We ate EVERY Filipino street food in Cebu City, Philippines (even balut!)
We’ve spent the past 3 weeks here in Asia and we just landed on our 5th region in the Philippines: the island of Cebu. By and large, the food we’ve encountered here so far has been relatively tame. But that all changes today because we’re on a munching mission and Cebu City offers the most colorful collection of culinary kicks in the country. From fishballs to horse balls, blood to intestines, and eel babies to duck embryos. Some of these dishes aren’t for the faint of heart… er… stomach, but let’s start devouring!
If you watched our previous episode featuring our day on the water off the coast of Bohol, you’ve already heard us say that we’re really getting tired of touristy experiences as we travel the world. Our mission is to find authentic local experiences that are off the beaten path. Crowds, lines, and all the obvious attractions seem like a waste of our time and yours if you’re watching our content. So, even though we were booked for a full-day drive down to the southern tip of Cebu, where we were going to swim with whale sharks, trek through the jungle, and find some of the most picturesque waterfalls in the world, our research showed that thousands of other people would be doing the same thing in the same places today. So we canceled that tour and decided to explore the city instead. When we come back, we’ll be sure to line up some private nature adventures that avoid the tourist crowds.
There’s a documentary on Netflix called Street Food and a series of that show called Street Food Asia and an episode of that series called Philippines. That episode focuses on the islands of Cebu, where we are today. Cebu is really the birthplace of the Philippines and Cebu City is the oldest city in the country. It’s always been a major trade port and the earliest days gave rise to an industry of street food vendors. Those vendors are still a critical part of Cebu today, as nearly a quarter of the population doesn’t even have ovens or stoves to cook meals at home. We’re going to take you on a little tour of the street food scene and try some of the most popular bites.
Contents:
0:00 Introduction
0:36 Subbo Mercado
1:17 Lechon Baka
2:38 Traditional Pork Lechon
4:06 Japanese Takoyaki
5:52 Smoothies
6:36 Entoy's Bakasihan Reef Eel Soup
10:12 Downtown Cebu City
11:12 Ginabot Fried Intestines
11:37 Bola-Bola Pork Balls
12:12 Fish Sticks?
12:50 Kwek-Kwek Fried Quail Eggs
14:35 Pastries
15:35 Proben Fried Chicken Skin
16:07 Banana-cue
17:00 Lansiao
18:46 Betamax Chicken Blood
19:45 Balut Duck Embryo
22:24 Conclusion
22:56 Giving Back
Follow the YouTube channel of our incredible Cebu City taxi driver and guide, Jun
