Forget about sightseeing - the only thing I want photograph when I travel is food.
A trip to Manila for a wedding offered limited free time and we ended up spending much of it shopping. Even then, I found myself continually gravitating toward the sights and smells of the food court.
Kusina ni Gracia
Food courts. What's not to love?
We ended up shopping at the SM Mall of Asia, the fourth largest shopping mall in the world with 750 shops and 220 eateries, and Green Hills Shopping Centre which was near our hotel.
It's no surprise that I had more fun wandering the stalls and checking out the food on offer than visiting the stores.
Food is cheap and cheerful in the Philippines - most hot meals cost AU$2-$5.
Inihaw - offering pre-cooked foods and grilled seafood
Deep fried crab
Dishes at Inihaw
Sisig with chicaron balat (display sample) 79 pesos / AU$1.90
I couldn't resist the promise of sisig (sizzling chopped pigs head) and chicaron for lunch.
Sisig with chicaron balat 79 pesos / AU$1.90
Alas my resultant chicaron was a lot drier than the sample dish on display. For two dollars though, it was a cheap, if fatty, meal.
Potato Corner
I kept meaning to get some chips from Potato Corner -- french fries tossed with spices, drizzled with melted cheese or served with chocolate sauce in their new dessert flavour -- but somehow I ran out of time.
Coconut drinks
Turk's Shawarma - found everywhere and super cheap
with shawarma available for less than AU$1
Deep pan pizzas at Sbarro
Dairy Queen
Chocolate-dipped waffle cones from Dairy Queen
Hecky's Lechon
Lechon cebu roasted pig in the display case
It's a roasted pig in the display case with crackling for sale by portion size!
R Lapid's Chicharon
Did you smile at the mention of crackling? If so, then the Philippines is the place for you!
Standalone carts selling nothing but pork rinds are commonplace here, and locals carry around little bags of chicharon or scratchings everywhere, and munch on them like peanuts.
Snackage for everyone
The Filipino people don't just appreciate pork rinds. They love chicharon bituka made from pig or chicken intestines and chicharon manok deep fried chicken skin too.
Chichabog
Chibit (chicharon bituka) chicken intestines
Chibab (chicharon bituka) pork intestines and
chilak (chicharon bulaklak) pork omentum
Chicharon bulaklak is pork omentum, the fatty sac that protects the small intestines. Bulaklak means flower, referring to the appearance of the omentum when it is deep-fried.
Manila - home of a crackling good time!
Related Grab Your Fork posts:
Manila 2010 - Suckling pig, Jollibee and sizzling sisig
Manila 2010 - Supermarkets, ensaymada and cheese ice cream
Manila 2010 - Turtle stew, black chicken soup and a wedding
woah it's the land of crackling! i too want to carry a bag of crackling wherever i go!
ReplyDeleteI want to live in the land of crackling too...sounds like heaven!
ReplyDeletewow - look at all those crackling! i wouldnt be able to stop eating them!!! my kind of place :)
ReplyDeleteSo much crackling goodness, so little time. And there is absolutely no way those pizzas should be considered pizzas - it's like quiches on steroids!! I can only imagine what it'd be like if these food courts existed here in Australia - eep.
ReplyDeleteLove love love! Everything is so colourful and different to what I see here in Canberra, hurrah! Chocolate potato chips... I'd have to try that.
ReplyDeleteAlso, your first sentence? Amen, sister. I think this is why I enjoy traveling alone so much. No one to tell me I should be spending four hours in museums, not grocery stores :P
I am preparing my arteries for my first trip back home in Jan - I cant wait to try all this crackling goodness first hand. Thank you so much for the awesome preview - I sent it to Demos so he knows exactly what he is in for!
ReplyDeleteWho needs to sightsee when there is food to be had!
I've been staring at this post for half an hour day-drooling. We just missed a Jetstar sale with $200 return flights to Manila - this is rubbing salt in the wounds, er crackling.
ReplyDeleteholy mother of pearl that looks so overwhelming. If crowded food courts already make me a bit nervous over here, I can only imagine what would happen to me in Manila hahaha...those waffle cones with nuts on them look so good!
