Are you a food enthusiast?
Well then, you will definitely love this food we are going to share with you. To some, it may seem exotic but once you taste it you will surely love it.
As inspired by the entry of @johnpd in the concluded steemph.antipolo's 2nd contest, we are going to share with you guys this delicious Filipino dish.

The economical Filipino

During the early times of Filipino civilization, there are no means of lengthening the usable period of foods. So Filipinos come up with ways on how to prolong the shelf life of their harvest.

Creative and economical we are. No meat part is wasted if a Filipino is around. Even in fishes, we have ways of maximizing it. We have delicious dishes for fish parts. Fish intestines are fermented and became famous bagoong. To some regions of the country they make it atsara. Atsara is a vinegar base dip mixed and cooked with special herbs and spices. There is also what we call buro. It is a form of fermentation of food. Some fruits and vegetable can also be put into buro. It is developed by early Filipino civilizations to avoid the fast decaying of foods. We have daing, a term for dried salted fishes. There is also daing na tapa. Tthe pork version of dried salted fish. Aside from drying meats, we also smoke them to lengthen its shelf life. For smoke fishes, we termed it tinapa. Tinapa is perfect for breakfast most especially if paired with fried rice. ( and I just found my self drooling at the moment-- author)
Basically, Filipinos are creative regarding foods to avoid wastage.

Some of our street food

All country have their own version of street foods. Of course, we Filipinos have our own masterpiece.
Known to be thrifty people, we don't like wasting money or kinds of stuff. Even in terms of food, we save whatever we can save. Instead of throwing taken for granted meat parts we turn it into a delicacy.

Pork brains are mashed and used as an additional twist to our local SISIG dish.
Internal organs as well are not wasted. We chopped it finely, mixed with radish, other spices and herbs... it is then turned into a delicious meal called BOPIS.
Chicken intestines are cooked in vinegar and soy sauce and certain spices which then became the sumptuous Adobong Bundok.
Chicken necks are marinated, coated and fried until tender.
We also have this what we call ihaw-ihaw, a street food. Ihaw is a Filipino word for Grill. It is a set of different taken for granted meat parts; cooked in vinegar, soy sauce and herbs skewed then grilled. There's chicken head, chicken gizzard, chicken pork intestines, chicken feet, pork ears, even chicken or pork blood ( we call it betamax)to name some.

source

This set of ihaw-ihaw is really famous in our country. Anywhere you go you will see it being sold. On the sidewalk or on the street corners, it is always present. You will surely love how this forgotten meat parts are transformed into a tempting dish and then you will pair it with sweet sour dip or vinegar sauce. You will really ask for more after having a taste of this palatable dish.

Aside from the ihaw-ihaw there is this another set of street foods. This time it is fried. Some of the stuff in the ihaw-ihaw are then fried.It is called prito-prito. Prito is the Filipino word for fried. The chicken and pork intestine are one of the best sellers. It is marinated, coated, skewed and fried like a fried chicken. You can also choose from fried squids, hard-boiled chicken eggs coated and fried which we call tukneneng, hard-boiled quail eggs coated and fried which we call kwek-kwek, fishballs, kikiam, chicken balls, squid balls, hotdog and fried tofu.

Then, you will pair this in different delicious sauces: sweet and sour, sweet vinegar, spicy vinegar, sweet spicy sauce and a combination of soy sauce and vinegar dip. (making this blog make me crave for this food-- the author haha).

The Unique Street Food

So much for all these trivia. The street food we are going to share with you is part of the "prito-prito". But this fried chicken part is unique in Antipolo alone. According to the blog of @johnpd, he didn't find this anywhere else. This is named "bato-bato". A marinated chicken kidney, skewed, coated then fried.

This is a special addition to a famous "prito-prito" stand beside the east gate of Antipolo Cathedral. Again, according to the blogger, even in Antipolo, only this store sells the "bato-bato".

Imagine a chicken kidney so small, often neglected and usually being thrown away. Who would know that this taken for granted chicken part will turn out to be a best seller? Well, only in Antipolo. A reason why this blog of @johnpd won 2nd place at last 2nd contest of Steemph.antipolo. Don't let curiosity bother you. I am giving you the link to @johnpds entry so you will know why he won. Click here

If so happens you came to Antipolo Cathedral, look for this "prito-prito" stall at the east gate. It will be easy to find. Once you notice people clamoring for fried foods, that's it. Simply ask the vendor for that "bato-bato". It's a self-service store. It's time for you to taste this street food. Your taste buds will remember its taste and you will surely crave for more.
After having an experience of this street dish, you can answer then the title of @johnpd's blog, "Bato-bato: Natikman mo na ba ito?"( "Bato-bato: Have you tasted it?

"Oo natikman ko na!" (Oh yes, I have)

Once in a while, it is not bad to have a food adventure. Are Filipino street food exotic ones. Of course not. Those are still common meats. It is just a creative way of enjoying the neglected parts. In a third world country where there is still shortage for food, eating neglected meat parts is not a sign of poverty. It is a symbol of creativity, frugality and valuing blessings from up above. So by the next time you wonder if you will throw away those unwanted meat parts, remember the Filipino Streets foods. You can customize it. And, that neglected chicken kidney, make it into your own masterpiece. Transform it into a "bato-bato"

Hope you enjoy our featured blog for today.