Here's to Ears

Boiled pigs' ears tossed with olive oil, lemon, cilantro, and salt. Enjoyed at O' Santos, Taipa Village, Macau.

Original post (11/25/07):

I don't remember exactly when I fell in love with with the cartilage crunch of pigs' ears. What I do remember is where I had my first taste of what is now one of my favorite parts of the piggy. It was at an isawan somewhere in the kilikili of Makati. Barbecued, the ears were good - sticky and crunchy at the same time. If I were to have barbecued tenga now, I would probably head over to Countryside along Katipunan Avenue.

I also enjoy pigs' ears deep fried - aka crispy tenga. I think pretty much any of the ubiquitous grills will be able to prepare this dish competently. But I never thought I would enjoy pigs ears that weren't either fried of flamed. The pictured dish, which we tried in a small dumpling restaurant in Hongkong, contains slivers of steamed/boiled(?) pigs' ears, garlic, cucumber, and oil. Served cold, it was very simple and very good.

Let us know where you enjoy your tenga.

where to get taho by the bowl

Apart from pets, bicycles, shoes, magazine back issues, PX goods and winterwear, add soy products to Cartimar's, er, varied, list of finds.


Cartimar isn't exactly a stone's throw away, but if you happen to be in the area, save some space in your tummy for a very filling bowl of taho. It's the perfect pre- or post-shopping protein fix.


You get a hefty bowl (your choice if you prefer hot or cold), and you can choose if you want it plain or with toppings. You have red bean, lotus seeds, mango, sago or peanuts as options. Plain taho is at 25pesos a bowl. ( I had mine at 4pm and was full til dinner.) Add 15 per topping.
This one's lotus seeds (aka garbanzos) and the one at the top's red bean.


I found the red bean the tastiest. Sago with syrup is classic, of course. And here, you get a finer quality and bigger serving than what you get from the manong taho. I have yet to try peanut, but I think I'll save that for when I'm craving an improbable meal of crunchy and soft.

The Tiong Hwa foodstore gets brisk business from people dropping by for their freshly bottled soy milk (it's really good, sweetened or otherwise), red bean-, peanut- or lotus-filled mochi (have yet to try this), and a wide variety of frozen specialty foods (dumplings, fish steaks, furais, chinese rice meals). And with the tables and seats inside, I'm glad they've created a clean, quiet place to take a break from walking around.



Tiong Hwa food products store is in Cartimar Shopping plaza, along the row of Japanese groceries.

Oishi Pods

Geek that I am, the product name sends my mind in sci fi directions. I almost didn't buy it. But anyway, this yummy potater alternative's been hard to find, so when you see a bag, grab it!
The clean, crisp package design drew my eye. And I was pleased with the crunchy contents. Don't expect actual peas though. As the copy on the bag stays vague, I assume it's some recombined pea material instead, haha.

It's baked not fried, and fortified with vitamins. So it's an inexpensive, very tasty and somewhat healthy (on the most babaw level) snack. In a cursory comparison with other chips in the shopping bag, it did have less fats and calories and more protein. It seems a bit high on sodium though.

Still, I like it. And at 11php in MiniStop, I'm grabbing the next bag I see.

(On a sort of related note, have you been to Oishi Land? www.oishi.com.ph. There are cute games and everything! And, I didn't realize they had such a wide product line up na. What's your favorite Oishi snack?)