Inventiveness, creativity, and boldness are words that can be used to best describe Filipino street food. Whoever thought of eating underdeveloped birds, grilled squares of blood, and intestine skewers deserve a big round of applause for mixing up the Filipino food game. Prepared and served hot off the streets, these fast and filling barbequed innards have been quenching Filipino’s satisfaction for years.
To this day, many people are still awed by the flavor profiles of the balut, walkman, isaw, one-day-old, and betamax. Yours truly included.
I have never been a fan of what I think of as the “extreme” side of street food. I prefer your run-of-the-mill fishball and kikiam preferably dipped in sweet sauce. The idea of eating isaw or chicken feet and enjoying it has never crossed my mind. Both of these street food items are foreign to me and prior to writing, I have never tasted either of the two.
Pogs! Isaw ni Chicken and Chicken Feet are pre-packed versions of the popular street food variants. They are all-natural and made of 100 percent chicken parts with zero grams of trans fat and cholesterol. They are not what I expected street food to taste like, but that’s where inventiveness comes to play.
The isaw is a bit like deep-fried noodles. It’s brittle and a bit hard to bite into, not too much different from how isaw prepared in the street is difficult and rubbery to chew as well. Pogs!’ isaw is also seasoned with powdered spices that mimics the sometimes sandy mouthfeel of street isaw. The pre-packed version can be a bit too salty when eaten one after the other, but it can definitely work as pulutan.
Pogs! Chicken Feet is another thing altogether. Not having tasted chicken feet or adidas prior to this, all I assumed was that it would be hard and rubbery because of the cartilage and skin around it. This version was crunchy and had no bones at all. Its texture is similar to chicharon, but the flavor is a mix of vinegar and salt. This comes in another flavor inspired by the Korean samyang, for those who would prefer their pronged snacks to be on the spicy side.
The packaging is a big selling point for me. Street food like isaw, adidas, betamax, and walkman are not always readily available, especially in highly-urbanized places. With a pre-packed version, you can eat street food anytime and anywhere you like. You can even give it as a treat for your street food-loving friend.
Overall, these two chips are not bad as a first time exploration of the “extreme” side of Filipino street food. The chicken feet is something I would definitely recommend to others or even hoard and bring as a snack when travelling. Trying both made me curious enough to want to try the real thing, but also, I’d probably just stick to my pre-packed street food snacks as a not-so-adventurous eater.