Just curious about exotic foods in Pinas?
Is it mostly outside of Metro-Manila where people eat out of the ordinary even today? I hear some species are prohibited to eat due to being endangered....such as Paniki and palaka.
Butiki used to be for medicine.

Also....aso....selling meat, is that rare to find in Manila? I know some natives in Metro-Manila that have ate it before but they weren't aware of it. As an American born Pilipino I have an open mind when it comes to palaka, bayawak, and ahas....Personally....I would stay away from paniki, since rodents are carriers of rabies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FG3y1Y0Pzk

My question is are these still common nowadays in or outside of Manila? Could you list any exotic foods that I have not mentioned? As a native do you personally favor these kinds of tastes or do you shy away from it? (I'm willing to try anything...I am not a big fan of balut)

Question

Just curious about exotic foods in Pinas?
Is it mostly outside of Metro-Manila where people eat out of the ordinary even today? I hear some species are prohibited to eat due to being endangered....such as Paniki and palaka.
Butiki used to be for medicine.

Also....aso....selling meat, is that rare to find in Manila? I know some natives in Metro-Manila that have ate it before but they weren't aware of it. As an American born Pilipino I have an open mind when it comes to palaka, bayawak, and ahas....Personally....I would stay away from paniki, since rodents are carriers of rabies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FG3y1Y0Pzk

My question is are these still common nowadays in or outside of Manila? Could you list any exotic foods that I have not mentioned? As a native do you personally favor these kinds of tastes or do you shy away from it? (I'm willing to try anything...I am not a big fan of balut)

Answer

Aso meat selling is now ban in the Philippines.  You can buy snake meat somewhere in the north after the expressway.

There are a lot of exotic foods in the Philippines.  This page is not enough to write all of them.  Better, when you come over for a visit, ask your cousins for these.  Just be wary of what they will feed you.  Don't eat any butete or other things just for trying it.  Consult the elders.

Answer

Hi! I am a Filipino with residence in Metro Manila and in the Tagalog provinces (Cavite and Rizal) and In Camarines Norte(Tagalog speaking area in Bikol region). In my observation, people who are exposed to residents in rural areas are the one who experienced/tried different exotic foods not just out of curiosity but it is also because of the availability of type of food/resources in their areas. I tried snake/bayawak/dog during my childhood and for me they are not real good/nice meat to prepare as food recipe. People in the streets are mostly the cowbow type of people in their provinces.they use these animals as source of food because of scarcity of better types of food in their areas. I like meat of chicken/beef and lamb.I am partly vegetarian when edible ferns and lagikway are available.

Answer

First time I tried it...I gagged. The outer part of the egg is solid...and there's the duckling just sitting there lol... never ate it though, I'm not really an egg person. The scary thing I hear about balut is that it is linked to bangungot, concerning Pilipino males who over eat along with alcohol during night.

Answer

hmmm...im a born filipino, one thing i recommend you to try is the " Balut" ( BALOT) I tried it 3x with my friends who dared me. Its a boiled fertilized egg popular in every corners of the street at first it gives a creepy feeling when you ate the embryo. But anyway its fun experienced. Then the probin...its a chicken butt...street vendors fried it in a boiling oil, and what else... kwek-kwek its a small egg. There were loads of exotic  foods in the philippines, actually in the modern era now, some are hesitant to try it. But my chums digs exotic foods....they brought this 10pieces of balot in the operating room, even surgeons were dared to try it.