ReplyDeleteThose deep pan pizzas look like giant quiches, but love the land of crackle!!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've been prouder of my cuisine than today Helen - not sure how you did it but you made the commonplace foodcourt food look so good. I feel like jumping on the next flight home!
ReplyDeleteCan't believe they just have a suckling pig in a display window. Imagine that in Australia, it would go off!
ReplyDeleteI always love looking at food places when travelling, but my bf isn't so thrilled by my obsession. I leave him asleep at the hotel!
Beautiful photos! My Filipino colleague sometimes invites us in her home and serves us excellent dishes. My favorite is the pork adobo or sometimes her adobo is a combination of chicken and pork I also liked the pancit which is I think is sort of Chinese and I like her leche flans. She's inviting me to Manila and perhaps I could stop by and taste all these goodness.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you just gave me a very good reason to visit the Philipines! CRUNCH!
ReplyDeleteSo many piggy products!
ReplyDeleteI like the look of the chocolate dipped cones! I wish they had these here
In true GYF style you have done justice to the food blogging community by eating well! Sizzling chopped pigs head? Only you Ms Yee!
ReplyDeleteI am sooo jealouus!! Look at all that foooood and for so cheap as well! chocolate on chips? deep fried intestines!!!! Yuuummmmmm
ReplyDeleteOh boy this is making me miss the Philippines so much! R. Lapid's chicharon is THE BEST chicharon (in my opinion)!!! Wish I can go back home soon...
ReplyDeleteAnd the bf says there's nothing to see in the Philippines... eesh he must have walked past all this with his eyes closed!
ReplyDeletewow... and I thought Thai are obsessed with pork crackling! I have seen nothing yet until I see your post! and suckling pig in food court!! and whole deep fried crab?!! This is like an Asian Hogwarts only crunchy! Everything someone forever young would want. :)
ReplyDeletedid u bring home some pork crackling? hopefully u got some from LAPIDS? thats the better one.. i love philippines swarma taste different from the stuff we get here.. hehe childhood food! hopefully u enjoyed ur stay there?
ReplyDeleteTo misquote Orlando Jones in his 2001 movie Evolution - "There's ALWAYS time for potato!" Seriously, those deep fried crabs look fantastic, are they mini ones or full size???
ReplyDeleteI love your Manila Food blogs. We were just there a few weeks ago, it is food heaven and I must say you can get Lechon suckling pig in a lot of places. I particularly love the suckling pig at Gloria Maris cantonese restaurant at the Powerplant Mall, Rockwell and Cebu Lechon (which in my opinion is the best suckling pig in the world) from Jun and Jun's Cebu Lechon Plaza at Fort Bonifacio. Both areas are near Makati City.
ReplyDeleteFor those heading to manila in the near future, go to Shangri-la Makati's Circles buffet on a wednesday night for a filipino fiesta themed night. They have one of the largest and best tasting buffet I've had. They have 2 Suckling pig stations. 1 cooked cantonese style and the other traditional filipino.
Love the way you captured the beauty of filipino food! Keep up the great work!
Manila looks so fun! I really want to go there, one of my besties is Fili and I'm thinking of going with her next year- adobo and crackling, here I come!
ReplyDeleteI think I had a small heart attack reading this post LOL! But ohhhh crackling how I love youuuuuuuu!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing that, I love checking out the food courts. I think I have just fallen in love with those little deep fried crabs.
ReplyDeleteI've been to the Philippines once and I really like their pork adobo dish. even if it looks fatty, it tasted so good I kept coming back for more. Lucky I have a Filipino colleague and I always look forward to visiting her home because that means adobo. :) Nice shots!
ReplyDeleteHi Gianna - Ahh I'm filled with envy. Demos and yourself are going to have so much fun!
ReplyDeleteHi Shawn - $200 airfares? Wow! Hopefully there'll be another sale soon!
Hi Trissa - lol. The food courts are amazing. Suckling pig? What more could you as for?!
Hi Mrs Ed - I don't think you can bring back crackling into Aust :( The Phils was fab!
Hi Ramen Lad - Thanks for all your tips. Two suckling pig stations? Whoah baby!