We say that when you go to the markets, it is best to really feel the authentic food and culture of a city. Whether it comes from trapped areas or stuff on a stick, we have our own street food culture to be proud of. We love street foods in Manila. So who suggests travelers can only experience it?
Manila may be quite popular for its traffic jams and confusion, but one other thing has become synonymous with the Philippines’ capital – street foods in Manila. Look past handicraft beer pubs and fine diners, and Metropolitan Manila looks forward to shocking you.
About Street Food
Street food purchases are largely commercial. This is a very critical aspect of the illegal food production market. When the economy expanded exponentially, and job opportunities in urban areas increased, cities became a center of jobs, industry, and trade. A huge number of floating residents often tour cities every day.
Most of them fly to cities a long way from their hometowns sometimes from early morning to late evening. This phenomenon, particularly in developed countries, is expected to accentuate exponentially with growing urbanization and population growth.
As a part of this change, people’s eating patterns are severely affected. Lunch is usually away from home. Although some people carry tiffin from home, the majority is a regular consumer of street food suppliers. The key meal of travelers, workers, graduates, refugees, and visitors has been street food.
The Best Street Foods In Manila
There is no better way to immerse yourself in the city’s eclectic vibes than to take your humble street foods in manila for a delightful gastronomic journey!
Isaw
By mid- to late afternoon, you’ll smell the lit charcoal and know that’s the time for your snack in the afternoon. The gut is spun on skewers and fried until burnt and smoky. The pork intestines are a bit more chewy and thicker, while the chicken intestines are more like mini-tube saucers.
Some of the best things about isaw (and accurate for other street foods in the Philippines) is to season with vinegar. Most people want to drink chili onion vinegar with their isaw and ingest as much vinegar as possible. The contrast between the smoky isaw and vinegar is highly satisfactory.
Kwek Kwek
Kwek kwek is another giant of the Filipino street food, which is popular in Manila. Moreover, Kwek kwek are quail eggs, which are powdered and deep-fried in an orange sauce. Their light orange hue and almost ping pong ball look would be visible.
Again, before you eat for the perfect flavor, you will have to season them with vinegar, chilies, and onions. Kwek Kwek is kind of like a corndog, but just a hot dog with a quail inside.
Helmets or Adidas
There are a variety of common street foods in Manila that are very risky, and helmets and Adidas are named for chicken heads and feet.
They ‘re poked on skewers and fried over charcoal, much like isaw. Named after a famous brand of shoes, the chicken feet are skewered with a rotten sweet barbecue sauce.
Fish Balls
Perhaps one of the most popular Filipino street food snacks, particularly between children in the Philippines and south-east Asia, is fried fish balls, and now fried chicken balls.
Usually, when you eat the street food variant of fish or chicken balls, the balls are just a little seafood, but still a lot of meals. The balls are intensely fried, and you take a skewer in the Philippines, poke it out of the grease, pour it into chili-onion-vinegar, and eat it.
Palabok
Palabok is one of the most famous dishes in the Philippines and is a popular street food snack from the Philippines that you can enjoy in Manila.
The foundation of this dish is formed by rice noodles and a thick sauce made from shrimp, minced pig, and pork peel (chicharon) is added on the end. You do eat palabok a hard boiled egg occasionally. The sauce is thick and garlicky and makes the silky rice noodles a perfect match.
Lechon Manok
A roasted chicken in the Filipino theme, the lechon manok is also available in Manila’s street stalls and restaurants. The recipe is warm-hearted and straightforward, with few ingredients and roasted in gold and crispy colors.
Taho
Can’t even dine on your street food trips in Manila as the Filipinos enjoy their tasty treats? Make way for Taho, a light silk tofu dessert (or a drink) in a sweet syrup, perfect for a hot summer day. Take it with a spoon or slurp with a brush. Either way, it’s tasty and sweet.
Halo-Halo
The Halo-halo dessert will also be your salvation in Manila on a popular Filipino street-side dessert on this list on the hot and rainy mornings. Also, it is made from rasped berries, condensed milk, nuts, coconut, sweet beans, and jellies and is almost all over the world.
