The Big Binondo Wok

Having just made an exploration a month earlier of Binondo in my photography class, I was as excited to do another Binondo tour but this time with Ivan ManDy's The Big Binondo Wok.

I was immediately impressed by Ivan's dedication to share his knowledge of Binondo to the Filipinos. Garbed in a chinese costume and with a Philippine flag on stick held up high over his head, he is like the pied piper of Hamelin as we followed him along the streets of Binondo.

After a brief introduction of Binondo and chinatown, we first stopped at a Chinese slipper store, the New Le Sempatica Commercial and Ivan told us how feet binding was observed in China during the earlier years. I learned that men of those days prefer women with smaller feet, thus the women then were willing to go through excruciating pain just to prevent their feet from growing. How? By tying their feet with bandage dipped in herbs and medicines. The bandage was tightened every day until the feet grow so small to be just the size of a closed fist.


Ouch.

Our next stop was the Eng Bee Tin Mezzanine Fire Fighters Cafe. We were served with Kiampong Rice, Fish Ball soup and Iced coffee. The kiampong rice tastes so good i could have asked for a second serving if I didn't restrain myself. The fish ball soup has fish balls that were not made of flour. The iced coffee was great too.




Next stop was a Chinese Drugstore, Ban Shiong Thai. There we were shown with a couple of dried geckos tied together. Ivan said the chinese use this like a tea bag - dipped in a kettle and the water to be drank afterwards. Known to cure asthma, colds and flu. Bubble in my head says I'd rather be sick than drink that!

Ivan then led us in a very inconspicuous restaurant that only has 5 tables, the 5th one being a freezer top. But dare not underestimate this humble place because they do have the best dumplings in the area. It's my favorite pitstop. The dumplings were made right before our eyes, thus the freshness cannot be doubted.

By the way, we can eat all the food we can on this Big Binondo Wok. We just need to request for a refill and more food will be brought to the table.

After satisfying ourselves with all the dumplings we could take, we next moved to the Santo Cristo de Logos Shrine. This is where Christianity meets the Chinese culture. Instead of candles, incense were lit. And the after saying a small prayer, the faithfuls get these wooden chips and toss them like a dice. Whatever is the result would determine the answer to their prayer: a yes, a no or question irrelevant.

Another foodstop is the store that sells brown eggs. Ivan gave each one of us a brown egg and prodded us to open it and take a bite. After everyone took a bite, he told us that we just tasted a snake's egg! Yuck!

But actually, those were just tea-marinated eggs. The eggs were made to stay in the mixture for 3 days to give them a brown color and a yummier taste.

A few steps away, Ivan took a plastic canister from one of the vendors and gave each one of us this orange stuff and he asked us to taste it. He made us think what the taste reminded us of. I immediately thought of Hawflakes, that childhood food papa loves to bring to us as pasalubong. Ivan told us the orange stuff is actually Chinese Hawthorn, and this is where Hawflakes were made from.

Our last stop is this Lumpia Restaurant, the New Po-Heng Lumpia House.

I have always loved the chinese lumpia being sold at the Big Little Store along Gilmore Avenue. But this one tastes notches better! The peanuty sauce is not too sweet for my taste. And the vegetables used were fresh and crunchy to the bite. The best chinese lumpia for me! I thought I cannot eat it all because of my full stomach but I did eventually.



I had fun in this Binondo Wok. Though my feet ached, my tummy was happy. =)