Do you eat street food?
@25th_Stargazer (887)
Philippines
March 23, 2007 1:22pm CST
When you travel, do you try to eat the street food you see in that country? Or do you eat street food in your country? What are your favorite street food?
One of the many street foods in the Philippines I would like to share to myLotters are the barbecued or grilled parts of the chicken. Filipinos are even very creative in naming these chicken parts. IUD for the small intestines; Adidas for chicken feet; Helmet for the chicken head; the name for that block of chicken blood momentarily escapes my mind. Filipinos, help). My Pinoy (Filipino) friends may also add the other street food available in our country.
6 people like this
37 responses
@ryanphil01 (4182)
• Philippines
24 Mar 07
i already stopped from buying street foods when i learned that some vendors don't wash and clean the internal organs of the animals they buy. i am afraid i might get sick or get infected with different diseases like diarrhea, bacterial infection, food poisoning and the like.
1 person likes this
@25th_Stargazer (887)
• Philippines
24 Mar 07
It takes a lot of strength to ignore the mouth watering smell of "isaw" (chicken intestine) and its kin being barbecued while you breeze by. I admire your self-control. :D
@Seibertron (231)
• India
24 Mar 07
yes I do all the time. You just have to be careful and look at how the vendor is in handling their goods. Look at their hands and nails u can tell a lot by how dirty their nails are. If they seem clean enough then u would be fine. Street vendors usually have the best foods.
@25th_Stargazer (887)
• Philippines
24 Mar 07
Yes, you're right! LOL. Street foods are irresistible sometimes sans the dirty nails and the seemingly dirty water they wash their utensils in. :)
@Deane_2005 (1644)
• Philippines
23 Mar 07
I am also from Philippines and when I travel I try to buy some street food although my parents doesnt allow me to do it. What I usually buy is Balut and boiled eggs. When am traveling to Boracay I usually choose such food as well as I try buying and tasting other delicacies of some towns .
1 person likes this
@25th_Stargazer (887)
• Philippines
24 Mar 07
At times when you travel to another place, it is really good to try their food and their native delicacies. It is something that reminds us of that place. Something that will make you ... "Oh I love the succulent roasted pork in Cebu!" or "I just love the durian in Thailand."
@mdarma (868)
• Singapore
24 Mar 07
Yes in my country, our street food are good and usually these strett food stall are catered in a hawkers center. The Ministry of eniviroment are very strict in food preparation and hygine.
By the way in my country, street hwakers must have a license to operate a stall.
Wnen I travell I will never, never eat street food. Period
@25th_Stargazer (887)
• Philippines
24 Mar 07
I respect that. Eating street food is a matter of personal choice. I have that hygiene issue too but I will always try at least one street food not available in my country or in my own city.
@RogerTheRabbit (1271)
• Portugal
23 Mar 07
I like to eat some fast food like hot dogs and popcorns. Others then that I don't think they are very safe. But it also depends of the place where you are buying.
1 person likes this
@25th_Stargazer (887)
• Philippines
24 Mar 07
That's right. I think the safety of some food depends on a person's level of immunity to certain bacteria. LOL.
@25th_Stargazer (887)
• Philippines
24 Mar 07
That's true. Some street food really looks and smells good but some peddlers are not particular with their hygiene. There is one moving cart I always pass by on my way home selling hot noodles. After the plastic bowl are used the seller only rinse it in a pail (god-knows-how-many-bowls were-rinsed in it already) of water ready for the next customer.
There is also one guy who peddles fresh and already cut pineapple-in-a-stick. I love pineapples and I also buy some from this guy. One day I saw him washing the whole pineapple he is about to cut in a drainage!
@wolfie34 (26771)
• United Kingdom
1 Apr 07
In London there are a lot of street sellers with burgers, hot dogs and ice creams, but I never buy them, because I do not like greasy food and prefer to eat healthily, they are also very expensive. When I want something to eat I will prefer to go to a restaurant to eat instead.
1 person likes this
@calvin222 (1606)
• India
23 Mar 07
I love eating street food. i strongly believe that it keeps up your immunity.(all the muck around) but that also adds to the taste. being an indian, i like eating the indian variety like chat and samosas and chola bhaturas.
1 person likes this
@25th_Stargazer (887)
• Philippines
24 Mar 07
I agree with the immunity thing. It would have been better if you gave us description of what chat, samosas and chola bhaturas were. How does it taste, the manner of cooking, the way of eating it or do you have to dip it in a sauce?
