🍔 Streetfoods in the Philippines that Everyone Must Try [Mga pagkaing kalye sa Pilipinas na dapat tikman ng lahat] Part III

Have you heard of Betamax, Banana Que or Banana-Q and Balut?

Welcome to the 3rd installment of Streetfoods in the Philippines, if you missed the first and second installments, you may just click the links (first and second) and it will direct you to the page.

Let me just share the Intro: If you are going to the Philippines and would like to try some foods out in the streets. Here are my suggestions, just make sure to buy it from a store who has health or sanitary certificates. If the vendor is mobile, make sure to check if everything is clean before making a purchase. I love cheap foods compared to those expensive buffets or meals served at fancy restaurants and hotels. I have been eating street foods since I was a child and I, thankfully, haven't been sick up to now, I am just cautious where to buy so you should too.

Kung kayo man ay maparito sa Pilipinas at gustong tumikim ng mga pagkaing kalye. Narito po ang mga suhestiyon ko pero pakasiguraduhin niyo lamang na bumili kayo sa malinis na mga nagtitinda. Kung ang tindero ay naglalakad e tignan maigi kung malinis nga ba bago kayo bumili. Gusto ko ang mga murang pagkaing kalye kesa sa mga mamahaling pagkain sa mga mahal na kainan at hotel. Simula pagkabata e kumakain na ako neto, pasalamat ko at ni minsan ay hindi ako nagkasakit hangang sa ngayon. Kelangan lang talaga mag ingat sa pagbili ng mga ito at dapat kayo rin mag ingat.

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I dare you if you are brave enough to try Betamax!

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First one I will share is a street food commonly known here in the Philippines as "Betamax". The name came from the electronic device back in the 90s. Our neighbor used to play movies using Betamax tapes before when we were kids. But this is a food, not a device. You might not like it but Betamax is made out of chicken blood. The vendors collect blood from chicken and they process it so that the blood will solidify.

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They put some of their secret spices and ingredients then cool it down in a fridge and once the blood thickens and solidifies that's when the vendors will cut it into square or rectangular shapes, which the name Betamax came along. The square or rectangular shaped solid chicken bloods are then skewered using tiny bamboo sticks and ready for grilling.

Filipinos are able to utilize all parts of the chicken, I mentioned before the chicken feet and chicken intestine, but wait there's also the chicken head..But I will try and introduce that in a separate article.

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Now, let's go back to the topic, what is a Banana Que? This street food is very common in all areas of the Philippines and I believe this is the most famous of all the street foods out here. In order to make this sweet and tasty banana cue, you need to have a saba banana. The Saba banana can be eaten raw as long as it's ripe but then again Filipinos are good in thinking out of the box. They were able to figure out that this ripe saba can be dipped in caramelized sugar as the coating while deep fried in cooking oil.

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This street food has always been my go-to food when I am hungry in my high school days because just beside our school was a small canteen and they sell banana cues all throughout the day. A bamboo stick is used to hold the cooked banana cues and there's two bananas in each stick. This street food was cheap before, now its already at 10 pesos. Still considered cheap but unlike to the price when I was in high school where you can have a stick for 2 pesos only. If you eat this in the street, don't forget to order juice drink because it's served hot and sweet which makes you look for something to drink.

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The third streetfood worthy of giving a try to eat is called Balut or Duck Embryo. You might have seen this already featured a lot on TV and other reading materials. Even Anthony Bourdain tried eating Balut in a CNN episode back in 2016.

“It’s not one of my favorite things on earth,” “but it’s not that bad if you can get past the feathers.” Bourdain tells Morgan during the CNN show.

The eggs are separated from the Duck one it's about 18days. then boiled and kept hot all the time for consumption. You can eat all of the contents inside, including the bones, the head, and feathers of the tiny enbryo.

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Balut is always in my mind, I had to have at least one balut a week. I don't know why but I love eating this since I was a child. My father always brings home balut for the family. There was this one instance that I can still recall, I ate about 5 of those balut eggs in one seating hehe. I love mixing it with a bit of salt and vinegar with chili and onions.

Some people especially from the Western side call balut as weird or even disgusting. Though for us, it's a good source of protein. Even the adults claim that it helps with their knees and as aphrodisiacs which help their endurance in bed with their loved ones.

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Here ends the part III of the Filipino Street Foods that I wanted to share so stay tuned for more..!

That's it for now. Until next time! Namaste!

Don't forget to upvote, resteem and follow for more stuff like this from me and my country, The Republic of the Philippines.