Last Sunday, my husband and I went to the Philippine market, also known asSeoul’s Little Manila. I told him I wanted to eat Filipino food, so after my hospital appointment in Hyewadong, we passed by the church and headed straight to the Philippine market to have our lunch there. He seemed more excited than I was as we were looking at all the delectable Filipino dishes in the carinderia (small eatery). In fact, even before ordering our food, he started looking for our seats. There were too many customers that time, because the Holy Mass for Filipinos in Hyewa church had just finished. We went to Ate Violy’s carinderia first. I ordered “palabok” (Filipino style noodles in prawn gravy), pork barbecue and spring rolls for my husband, and “lechong kawali” (pan-roasted pork belly), “menudo” (pork stew in tomato sauce) and rice for me. While waiting for our order, I chatted a bit with Kuya Ed, the cook in the carinderia, who was kind enough to entertain us though he was very busy serving other customers.

Every time I go to the Philippine market in Hyewa, I feel like I am in my homeland. Everyone is just so amiable and accommodating. Just as I was going to my seat, I was greeted by another Filipino who was also having his lunch there. He’s a total stranger, but he smiled and said, “Magandang hapon, madam.” I greeted him back and sat down. There were Koreans and other foreigners in the carinderia. They looked like they were enjoying not only the food and beer, but as well as the Filipino crowd and the friendly atmosphere.

It wasn’t my husband’s “drinking day”, but I let him drink four bottles of Red Horse, and jokingly warned him that I would leave him there if he got drunk, which amazingly didn’t happen. (My husband passed out drinking Red Horse before that he had to be carried back to our room. Oops! I hope he won’t read this. I made a promise I would never talk about that incident again… kkk)

The “lechong kawali” was ambrosial, maybe because I haven’t eaten it in a looong time, and it was one of the Filipino dishes I had been craving. I had another order of that. My craving was finally satisfied. ^^

On the other hand, my husband kept bugging me to look for “balut“. He is crazy about Filipino street food. “Balut” is one of the popular street food in the Philippines, but some people, especially foreigners, may not stomach it. It looks like hard-boiled egg, but it’s no ordinary egg. It is boiled duck egg that you have to eat with the slimy, feathery embryo inside, sometimes with the feet and beak already formed! I DO eat “balut”, but only the yellow part. I give the embryo to my husband.

The first time I saw him eat “balut” was when he was my boyfriend. I thought that he was just trying to impress me, but to my surprise, he knew how to eat “balut” like a pro. He even taught me how to eat it with salt and vinegar. He couldn’t force me to eat the embryo, so he ended up eating the rest of my “balut”. ^^

The first time I saw him eat “balut” was when he was my boyfriend. I thought that he was just trying to impress me, but to my surprise, he knew how to eat “balut” like a pro. He even taught me how to eat it with salt and vinegar. He couldn’t force me to eat the embryo, so he ended up eating the rest of my “balut”. ^^

Abonim (father-in-law) also likes “balut”, so we bought some for him. My husband called him up and asked him what else he wanted. He said, “sisig” (Filipino delicacy made from part of a pig’s head and liver, seasoned with calamansi or lemon and chilli pepper). Lucky for him, we got the last order of “sisig” from another “carinderia”.

My husband and I had a great time last Sunday. I appreciate his enthusiasm for Filipino food. He always talks about my Mom’s cooking and boasts to his friends about how well his mother-in-law can cook. I try to cook Filipino food sometimes, but he doesn’t eat as much as he does when it’s Mom who cooks for him… grrrr!

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