Chicharon Manok (Chicken Skin Crackling)

Comparing same product from two different source of different packaging can be very tricky. For the sole purpose of making a honest comparison, I used my digital weighing scale to see which among the two chicharon manok weighs heavier. After the comparison of weight, then will proceed to compare the quality.

Picture 2

Picture 1

Picture 1 shows that chicharon manok packaged on a small plastic cup that is sold on the corner of España-Maceda St. that weighs exactly 27g for P10.00(the 3g weight of the plastic cup is already deducted). However, Picture 2, which is, the chicharon manok sold along Blumentrit near España is 21g for P5.00.

Personally, I like the chicharon manok sold at Blumentrit corner España Boulevard. It taste much better and the crunchiness of each chicken skin is consistent due to thick breading. The only thing that lead me to disfavor the chicharon manok from España-Maceda St., though it's quite heavier in weight, is the inconsistency of crunchiness due to thin breading of each chicken skin plus the uneven brown to dark color on it.(see the picture below). I'm not sure if the dark color of the chicken skin is due to overcooking.

(Left side of the plate) Chicharon Manok at Blumentrit (Right side of the plate) Chicharon Manok at España-Maceda

Lechon Kawali (Bagnet)

Call your cardiologist after experiencing sudden chest pain and difficulty of breathing after eating almost 3/4 kilo of deep fried pork neck for P120. I'm just kidding. Perhaps, heart problem won't be so sudden after eating the food that I featured today. Seriously though, eating a handful of this everyday would make your heart weak or weaker if you have an existing heart problem.

Almost 1 kilo of Lechon kawali bundled with a Ilocos Vinegar and gravy.

I went beyond the boundaries of my neighborhood to check one of the most talked about food stand along P.Florentino between Metrica St. and Craig St. that sells 'Bagnet' or Lechon Kawali (deep fried pork meat and fat) starting at 5PM daily. I was amazed how customer's would literally fall in line to wait for 10 to 20min to get their Lechon Kawali fried and chopped into pieces.

Forget Andoks and Baliwag. The Lechon Kawali at P.Florentino St. is much cheaper and bigger in portions for the price of P80 to P150. The 1 1/2 inch of skin, fat and meat layer is so gorgeous and crunchy inside out. The taste is exceptional and never picked up a taste of recycled oil. They never or rarely have left overs of Lechon Kawali. That itself is an assurance that they serve the meat fresh.

Inihaw na Mais (Roasted Corn)

I had my roasted corn last 2008 when I traveled to La Union. It is sold on every bus station and along national highway of Pangasinan, Tarlac and La Union especially if it's in season. The way I discovered roasted corn sold between street of Blumentrit and España is a bit of coincidence. Here's what happened. I passed by Blumentrit corner España Boulevard one day when I saw a customer ordered a raw corn and asked the vendor to roast it for him. The fruit stand vendor peeled the corn clean then slipped out a small pot filled with hot charcoal underneath the fruit stand. From there, the vendor slowly roasted the corn in less than ten minutes. I was really amazed knowing that there's such fruit stand that can literally roast your corn on the spot. After a quick observation from the previous customer, I duplicated the same step of ordering the corn. 

The roasted corn on the picture above is a Japanese Sweet Corn variety.  Local corn variety turns tough or quite dry when roasted but Japanese Sweet Corn retains a measure of moisture even if it's roasted for more or less than 10 minutes. The taste is sweet with combination of smoky flavor. An eight and a half inches of roasted Japanese Sweet Corn sold between España and Blumentrit is a healthy alternative snack for P20.00 per piece.

Turon

A lot of information in the internet would tell you what Turon is. It refers to a snack with sliced bananas and brown sugar  wrapped in  lumpia wrapper then deep fried. Let us see which among the Turon sold at Blumentrit and Josefina St offers the best value for your money.

Picture 1: (Top) Turon sold at Blumentrit corner P.Florentino St. (Bottom) Turon sold at Josefina St. corner P. Florentino St.

The sample I bought at Blumentrit is literally coated with hardened brown sugar caramel. It's a premium deal if you ask me for P10.00 per piece. Your taste buds can pick up occasional taste of  sweetened langka (jackfruit) while chewing.  Picture 2 shows exactly how the lumpia wrapper was wrapped three times making it extra crispy.

