Street Finds: 7 Famous Filipino Street Food

As with other countries, street food plays a significant role in the Filipino culture. It’s the go-to snack or meryenda of many Pinoys. Even foreigners have grown to love them. 

Here are some of the most popular Filipino street food. 

Kwek-Kwek

(photo courtesy: cocinaland.com)

You’ll usually find kwek-kwek carts near schools and offices. These are hard-boiled quail egg coated with orange batter, then deep-fried. They taste better when dipped in spiced vinegar. 

Ihaw-Ihaw

(photo courtesy: wowitsveggie.com)

Ihaw means grill in Filipino while ihaw-ihaw refers to grilled food. Stalls typically sell barbecue, isaw (chicken or pork intestine), betamax (chicken blood), balunbalunan (gizzard), hotdogs, and pork ears. 

Chicken Skin

(photo courtesy: pinterest.ph/MoonEmpath)

While some love wings and drumstick, others fight over crunchy chicken skin. For an affordable price, you can indulge in crispy chicken skin from the streets. 

Calamares

(photo courtesy: wowitsveggie.com)

Calamares is the Filipino version of Calamari, a popular Mediterranean breaded deep-fried squid. They are perfect to dip in spicy vinegar or mayonnaise. 

Proben

(photo courtesy: Kuya Fern’s Cooking’s youtube channel)

Also called chichaw, fried proben is a common sight in busy streets of many places around the country. The name of the food originated from “proventriculus," a part of a chicken's digestive system. It’s dipped in batter and coated with flour before deep frying.

Tusok-Tusok

(photo courtesy: instagram.com/forkspoonmanila)

Pinoys often call fish balls, kikiam, chicken balls, and squid balls tusok-tusok because you need sticks to eat them. You can dip these fried balls in “manong’s sweet sauce” or vinegar. 

Balut and Penoy

(photo courtesy: pinterest.ph/maibayot/)

Some foreigners consider balut and penoy as exotic food. However, in the Philippines, they are so common that even kids eat them. Both of these delicacies are duck eggs. Penoy is an unfertilized duck egg while balut is fertilized and contains a semi-developed duck embryo. 

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