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If balut is the most infamous Filipino street food, then fish balls are arguably the most iconic. Many Filipinos grew up eating it so for us, fish balls are the quintessential Filipino street food. They’re basically balls of flour made with some type of flaked fish meat.

Of all the Filipino street food dishes we ate for this article, fish balls were the ones I was most excited about. I left for the US at barely 14 so this was probably my first time to have them again in almost 30 years.

Unlike banana q or turon, a stick of fish balls wasn’t something you could easily have at home, at least not the authentic kind. I remember my mom bringing home frozen supermarket fish balls once, but they just weren’t the same.

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The most famous juice in the Philippines

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Buko is the Tagalog word for young coconut. I’ve lived in the Philippines most of my life and I never thought of buko as a type of Filipino street food, but I guess you can say it is. Aside from being used in Filipino cooking, fresh buko sold in wooden pushcarts is a common sight in the Philippines, even in big cities like Manila.

Buko vendors will hack the coconut in front of you and serve it with a straw so you can drink it on the spot. If you don’t want a whole coconut, many vendors also offer buko juice made with condensed milk and strands of freshly grated coconut meat.

I actually prefer the latter because it’s usually served chilled, but I find fresh buko juice to be refreshing even at room temperature.

I didn’t know this growing up but buko juice is said to be very good for you as well. Apart from being an excellent way to stay hydrated, it’s also known to prevent kidney stones, reduce sugar levels, regulate blood pressure, and improve digestion.

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The bananas used to make banana q are called saging na saba or saba bananas. They’re frequently used to make Filipino desserts like turon, halo-halo, minatamis na saging (banana with caramel sauce), and maruya (banana fritter). They’re even used to add sweetness to savory dishes like arroz a la cubana and pochero.

This may sound odd to some westerners, but we Filipinos have a type of ketchup made with saba bananas. Called banana ketchup, it’s a sweetened version of regular ketchup that was invented during WWII due to a lack of tomatoes. Today, it’s arguably more popular than tomato ketchup and is a perfect condiment to oily, deep-fried foods.

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One of the most infamous Filipino street foods – balut.

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For the uninitiated, balut is a fertilized egg incubated for 14-21 days, boiled, then eaten directly from its shell. It’s typically made with duck eggs, specifically native or Pateros duck eggs, but it can be made with chicken eggs as well if the former isn’t available.

When it comes to Filipino street foods fit only for the daring, balut is arguably at the top of the Filipino food chain.

Depending on how long it’s been incubated before being boiled, you’ll find balut with the embryo in different stages of development. The ideal incubation period is said to be exactly 17 days. At that stage, the embryo is completely soft and unrecognizable save for its developing feathers.

Balut is often seasoned with salt and/or a chili, garlic, and vinegar mixture, but I’ve always eaten it as is. We Filipinos know how off-putting balut can be for many tourists, so we get a kick out of challenging them to eat it. Most chicken out.

You might also come across a version of balut called “penoy”. These are the balut eggs that don’t properly develop after 9-12 days. Balut penoy is like a hard-boiled egg with no separation between the yolk and egg white, kind of like a semi-scrambled egg still in its shell. Personally, I prefer the real thing.

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Isaw refers to barbecued pig or chicken intestines that are thoroughly cleaned before being boiled, skewered, and grilled. Pictured below on the left is the pork isaw while to its right is the chicken. Like the other grilled skewered dishes on this list, isaw is typically served with a spiced vinegar dip.

Like walkman, Filipinos have funny colloquial names for chicken and pork isaw as well. Chicken isaw is also referred to as “I.U.D.” because it’s said to resemble older designs of intra uterine devices. Pork isaw is called “mag wheels” because it looks like…well, mag wheels!