Barbecue, an exotic street food
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Filed under Food trips & events; Non-recipes; Asian, Filipino, street food
In a country where over ninety per cent of the population live below the poverty line, it helps to be both frugal and creative when it comes to food. Nothing illustrates the frugality and creativity of the Filipino better than barbecue. When I was growing up in a not-too-crowded Metro Manila, barbecue meant charcoal-grilled marinated slices of pork or chicken breast, legs or thighs in bamboo skewers. If not home-cooked, they were mostly sold in restaurants that specialized in grilled food. Aristocrat, for instance, already an institution in the Philippine restaurant scene, has been consistently serving great pork and chicken barbecue for decades. I remember Jack’s Restaurant and Blue Spot Restaurant in Caloocan, both famous for their barbecue.
Probably the first non-restaurant that became famous in Metro Manila for its barbecue was Lapid’s. As far as I know, the first outlet was in the working class neighborhood of Tayuman in the City of Manila. An aunt who passed by the area to and from work everyday was the first in my family to discover Lapid’s.
By the time I was in college, barbecue had taken on a new dimension.
While the pork and chicken barbecue have remained — and remained popular — over the years, barbecue, in its generic sense, has long ceased to be a mere specialty of restaurants. Barbecue has evolved into a popular street food, accessible and affordable for the masses. Varieties of barbecue have multiplied too. Today, a makeshift barbecue stall on the side of the street will often have an array of skewered meats that include pork intestines, pork ears, pork or beef blood, chicken heads, chicken feet, chicken intestines, chicken livers and gizzards. Cheaper cuts of meat and chicken, and the less expensive entrails, are more within the price range of the masses. It was a democratization of the barbecue. But it also gave barbecue a more exotic aura.
Customers of these humble barbecue stalls are not limited to the financially disadvantaged. In many places, it isn’t uncommon to see a long queue of empty cars, their owners beside the grill and waiting for their orders. Many bring home the barbecue to be enjoyed at the family dinner table.
But the best way to experience barbecue these days is to eat it right off the grill with the two dipping sauces that are made especially for them. These sauces, in large jars, are strategically placed a few feet from the grill. Hold the bamboo skewer and dip the still smoking and sizzling meat first in the spicy vinegar then in the thick sweet sauce. Then, enjoy. If course, it’s not an experience for everyone.
The photos in the previous page were taken at the Beverly Hills Subdivision in Antipolo earlier today. We were on our way home from the kids’ school and there was this barbecue stall along the way. Students and teachers alike enjoy the barbecue there so my kids are very much familiar with it. We were running late and I knew there wouldn’t be enough time to cook dinner. Considering how hungry we already were, passing by the barbecue stall seemed like a good idea.
Did we enjoy a hearty meal? You bet we did. Take home barbecue does not mean we can’t enjoy the two sauces, you know. They’re part of the package.
I’m not saying, of course, that barbecue as a street food is good everywhere and anywhere in the Philippines. There are fly-by-night stalls where the quality of the meat — and the sanitation — leave much to be desired. You just have to discover the ones that sell good barbecue — the kind that makes you come back again and again. With the barbecue stalls that proliferate these days, there’s bound to be one not too far from where you’re at. 
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Hi Connie!
Those are the kind of food they always considered “bizarre” food here in the US. I really dont care, I love those barbecues! They are the best! When my husband (he’s filipino & white) used to visit me in Bicol, we would be sitting at the park enjoying those barbecues. Thanks for this article. Its great to read articles like this.
Bizarre? They don’t know what they’re missing. LOL I think SPAM is bizarre.
Haha! I agree, SPAM is more bizaare than any kind of Pinoy street food. At least we know what we’re eating exactly.
Wow, those pix look much too appetizing for my state of mind. I miss hanging out near the peyups coop for my daily fix of isaw. Sarap!
wow sarap naman nung mga isaw hehe.
pero ako ang nakaya ko lang kainin talaga yung balat ng baboy, bituka (baboy or manok).
hindi ko kaya yung helmet at rambo!
pero yung adidas, kumakain ako!
dyan nauubos pera ko pag pauwi ng bahay!
out of place nga dyan yung hotdog eh, tame kasi dating hehe.
