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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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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Taking a closer look:
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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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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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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 for breakfast.
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