Picture 2: Turon sold at Blumentrit: The entire Turon is almost one and a half inches in width. The thin banana slices is evenly distributed on both ends.

A minimalist approach in preparing Turon is found along Josefina St corner P. Florentino St. for P6.00.  The sample I bought at this place is not as sweet as the ones that I bought at Blumentrit. It has the same length just like the previous sample but the banana slices is placed right at the middle. Here's something amazing. They sprinkled white sugar on the banana slices before wrapping it up. No wonder there's no trace of sugar caramel around the lumpia wrapper. The crunchiness is average.  It's obvious that the slices of banana is wrapped just once on a single piece of lumpia wrapper. (see Picture 3)

Picture 3: Turon sold at Josefina St: The banana slices is quite thicker but not as sweet.

Sweet and Spicy Anchovies (Dilis)

Sweet and spicy dilis packed on traditional paper bag.

Sun dried anchovies is a common food found almost everywhere. It's a type of food that almost everyone reading this post grew up eating sun dried anchovies (dilis) as a part of normal  Filipino cuisine.  A fish known for its ridiculously small size requires no complicated preparation.  You basically cook everything with the gut, gills,tail and head intact. Frying it requires proper timing and right amount of heat from the stove. Removing it from the frying pan too early will make the "dilis" tough or gamy. Frying it further will also make it taste bitter. 

This is a P10.00 sweet and spicy anchovies measured on a jigger glass

Aside from being part of main meal, the sun dried anchovies (dilis) is also a common snack sold along the streets. I bought a sample of sweet and spicy anchovies (dilis) from the same food cart that sell sweet and spicy squid at Maceda St. Since the sweet and spicy anchovies is sun dried, you would expect a texture that's quite dry and gamy after it cooled off from frying. It's sweet from the caramelized brown sugar with a mild bite of spice from the chili at the end. The sample of sweet and spicy anchovies that  I bought is perfectly done with no bitter aftertaste. It has less odor than its dried squid counterpart. 

A closer look at the sweet and spicy anchovies

Pork Barbecue

A TV host from a cable TV show once said, that, there’s nothing more delectable than a scent of a meat that turned brown. I definitely agree with that. Starting at 3P.M., Blumentrit  and P. Florentino St. becomes smoky avenue. Scent of grilled meat, fat and innards ascend in the air signaling customers that the barbecue stand is open for business.

I didn’t try grilled innards this time. I bought one piece of pork barbecue on each barbecue stand in Blumentrit and in P. Florentino St corner Tacio St. The pork barbecue at Blumetrit traditionally grill their barbecue sweet compared to the pork barbecue sold at P. Florentino St. corner Tacio St. which has dominant soy sauce, garlic and a bit of spicy taste. You can check my previous post on Isaw to see how the meat and innards is prepared.

 

(Top) Pork Barbecue sold at Blumentrit for P10.00 per stick. (Bottom) Pork Barbecue sold at P.Florentino corner Tacio St. for P12.00.

There’s no perfect barbecue around my place. You can’t have the size and the taste you want on the same stick. Gravy and dipping enhances the taste of the barbecue. Unfortunately, spiced vinegar is the only option bundled with your grilled meat on both barbecue store.

Twinkee

This treat is just in time for hot days. As of this writing, it is literally rainy season here in my country but it can be quite hot on an ordinary days. Having this delight is a sure way to cool you down. Twinkee is a pile of  vanilla sundae with bitter-sweet thick chocolate ripple and loads of toppings of your choice. I ordered my Twinkee for P25.00 on a blue cup with Cookies and Cream as toppings.

I did have countless of Vanilla Sundaes before at Ministop, but this Twinkee, as they call it, is a reinvention of the traditional vanilla sundae mixed with sweet toppings. Every scoop promises a gratifying experience. The vanilla sundae itself is creamy and not so sweet and the cookie bits, well, it's kinda hard to tell if it's a cookie crumb. I scooped every bit's of my cup in less than 10 minutes without caring much on describing what I ate.  I just relaxed and enjoyed the pleasure of eating it just like first time five year old would do.