My neighbor in Ortigas was able to put her kids to college by selling barbeque on the street corner. I miss them, I love the tenga and chicken feet.
My fave is the chicken intestine and chicken feet. But I cannot tolerate the “helmet” or chicken head and chicken blood.
And you’re right, sanitation and quality of meat counts most.
Again, these are perfect with ice cold beer.
one word: right beside UP post office = where the mother of all exotic bbq’s can be found…..sarap!!!!
Hi,
We’ve found a good barbecue stall near the entrance to our subd. It’s such a hit that it’s causing traffic at night.
There are several good ones too in University Belt and Mendiola. That’s where I first tried the barbecued tenga, and I loved it so much. If not for my eldest sister’s warning about the sanitary conditions of the stalls, I would’ve eaten that everyday.
hi connie when i read your article i really miss our country …. i really love street food its kinda exotic but yummy …. when i arrive manila on january i will surely eat those exotic food in the street yummmmmmmyyyy
oh my! bbq. i can smell it.
Hello Connie, this is off topic. I saw Marketman’s entry of Bulalo minutes ago and I realized I also saw one of your recipe plus photo copied in another website few days ago. I was looking around here for your e-mail but didnt get any. Where can I possibly forward it to you?
WOW! Ang sarap naman!!! Nag-lalaway ako tuloy and to think that I am just done with my dinner of smoked beef brisket. I can’t re-create the “street food” taste on my BBQ. I like the chicken feet or addidas! Miss ko nanam ang Pilipinas.
pinaygourmand, the copyright notice below has a link to my email. Thanks.
I love bbq!! We can only get pork and chicken bbq here in melbourne =( i wish i can taste some chicken intestines now! i miss that so much! oohh and i love the sawsawans =) yum yum yum!!!
I love chicken intestine, pork skin and ears. I remember my friend’s father had a very delicious barbecue marinade.
Having grown up in Caloocan less than a kilometer east from Monumento,I’m vary much familiar with the exotic smell of Blue Spot BBQ. It’s just 50 cents per stick then (now..now folks, stop banging your calculator to compute my age). Several BBQ sticks, plus balot’s with San Miguel’s, Ahhh!…that was life!
haaay i miss philippines just for the food. i know a place where to eat the best bbq i mean not pork or chicken but the common street food like pork ears, betamax addidas etc. i personally know the vendor so i know its clean plus we’ve been buying from her for years. in palawan they fry the chicken intestines which is also good.
i hope you’ll continue this blog its very informative and helps a lot of people. i am planning to put up a resturant of sort here in france… but for now well its just a plan hehehe
i’ve been a reader for almost 3 or 4 years i guess not so sure i am always excited for new recipes.
Hi connie, i remember jack’s and lapid’s but not blue spot. Will ask my mom and dad about it. Your blog makes me reminisce my happy childhood in caloocan. Thanks.
Oh wow Connie, it all looks so good. What I wouldn’t give to have even a quarter of that available here… all we have in Canada for street-side BBQ are hotdogs. Even in Toronto and Vancouver, which are heavy on the Asian and South American cultures… only hotdogs.
Well, I guess I’ll just have to save up my appetite for when I visit home in Hong Kong!
guess what “inasal nga dalunggan” is?
dalunggan is tenga or ear.
Sa Grace Park, Macris.
Lee, sirit na. I searched Google and only sites in Visayan dialects turned up. I couldn’t understand…
a sreet bbq in manila! nicely done !.
quaint, how after 30 years (sic.)
market forces et. al., allow fair & free play,
leaving this micro-sector alone.
nice pics & dim scents evoke, March 2005, ubay in bohol, where 35 school kids, poisoned, die , from vendors of the same ilk.
barbecued pig’s (pork?) ears.
Shucks… naglaway naman ako. Unlike you, strike-anywhere ako pagdating sa mga street food hehe Perhaps I have built up resistance over the years so I never got sick.
One thing you failed to mention some stalls have signs that says “isang sawsaw lang” to remind customers not to dip their sticks again after biting into it.
