I
am a big fan of the breakfast foods I found in the Philippines. All
Pinoy breakfasts are served with rice, an interesting meat, and an over
easy egg. Some of the fancy places also give you a little pile of
shredded and pickled vegetables.
This
is a fish ubiquitous in many of my meals, called the Bangus. I think
the English name for it is milk fish. They serve it whole, like you see
above but I had many meals where they serve only the belly. It is a
pretty good and obviously versatile white fish.
Pork
adobo is not generally an item seen on breakfast menus but here it is
served in the traditional breakfast platter. It is ostensibly pork slow
cooked in soy sauce and vinegar, recipes vary and can include coconut
milk, different meats, etc.
I
ate this in the Chinese part of town but the Philippines is the only
place I have ever been served congee with a raw egg dropped into it. My
brother loves it this way and when he orders congee at a restaurant here
in San Francisco, he will always ask for an uncooked egg and drop it in
himself.
Sago
and gulaman drink is an anytime drink that consists of sugared water,
jelly and tapioca. I find the stuff you get at restaurants is much too
sweet. These people are sitting duck for the diabeetus. I had to pour
tons of ice water into it to temper the overwhelming sweetness.
Ooooooooo! Longasino are sweet, Filipino sausages.
I
really liked the Tocino, a preserved, sweet pork that is grilled before
serving. The only problem is that I had diarrhea every time I ate it.
Granted, it did not stop me from eating it more than once as it was
delicious but the stomach problems were annoying.
At a fancy hotel in Baguio with my Uncle, I opted for a Western breakfast.
Two cold cereals were served
as well as fresh fruit. Is it me, or is the milk weirdly white and opaque? It looks like a glass full of cream.
The
fruit was okay but this cold oatmeal was gross. My lesson for the day
was to avoid Western food in the Philippines. In my defense, this hotel
is the former Camp John Haye and US military camp up until WWII.
More longasina, this time with the traditional vinegar dip often accompanying this type of sausage.
This is another version of Tocino, the sweet, preserved pork.
More
Tocino... I was eating a lot of it despite the diarrhea it was causing.
Some versions were more tasty than others but all caused the loose
bowel.
These longasina had their ends tied with inedible string. It seemed old fashioned.
