako nakakain ng mga street food :(

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  21. Ay...oo nga pala Lord. Nasa Palau ka pala. Sayang naman. Ikaw kaya magpausa ng mga ito jan. Malay mo kwek kwek business sa Palau ang magpayaman sa iyo. ^_^

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  22. Wala bang betamax? bbq dugo! hehehe! May binibilhan kami ng isaw dito masarap talaga sya. Sabi nila marumi nga daw mga ganyan. E sabi ko naman mas marumi mas masarap! hihihi!

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  23. my husband and i call them forbidden food. we give ourselves once a month to indulge on our forbidden food. forbidden since we're not suppose to eat them because they are not healthy and we also don't know if they're clean. kaso masarap ang bawal LOL

    tuwing umuuwi ako sa pinas sinisigurado ko na makakakain ako ng street foods bago bumalik dito :)

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  24. @Anney:

    BetAMAX!!! sENSYA NA. Wala akong nakitang betamax dun eh. Ang nakita ko lang ay yung isaw, paa ng manok, ulo ng manok...etc.

    Come to think of it, tagal na akong di nakakakita ng betamax ah.

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  25. @Sikoletlover:

    At talagang may term pa kayo jan ha. Forbidden...sakto sa kasabihan na kung ano ang bawal (forbidden) ay iyon ang masarap.

    Teka po...ano ano naman po ang mga sikat na street foods sa Japan? May street food din ba sila jan?

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  26. Waah pinaka favorite ko jan yung kwek-kwek!!! sa isaw di ako ganun kalakas kumain... saka para iwas hepa na rin lols

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  27. @Fiel-kun

    Tama yan ah...nakakatakot kasi minsan sa mga isawan parekoy. Isang bote lang ang ginagamit na sawsawan ng lahat ng mamimili.

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  28. isaw is the best for me! i can eat it everyday without feeling cloy... sabi nila, mahiwagang alikabok ang lihim na rekado nyan... sarap!
    discoverph.com/out-and-about/food-and-beverage/street-food-food-and-beverage/philippine-street-food-a-guide/

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  29. isaw is the best for me! i can eat it everyday without feeling cloy... sarap!
    discoverph.com/out-and-about/food-and-beverage/street-food-food-and-beverage/philippine-street-food-a-guide/

    ReplyDelete

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