My all-time faves are isaw & one-day old. I’m so addicted to them I have Nanay buy kilo’s of that stuff (to cook at home) every time I’m in Pinas.
i really love the way it sounds.. inasal nga dalunggan… very ilonggo…
Have never tried buying barbeque from the streets; takot akong magkamali ng bibilhan, if you know what I mean. But I’ve always wanted to taste the chicken intestines. Meron ba kayong alam na reliable na pagbilhan malapit sa mga bahay na pinaglakihan namin ni Speedy sa Cubao?
Ah Lee, so that’s the ilonggo term…
Auee, I haven’t seen a sign like that hahaha Tama nga naman para hindi salaula.
Nikita, takot ako sa chicken intestines hehehe but try UP. the one richard mentioned above. grabe line-up nila dun. kumpleto.
Hi!
I was in the Philippines many times from 1980 to 1982 and those barbecue stands are a fond memory. I tried for years to produce the same tastes, and last summer came up with this recipe for chicken wings:
http://www.spiceplace.com/blog/2006/07/09/dinner-idea-savory-oriental-seasoned-chicken-wings/
which has the flavor I remember. I successfully marinaded chicken meat in the same sauce, placed them on skewers and had a delightful barbecue.
I didn’t see a recipe here for the marinade that the stands use for the meat. Mine above is good, can you say if it’s on track? Or if you have recipe for the marinade, would you mind sharing it?
I don’t recall there being sauces at the stands I went to. But maybe my failing memory doesn’t recall that or perhaps the cook put in on when they served us.
Please baka alam nyo ang tamang sukat ng ingredients sa paggawa ng pork barbeque. Balak naming maglagay ng barbecue stand sa harap ng tindahan namin for additional income. Alam ko ang mga ingredients kaya lang hindi ko tantiado ang tamang timpla like ung proportion ng sugar and salt. Gusto ko kasi pag nagtinda ako masarap at hindi pabago bago ang timpla. Minsan maalat minsan matamis.
please help
I love isaw toooooo…..
btw, do you have the recipe for pork bbq ? how do i make the sauce or marinade?? I don’t know how to cook..but whenever I get home from school..no one’s gonna do the cooking for me anymore….sumtimes, i feel like going back to pinas..
i only like pork bbq.. minsan isaw!
ibng klse tlga mga pin0y!..D2 s israel pg day-of ang mga pin0y ngttnda ng br b q(chken and p0rk) at halo halo s park ng telaviv.
Mnsan hnuhuli kc umuus0k bu0ng park!..In faines,hnd lng pin0y an bmbli pti mga f0reigners suki n dn..Sarap ng hig0p nla s swsawan oh!..S damo nrin cla nkaupo n kmkain,gaya namin!Mbuhay pin0y!
Sorry talaga but it seems as if you are forgetting the best part … at least here in Bicol and many places in Manila.
The chili sukat … I make my own with a variety of ingredients but no bbq is complete without chili in my humble opinion.
As for the sauce, many of the local vendors start with the Lechon sauce and it should be readily available in any of the Asian stores no matter what part of the world you live in.
Anybody else growing addicted to Sr. Pedro’s manok? It is originally from the Visayas I think but now very popular throughout the Philippines.
Re “Sorry talaga but it seems as if you are forgetting the best part … at least here in Bicol and many places in Manila.”
Why? Are you the ULTIMATE authority on what’s best anywhere and everywhere?
Last I heard, what’s “best” is a matter of personal preference.
By the way, I’m not oblivious to the fact that you;re just promoting your site. Your URL has been duly deleted.
Sheesh.
Actually, no. I am not “just promoting my site” as you say and could care less about the URL being deleted. Granted, I have only lived in the Philippines for five years but I have never known any of the sauces to be barbecued. However, the variety of the sauces is nearly as amazing as the food itself. From the sukat (often with chili especially here in Bicol) to the lechon sauce, the oyster sauce, the toyo (soy sauce) with the lemoncito … in my humble opinion … which apparently is not worth much … the barbecue is not complete without the sauce.
Sigh.
The REGIONAL CUISINE of Bicol is known for its spiciness. Regional. So stop measuring the cuisines of all the other regions in the rest of the country by Bicol standards which you have only known for 5 short years.
Enough said.