Balut
Weird and stunning is perhaps the best way to characterize this unusual Philippine snack, definitely not intended for the fainthearted. Balut is a partially-developed duck embryo that is considered a delicacy in this part of the world.
It is baked before eating and usually served with vinegar and chilies. Perhaps one of the most popular dishes in Manila, this city is full of exotic cuisine, only waiting to be sampled.
Turon
It is banana and honey, wrapped in an egg-rolling packet, deep-fried to completely crispy. When you are looking for a tasty, easy-to-eat snack while walking along Manila Roads, that’s it.
Betamax
It is a coagulated pig or chicken blood that is close to the Betamax video tape-style package (children’s experience will be the 80s and 90s). It is considered to be one of the most famous street foods in manila. The taste is mild and spicy on the side.
Bibingka
It is a round spongy rice cake, usually eaten during the Ber months, which is almost interchangeable with the simbang gabi. Bibingka vendors usually set up stalls in the area of church squares, and consumers can buy these tasty cakes with salted duck egg and grated cocos before going back home.
Bicho
Sprinkled with honey, a crispy, deep-fried cake. This doughnut in the Philippine style is best eaten with fresh baked goods. It is also often sold by road vendors to traffic drivers in need of a short snack.
Binatog
It is served in disposable cups and is made from boiling white corn kernels generously overlaid with margarine, salt, or sugar and cocoa freshly polished.
People who sell it, called magbibinatog, are frequently confused with taho sellers because of their equally large tin cans. The less popular name for a snack is bualaw. Some variants incorporate coconut milk, condensada, or evaporated milk to make it more creamy.
Why Visit Manila
Manila has regained strength and faith. Below are only some compelling reasons to give it a shot. You will find it to be one of Asia’s utter jewels.
Intramuros
Being the last former Spanish colony in Asia, the Philippines gives its surrounding countries an interesting distinction. Intramuros is the center of Manila’s Spanish culture and the perfect place to view it.
Since its ruin during the Second World War, this walled city was diligently rebuilt and provided a perfect refuge from Manila’s tumult. Here you can enjoy the laid-back atmosphere and walk the leafy, colonial-lined suburban streets.
The cornerstone of Intramuros is Fort Saint James. It is a citadel that is used by Spanish and American armies, with its arched walls, barracks, and cell blocks offset by parks, fountains, and squares.
Many highlights in the Intramuros include the Church of San Agustín (the only structure left unspoiled since the Battle of Manila during the Second World War) and Casa Manila. It is a luxurious replica of a Spanish colonial structure that was Imelda Marcos ‘s dream.
Museums
Manila has many must-see museums presenting a range of topics. The National Museum of the Philippines is housed in an elegant neoclassical building. It has spectacular objects from around the Philippines for stunning pre-Hispanic artifacts.
The adjacent Rizal Shrine museum is located, which highlights the remarkable life of national hero Dr. José Rizal. He has documented his brilliance as a modern Renaissance man from his last days before being executed for standing up to the Spaniards.
Another offbeat draw is the notorious set of Imelda Marcos’ shoes at the Marikina Shoe Gallery, where 800 pairs of her shoes can be displayed. Or visit the Ayala Museum, with its four floors featuring a splendid array of glittering pre-Hispanic Gold pieces. It displays of fine art and spectacular dioramas depicting the past of the region.
Art Galleries
Manila ‘s lovely galleries, which show everything from Filipino masters to contemporary art, are cherished by art lovers. The National Gallery of Art offers the best place to classic Filipino artists of the 19th century. At the same time, contemporary art can be found in the spectacular Metropolitan Museum of Manila.
Final Words
There are so many street meals in the Philippines. Uou can’t walk more than a few meters in several parts of the city without having food eaten. Yet you have to pick the street foods in Manila that you want to consume carefully. Any street food doesn’t often look that new or hygienic. Enjoy roaming around Manila with your handy street foods!