Isaw (Chicken's Small Instestines)

Almost all around the world has it's own way of turning animal innards into something appetizing. After all, small intestines is still protein and fat like common meat. Only two barbecue stand offers grilled meat and intestines in my neighborhood. They only sell this product late in the afternoon starting at 3PM and closes late at night or when the the stock of the grilled meat is sold out.

(Above) Isaw bought at Tacio St., corner P. Florentino St. (Below) Isaw from Blumentrit corner P. Floreitno St.

The grilled Isaw is clean from the two barbecue stand mentioned from the picture above. There are ways to determine if the Isaw you ate is unclean if: it has an ass-like odor, tasted a bit bitter from the food and enzymes from the chicken's last meal, it has a bit of gritty feeling while chewing it. I never had any problems eating Isaw for the past couple of years bought at the stores that I've mentioned.

Here's what makes the Isaw have a bit of a nutty flavor.

The barbecue stand at Blumentrit carefully prepares their meat prior to grilling. They first marinate the meat then allowing it to simmer in a few minutes at a low flame with a mixtures of soy sauce and other spices. After the process of marinating and simmering, they skewer each meat and innards on a thin bamboo stick then placed over a hot charcoal while brushing a sweet sauce mixture on each side. And the result? The flavor gets through every strand of the meat and innards. Another reason why they meticulously prepares the meat and innards, is because, they want to eliminate the odor and taste that comes along with the small intestines.On the other hand, the barbecue stand at Tacio St. only marinates their skewered meat and chicken innards before grilling.

So, if you want your Isaw sweet and with flavors that seeped thoroughly inside the meat, the barbecue stand at Blumentrit is right for you. Though the size of the Isaw on it's stick is quite smaller for P3.00 than the ones sold at Tacio St. for 5.00. But if you want something that's not so sweet with light soy sauce taste, go visit the barbecue stand at Tacio St.

Ministop's Pepperoni Kariman

Consider this article as a continuation of my Ministop's Kariman Review posted last July 10. I find it unfair to post my favor on Sweet Kariman flavors and leaving some flavors behind, which, I haven't really tried.This portion of my blog would highlight one of those flavors, which is, the Pepperoni Kariman.

Being late has its disadvantage, especially on food. It seems that the Ministop Branch at Macamisa St. is trying to dispose off the last batch of Kariman that was cooked awhile back on the late-night customers before replenishing it with a new stock. I was one of the unfortunate late-night customer that was left with only three pieces of Kariman at Minsitop's food warmer.

The pepperoni slice was ridiculously dark red and very gamy like rubber. The cheese turned bruised or darkened on some portions inside the bread. I can't find the exact words to describe the bread part. If anyone of you have tasted the La Pacita Butter Toast, that's the exact flavor of the Kariman bread minus the sweetness and the rich butter flavor. The bread was suppose to be  crunchy from the outside and quite soft in the inside, but from the piece that I got, it's crunchy all the way. I felt like eating a huge crouton with gamy filling inside. I'm trying my best to make sense out of the flavor that I'm eating. Sad to say that I found nothing. It seems my piece of Pepperoni Kariman is re-fried and it's sitting along the food warmer for quite sometime compromising the flavor.

I'm retracting my favor on this flavor of Kariman. Since it's a food review, I can't be biased on the results, this is like WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get). If they have served something that's fresh, I might have written something positive.

KFC's Supreme Bowl Alfredo

Tout Poulet. It means "everything chicken"(Sorry, my French is bad). That's how KFC earned it's reputation for innovating different menu derived from one single ingredient-chicken.

One disadvantage of not being a frequent customer to a certain food store, is that, you tend to get left behind on the menu. I was literally staring at the menu board for quite sometime looking for the meal that I used to eat when I visited KFC. I approached the counter to inquire about it and they told me that the Oriental Supreme Bowl was written off from their list and changed the Asian themed Supreme Bowl meal into Italian.

Hungry and tired at noon, with a lot of folks lined up behind me, I mean, I can't turn back now.  If I quit on my line, I would fall in line again on other food stores nearby on a busy afternoon. So, I decided to order Supreme Bowl Alfredo to shut angry stomach.

