Totally Cebu

Cebu Street Treats: The Original Siomai sa Tisa

The city of Cebu is rich in industrial, commercial and local improvement, which is taken from the fact that the metropolis has improved dramatically over the years with the construction of business establishments and better employment record. I, myself, is 100% confident that the Cebuanos have seen and felt this progress over time. However, along with these improvements that we’re talking about, the Cebuano culture has never been left out, especially in the subject of hard work and perseverance and, of course, the ever popular Cebu street treat, siomai sa Tisa.

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In the beginning

I’m not exactly going to delve into the early days of the entire venture, but Jeffrey Quillosa, or Kuya Jeff, just as what customers usually call him, simply banked on the field of food business and his product? The siomai. We may incorporate this as the native Japanese dish that we often see in restaurants but Cebuanos, often, divulge their artistic talents into combining a delectable with the other. In my perspective, I call it the Cebuano Fusion. I don’t know if the name is taken though but it has something to do with that term.

Anyway, Kuya Jeff started as a machine shop operator but was later held on the ground due to financial reasons. He, and his friend, came up an idea to sell halo-halo (a famous Filipino dessert made with crushed ice, beans, fruits, jelly, nata de coco ) and pair it with either siomai or siopao. Now, remember what I mentioned about Cebuano Fusion earlier? That’s one idea that cannot be missed. Eventually, the whole thing worked out and they later on made their own version of siomai (with the popular chili sauce) for other customers to simply eat it with puso (hanging rice) and a bottle of softdrink.

A big hit

This required enough time for Kuya Jeff to establish the concept of selling siomai but later on became a big hit in the local area of Tisa, Labangon, Cebu City. Afterwards, the recent hit became a phenomenon as it not only being sold in the area of Tisa but also in several parts of the city as well. Tiny stalls are built to accommodate the customers a la pungko-pungko (you can check our archives and look for the other Cebu street treats blogs). The name D’Original Siomai sa Tisa (siomai from Tisa, Labangon) is set to handle the trend of the rampaging business which Kuya Jeff started.

One siomai sa Tisa is not enough

Kuya Jeff’s business turned out to be one of the fast-rising business in town as he started selling 15 packs a day (1 pack has 64 pieces of siomai) to avid sellers from other parts of the city. Today, up to 70 packs of siomai sa Tisa are sold everyday.

I may not have mentioned something about the connection between the siomai sa Tisa and the hard work subject but I’m pretty sure you know how success and triumphs are garnered. And lastly, siomai sa Tisa can be considered as one of the fast-rising business establishments in the city of Cebu. And with this recent Cebu street treat, one siomai sa Tisa is not enough because it tastes really good.

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