Innocent Wild: Pick Your Poison: Pinoy Street Food

Fishballs - the classic street food favourite

I have a food confession to make: I have never eaten Pinoy street food. Ever.

Until today.

Growing up with an over-protective (hypochondriac) mother, who would endlessly dictate to me what to eat and what not to eat, what's dirty and what's clean, and just about anything to make sure that her only daughter's stomach would be as clean as when she was born, I have always been deprived of eating the oddly-shaped colourful street food picks sold in tiny rickety stalls that lined the streets of every city and town in the country.

The things closest to street food that I tasted (just because they're sold in the streets too) are small spools of pink and blue fairy floss, tiny bags of cheesy popcorn, "dirty" ice cream that's not so dirty at all, and some balut too, which my dad would take home occasionally.

However, eating "real" street food like fishballs, kikiam, kwek-kwek, isaw, and what not, has always been a different story. I wasn't just afraid of my mum scolding me, but I was scared that I might get sick if I ever dared. And I don't want to get sick. So I've always had that mindset - "No street food for you, Andy."

I have always been curious, though. Curious how those fish and squid balls in the streets differed from the ones my mum and aunt prepare at home. Curious how my friends who ate street food never really got sick because of it. Curious how I would find them, given the chance I try them.

With some free time to spare before heading to a meeting and Spanish class later in the afternoon, I accompanied Kai, Charry, and Mau, some friends of mine who went to have some “tusok-tusok” (a Filipino slang used to refer to kinds of Filipino street food that are picked and eaten with thin bamboo skewers: “tusok” = to prick) at Dapitan Street.

Thinking that it was my chance to finally taste authentic Pinoy street food, I had some fishballs (.50php per piece) glazed with “matamis” (sweet) sauce and a cheese stick Kai gave me. We then walked to some carinderia to get a large-sized mango shake (I wasn’t allowed to have street-sold drinks either) to cool off a bit.

It was quite an experience, really. I felt like a kid at a sweet shop at the time, struggling to contain my excitement. If you’re a Filipino reading this right now, call me “mababaw” all you want, but this day is a milestone for me.

I went home tonight with an interesting story to tell my mum for a change (I have been complaining about school and stress a lot lately), and all she said to me was: “Siguraduhin mong hindi sasakit tiyan mo.”