Philippine street food

History of street food in the Philippines

Street food is ready-to-eat food or drink sold in a street or other public place, such as a market or fair, by a hawker or vendor, often from a portable food booth, food cart or food truck. While some street foods are regional, many are not, having spread beyond their region of origin. Most street foods are also classed as both finger food and fast food, and are cheaper on average than restaurant meals.

Studies have shown that street vendors have always played an important role in the supply of food in urban areas. It has also been an important source of employment, especially for women. Street food is cheap and easy to come by and also helps people to meet their basic energy and nutritional needs. Changing lifestyles and family structures have meant changing eating habits and this has led to the increased popularity of street foods. Women working have less time to prepare meals and commuters in sprawling cities eat on the run. Migrant workers in hostels lack cooking facilities and people living alone sometimes cooking at home time-consuming and uneconomic.

In addition to being significant source of food for the urban dweller, street food has also in recent years emerged as a tourist attraction. Many tourists come to the Philippines to experience its breathtaking beaches, climb its spectacular ranges and volcanoes, or simply visit Philippine historical sites. Some visitors come to immerse themselves with the culture of the Philippine Islands, and one good way to do this is to have a taste of Philippine Street Foods. Philippine Street Food, also known as Pagkaing Kalye in Filipino, is a wide variety of inexpensive cuisine that you can buy from vendors or peddlers on the streets. It is essentially influenced by other neighboring countries’ dishes like Chinese and Japanese, taken to the next level and given a Filipino twist.

Food is an important part of Filipino culture, and the carts that often line the streets of the cities are a great way to snack like a native. From the tasty and familiar grilled hot dogs, fresh fruit shakes and roasted peanuts to the more exotic oxtails, intestines and baluts, which are boiled fertilized duck eggs with the partially developed embryos still inside, the Philippines has many tasty treats to explore. Cooking Philippine Street Food mainly involves grilling, frying and steaming, while others simply require mixing of ingredients to prepare. Chicken and pork are the top choices for the ingredients in making Philippine Street Food.

Street foods in the Philippines include: fish balls, squid balls, kwek-kwek, tokneneng, kikiam, siomai, taho, hotdog, halo-halo, mais con yelo, binatog, iskrambol or scramble, sorbetes or dirty ice cream, peanuts or mani, green mango with bagoong, goto, barbecue, sisig, chicharon bulaklak, balut, penoy, camote cue, banana cue, turon, betamax, adidas or chicken feet, isaw, kakanin (suman, puto, bibingka, sapin-sapin, bico, kutsinta) and many more. There are also drinks sold on the streets or what we call “mga palamig” like buko, gulaman, gulaman with milk and many flavored juices.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The study is about the salability of common Philippine street foods and its effects on the health of the consumers. At the end of this thesis, the researchers would want to get the answers to the following questions:

What street food(s) is/are the most saleable among Colegio Sto. Domingo’s
High School students? What street food(s) is/are the most saleable among Colegio Sto. Domingo’s High School teachers? What are the most common street foods sold by street vendors? What are the positive effects of street foods to the consumers’ health? What are the negative effects of street foods to the consumers’ health? What do Colegio Sto. Domingo’s High School students and teachers prefer, those sold in the streets or those sold in malls?

ASSUMPTIONS
The researchers would like to make the following temporary answers to the aforementioned questions:

The researchers agree that the most saleable street food/s among Colegio Sto. Domingo’s High School students are isaw, fishball, taho, kwek-kwek, barbecue, gulaman, halo-halo and sorbetes. The researchers agree that the most saleable street food among Colegio Sto. Domingo’s High School teachers are isaw, fishball, taho, kwek-kwek, barbecue, sorbetes, halo-halo, banana cue, gulaman and balut. The researchers agree that the most common street foods sold by street vendors are fish ball, isaw, barbecue, kwek-kwek, Betamax, taho, and gulaman. The researchers agree that the positive effects of street foods to the consumers’ health are: a. It can fulfill the cravings of the consumer; and

b. It is also food that the consumers can eat when hungry.
The researchers agree that the negative effects of street foods to the consumers’ health are: a. The consumers are not sure if what they are eating are clean or not; and b. The consumers are not properly informed if what they are eating are safe or not. The researchers agree that Colegio Sto. Domingo’s High School a. Students prefer those street foods sold in malls.

b. Teachers prefer those street foods sold on the streets.

HYPOTHESIS

Everyone buys and eats street foods.
Most people does not care that much if what they are eating are clean or not.
Most people are not properly informed about the safety of what they are eating. Many people consider selling street foods a big and successful business. Filipinos crave street foods once in a while.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study is unique since this is the first of its kind to be conducted in CSD by high school students. The objective of this study is to help the retailers or vendors who are making money out of street foods and provide information that will help them to improve their product and their business. Another objective of this study is to inform the consumers about the positive and negative effects of eating street foods to their health.

This topic is relevant because as already stated; Filipinos are used to buying and eating street foods wherever they are. They buy and eat street foods without knowing its health conditions. The findings such as the positive and negative effects of streets foods could help raise awareness among the vendors and consumers. This research will benefit the retailers or vendors who are planning to have a business out of street foods and the consumers who usually buy street foods. This paper also benefits the researchers for they gained experience in making a thesis and in conducting research which helped them prepare for college.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/
http://streetfood.org/

http://traveltips.usatoday.com/street-food-philippines-13622.html