Only three words that best describes my eating experience on this one: I-LOVE-IT. KFC really take their chicken very seriously.

Every bit of the ingredients complements each other. The bowl is so aromatic from the herbs in the sauce. Instead of ground beef or pork, the meat portion of the pasta came from eight bits of deep fried breaded chicken fillet. My two and a half inch height of bowl is filled with chewy pasta soaked with a blend of: herbs like basil, spices, bits of fried chicken, bits of tomato and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. The sauce is not too sweet with  the right amount of sourness from the tomato, which is, the original blend on most Italian red sauce.  (See the photo below).

The pasta noodles is filled with sauce.

The price of P103.00 inclusive of up-size drinks is fair enough to treat your taste buds close to Italian cuisine, fast food version.

Captain's Burger

Here's something new around my neighborhood. A hamburger stand that tries to compete for market share along the saturated food business spot along Blumentrit between España and P.Florentino St. It's the only hamburger stand within my neighborhood.  If you wanted to check this shop, it's in front of AVON Blumentrit between España and P. Florentino.

A wise business owner who would want to setup a business will consider eating habits  for a particular set of demographics.  People at this side of the street wants their food cheap and fast. Customer's are really on the look out for much cheaper alternative snack. It's not that they want something that's a total  "knock-off",they want something cheap with the quality that is not too compromised.

Almost 1 and a half inch in height by  3 inches in diameter

 Let's see where my P10.00 burger will get me. 

Overall, there's a bit of sweetness to everything. The preparation of the pork patty is very interesting. You can see the vendor shaping a "brown mush", which is, the seasoned pork,  into a patty before it was pressed and fried over a flat stainless steel. Unfortunately, the measurement of the  pork patty is less 3 tablespoon leaving me with just 5cm thick of spam like texture. Literally, the pork patty is more like a thick ham slice than a real burger patty.

I find it impossible to taste the pork patty while eating the burger. Too much mayo and ketchup  inside the burger bun overwhelms the taste of the pork patty especially that the condiments is somewhat sweet. The bread itself is so spongy and light. Pressing the hamburger bun further makes it more like a thick tortilla.

Closer look at the contents of the P10.00 burger

Oh well, I just got so unfortunate that the pork patty that got in my burger is unevenly cooked (see the picture above). With so much orders coming in, the vendor is so pumped-up with her cooking that she forgot to reduce the flame of her stove. Perhaps, she thought that high heat can help reduce her cooking time.

Sweet and Spicy Squid (Pusit)

A friend of mine from New Zealand abhors eating grilled dried squid bought at a Chinese grocery store. He calls it the "stinky fish". It may be unappealing to eat something that your eyes and nose disagrees. Culture also plays a big role in an individual's eating habit. Perhaps, my friend in New Zealand didn't grew up eating dried squid. Wait until he tries one of this sweet and spicy squid and I'm pretty sure he'll change his mind about dried squid.

(Left) a sweet-spicy squid from Blumnetrit-España (Right) a s sweet spicy squid from Maceda-España

(Left) sweet-spicy squid from Maceda-España, almost two jigger glass in measurement for P10.00

I bought two samples of sweet and spicy squid from two different food cart around my place. As you can see from the picture above, it's easy to tell who gives the most serving out of your P10.00. If you bought this snack while it is still  gooey and sticky, then, it  is a clear indication that, it is freshly made. But when you bought it dry with the sugar caramel crystallized or powdery, it means, that, it has been on the display area for quite sometime.

A shred of newly cooked sweet and spicy squid

Tough economic times also affects the serving and quality of snacks. The size of the sweet and spicy squid seems to be getting smaller as years go by. The once bite sized snacks turned into shreds or flakes.The sample I bought at Maceda St.-España is very sweet and not too spicy. A perfect blend to mask odor and the aftertaste of a dried squid. The sample I bought at Blumentrit-España is not as sweet, which, as you expect, the taste of the dried squid is quite strong.

7-Eleven's Clubhouse Sandwich

I was wrong when I thought that 7-11 doesn't have sandwiches like Ministop. After a few moments of browsing at 7-Eleven's food shelf, I was surprised to see a Clubhouse Sandwich which is similar to Ministop's version. I purchased a piece and went straight home. I wrote an article last July 9 about Ministop's Clubhouse Sandwhich. Unfortunately, it was just simple food review because I never found a single sandwich available at 7-11 at that time to compare. 

