Discover the Different Food Flavors of Manila by Sinclair James

A Story by James Sinclair

The City of Manila is a place where different Filipinos of a wide variety of languages, traditions, culture and languages are gathered in. To cater to different demands, it is interesting and amazing

The City of Manila is a place where different Filipinos of a wide variety of languages, traditions, culture and languages are gathered in. To cater to different demands, it is interesting and amazing to point out that Filipinos have used their creativity and it extends to their cuisine.

The origin of the Philippines’ unique menus trace back to the early times when most of their ancestors, instead of complaining, resort to anything that appears edible just to survive. For others, the distinct flavors are products of experiments.

Indeed, Filipinos have bizarre taste buds that it can almost be treated as weird. If your stomach is not that strong to take different kinds of food, then it is advisable to retreat but if you think nothing can surprise you, then, we can take you up on the challenge. Manila is a haven for these unique plates of dishes and we have listed some which can surely be good competitors:

1. Soup no.5

How is it that the humor was incorporated with the name, we can never know but one thing is for sure: This unique soup number five is as gruesome as it can be. No wonder the makers decided not to name it specifically. Who can blame them? What would you name a soup which is made from bull’s penis without being thinking of nasty names? Well, the penis, which is considered the “fifth leg” of the animal, has started the entire joke but it is seriously not funny for someone who has an easily upset stomach. If it is any consolation, it is believed that this soup strengthens vigor and physical attributes of a bull to anyone willing to take a sip.

2. Sundot Kulangot

Sundot Kulangot can be directly translated as “pick a booger” or “poke a snot”, describing the way it is eaten. If that isn’t unique enough, I don’t know what is anymore. But it is not an actual booger you will be eating. Packaged within small wooden orbs, sundot kulangot are actually sweet, pinch-sized delicacies that taste like our traditional coconut jams. One must break the orb and use either a popsicle stick or one’s own finger to get a taste of the candy.

3. Balut

We are pretty sure you have already heard of this from Fear Factor. Yes, Filipinos eats eggs with duck fetus in them like it is the most natural thing to do. And let me give you a mental picture. First, you crack a small hole at the top of the egg, put salt and vinegar and sip some of the soup. Then, you take off the rest of the shell and find the tiny duckling, curled up on its own insides, incubated to be devoured. You start with the head (oh and sometimes, it’s already hairy). Delicious, isn’t it? Read more at Sinclair James.