@babystar1 (4233)
• United States
23 Mar 07
The street foods we have here are hot dogs on a bun,hot pretzles, ice cream. Thats about it.
@25th_Stargazer (887)
• Philippines
24 Mar 07
After I read your response I checked where you're from. I am right, you're from the US. Yes, I usually see it in the movies or some TV series.
@bijoykpnair (6)
• India
24 Mar 07
Hi 'm frm india and here u can find street food almost in every street , der r lots of stuffs but acc 2 me bhel puri n pani puri r d best....d name may sound weird but beleive me frnds they r just damn delicious....
@FreakQD (867)
• India
31 Mar 07
I also love street foods. I am from India and we have lots of street shops. I particulary like the chilly Chicken and the omlet available in the street shops. The taste is awesome and we wont get such a tasty food in other star hotels. Many say that, those foods are unhygenic but I dont care about that and I had never sufferred by that!
1 person likes this
@cruzades (659)
• Philippines
24 Mar 07
Yes, I do eat street foods sometimes, not all of them are safe to eat or rather made safely, it is not beyond our knowledge that some of them are made unsanitized add the fact that they are being cooked at the streets itself, imagine the dust/dirt that are being added to these stuffs.
Yeap, I do also agree that eating street food is good for our immunity, it strengthens our body immune system, but don't ever forget, "anything that is too much is bad".
@chandru2963 (2)
• India
24 Mar 07
I'll eat street foods. it's tasty than the star hotels. some street foods are Hygienic too then what's wrong in taking that......? I don't mind about the prestige but if it's hygienic I'll take that.
1 person likes this
@mskzalameda (4023)
• Philippines
3 Apr 07
yes i do! eating street food after class has always been my hobby! we will go straight to our "suki" vendor to buy our favorite street food. i think it is a good experience to have and taste some street food but it sometimes have a side effects. better eat street foods less more than before for it can cause street related diseases right? so better be alert and prevent than late.
@h_gaurd9 (986)
• United States
21 Apr 07
Well, I don't get to travel out of the country that often. In fact, I had never been outside of America. When I travel the country, I don't always by street food. I would either goto a gas station and pick up some snacks, goto a fast food restaurant, or just eat at a diner. I still like to eat street food. The vendors really know how to cook street food in my opinion. The hot dogs always taste best when they are made by a vendor. Am the only one who notices this? They are always soft and fresh. The bread doesn't fall apart like others.
@cheenlly (3476)
• Philippines
21 Apr 07
i do love eating street foods. i think i have tried almost all of the street foods here in the Philippines but of course i dont just buy every street food i see. i choose those i know its clean and to whom i know who sell it. To avoid get sick, you know street foods are prone to disease if not clean well or not cook well. Im very much sensitive on how they cook it. as much as possible i would like to cook it myself or clean it myself so i make sure how safety it is. But of course for other people that is already immune on it, it doesnt matter as long as they eat and satisfied their hunger.
@jackslaiter (371)
• India
24 Mar 07
Not always but sometimes i eat street food. Things like Chowmein, Slice-Omlette & burgers do attract me a lot. I prefer eating them as they are availabe in less time and require less time to eat. We can consume them easily sitting in our vehicles, without having to get out of it. Only fast food served on the street side should be opted, we should not go for heavy food available on street sides.
@25th_Stargazer (887)
• Philippines
24 Mar 07
Yup, the fast food stalls on the street are "cleaner" than the mobile kind because they have the facilities like running water. Less exposed to flies hovering around and over the food, less dust as well.
@cuteyasoi17 (155)
• Philippines
24 Mar 07
yees i eat street foods...but before i buy and eat some i always make sure its not dirty...i examine how it was placed in the container and the people who are selling the food
@25th_Stargazer (887)
• Philippines
24 Mar 07
I would have loved to hear what your favorites are. Like we have lots of street food sold in the streets of Manila (aside from the chicken parts I already mentioned) like the mobile carts hawking squid balls, fish balls, siomai. We also have the fried chicken skins, chicken butts lol. Not to mention the barbecued pig's ears we call Walkman?
@25th_Stargazer (887)
• Philippines
3 Apr 07
Yes, the stinky tofu. I blame myself for not tasting that food. It stink too much that the urge to resist it is much stronger than my urge to try it.
@25th_Stargazer (887)
• Philippines
3 Apr 07
Balut (or fertilized duck egg) is one Filipino street food that we dare foreigners to try! Its funny to see their grimacing faces while we invitingly savor the "soup" and biting into morsels of the unborn little duckie. Surely you'll hear someone scream yuuuucccccccck... hahaha.