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See the difference: 

Ministop's Clubhouse Sandwich

7-Eleven's Clubhouse Sandwich

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I'm really hands down on 7-Eleven's clubhouse sandwhich. The ham and cheese slice is bigger. It has better amount of chicken mayo spread. Chicken flakes texture is good. Having written less doesn't mean I have lost an appetite to review this sandwich. It's quite the opposite. I really can't pull off good words to describe how amazed I was to taste and see this sandwich. One thing that's great about 7-Eleven's sandwich, is the greens, which gives off a crunch and delicate blend of veggie taste. It is a sandwich that would give your taste buds a blissful experience for only P27.00.

Chicharon (Pork Skin Crackling)

P20.00 worth of chicharon with a bag of spiced vinegar

A fried peanut vendor on the corner street of España-Blumentrit sells not just peanuts but fresh deep fried chicharon for P20. I once saw this peanut vendor frying pork skin when I passed by his food cart. It's an assurance to his customers that the chicharon is fresh and not packed or stacked on shelves for weeks.

This is a concept that's somewhat unique to the rest of his competitors. He added chicharon to his existing display of fritters of all sorts. No one among the peanut vendors ever tried to duplicate his idea. The vendor is like a street food version of R. Lapid's Chicharon.

It’s easy to tell that the quality of oil used through the color of chicharon. Here, the color is white (check the photo above). It means that oil used for frying is fresh not recycled. The seasoning is kept into minimal. So, it's not salty.  There's no grainy feeling of salt around the chicharon. It's crunchy all the way down to the last piece. It's fresh with no porky or greasy aftertaste.  There’s huge difference to the taste compared to the commercial version sold on the streets and grocery stores. 

It really feels good to see few street foods that offer something fresh for a change.

 

Meatballs

Taking my food review very seriously takes me to a lot of interesting and disappointing results. The latter statement proves true on this portion of my article. I have to admit I fell for different misleading products that never delivered the result it promises most of the time.

At first look, I thought it was a hardboiled egg coated on brown batter peddled along the corner street of España Blvd and Blumentrit. The lady who sells this stuff told me that it was a meatball with a price tag of P2.00 per piece.  I mean, seriously, I never saw any street food that sells meatballs for a snack at a cheap price. So, I said to myself, that, this stuff could be something that’s interesting to review. With so much enthusiasm in my mind, I bought four pieces of this stuff and went back home.

Its a meatball with no meat.

 Surprisingly, it wasn’t a meatball at all when I took my first bite.  It’s another example of bad or misleading product name. Time and again, I sliced through each of the one and a half inch meatballs hoping to see traces of meat but I only found very few strands of corned beef, pieces of minced onion and onion leaves and the rest is made of batter. I can’t even taste the strands of the corned beef. The meatball is spongy like Japan’s Takoyaki. Perhaps, the owner should have renamed her product into “cornedbeefyaki”. Hmmmm…I like the sound of it, “cornedbeefyaki” (yucky). The texture is like a puto (steamed muffins) that was deep fried. 

My experience on this meatball is a combination bad advertising and bad culinary skills. If I were the lady’s kitchen instructor, I will give her a big “F” as her grade.

Cheese Stick

A five inch fritters

Cheese stick lovers out there, beware. Stay away from the location of the food cart that I'm going to mention later. There's nothing inside the lumpia wrapper for your taste buds to enjoy for this particular sample. Only one food cart offers this kind of food along Blumentrit corner España and it cost P1 per piece.

Where's my cheese??

Peeling each samples layer after layer of wrapping for that coveted piece of cheese and I found nothing. The uneven red orange color around the cheese stick isn't a melted cheese. It's a powdered cheese used on french fries brushed around the lumpia wrapper before frying. I was hoping that the cheese stick would somehow deliver a bit of saltiness of cheese powder, that, didn't work either. Instead, the cheese tasted sweet, a taste that shouldn't be there. Wow. It's the worst and shortest food review that I ever had.