Cebu Street Treats Part 2

Cebu afternoon could be the busiest time of the day, but also the happiest moment for afternoon vendors since there are a lot of people from work and school. This is also the time when a lot of treats are mainly available. Like the following:

• Bananas on a stick – or commonly known as banana-Q or banana cue. Oh well, I should assume that you already know the story behind that name. Anyway, the bananas are peeled then simmered in hot oil until they become red then sprinkled with brown sugar to make it sweeter and crispier. This is actually good to eat when warm and it costs only 5 pesos.

• Tempura – the Cebu style tempura differs from the known Japanese variety. It is basically simmered in hot oil then dipped into either the spicy vinegar or the sweetened sauce (or both) and then served. Costs only 3 pesos each and it’s gobbling time especially when you’re craving for it.

• Peanuts – The peanut department is also where Cebu excels in. There’s the spicy kind, the sweet kind, peanuts with hot sauce and the fried peanuts, which is sold on the streets of Cebu.

• Fruit salad – One thing that amazed me is that Cebuanos have unique thinking. Whoever thought that fruit salads can also be sold on the streets? Well, one can tell if there’s a fruit salad vendor coming when you hear an Atari-like beeping sound. There’s actually a good chance for you to miss the vendor since they usually ride on motorcycles but there’s also the trisikad (bicycle with a sidecar). For 5 pesos you can cool yourself with the chunks of fruit with plenty of jelly and then splashed with ice in a disposable plastic cup. Now that’s refreshing.

• Cool delights – when it comes to ice cream, Cebu has three things to offer. Firstly, the Nestle and Selecta ice cream vendors on their bikes with a sidecar on the right side, but is actually filled with varieties of ice cream delights. They are characterized by their individual jingles that are played over and over again. I actually find their tunes a bit of annoying since they are indeed annoying, for me though, but they have delicious treats. Second, ice cream vendors who walk around for miles carrying a Styrofoam box filled with buko bars. And third, those who pedal their bicycles that are installed with large stainless drum filled with home-made ice cream. The prices vary though and since I haven’t been able to buy these cool delights anew, I think the buko bars and home-made ice cream cost about 5-10 pesos, while the Nestle and Selecta ice creams are at their actual price.

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