Hopia' is alive and well, but not only with mongo, or what is
called 'baboy', but also ube
ARE you old enough to remember what was called comida
China? Namely Chinese food with Spanish names, served
mainly in Chinatown, in such restaurants as Panciteria Moderna,
Panciteria Antigua, Panciteria San Jacinto, Smart, See Kee, Wa
Nam and the like, clustering around Plaza Sta. Cruz, Ongpin and
Nueva Streets?
Parents visiting from the provinces took their children, internas
or boarders, for Sunday lunches of morisqueta tostado (fried
rice), pinsec frito (fried wonton), torta de cangrejo (crab
omelet), camaron rebozado (batter-fried shrimps), aletas de
tiburon (sharkfins), caldo de nido (bird's nest soup) and bihon
guisado (sautied rice noodles).
Those restaurants are largely gone (except for Smart, and San
Jacinto, which has reincarnated elsewhere), but the food
persists in panciterias all over the country, although the names
have moved from Spanish to English to Tagalog, sometimes in
quaint mixing.
Wanting to see what else was available in Chinatown now,
outside the myriad new restaurants, I asked my wonderful
research assistant, Anna Angeles, to explore for me. Find
supermarkets, I said, and look for packaged food, like peanuts,
butong pakwan and hopia. She returned laden, for the
packaged food scene is burgeoning.
New hopia
The hopia is alive and well, but now not only with mongo, or
what is called baboy (really condol), but also ube (''purple yum,''
the label says). Hopia also comes large, with embossed Chinese
characters, and even larger, (Hopia Moon Cake Big) with floral
designs, or small but plump (Hopia Macao). There is also tikoy
in a box labeled New Sampaguita Hopia.
There is still ampaw (puffed rice pillows), but now bright pink,
instead of the pure white of yore. And also the peanut bar (a.k.a.
peanut candy) plus an array of champuy (sweet, salty and
saltier), dikiam, and sweets like tomato candy (a sweet champuy
that doesn't taste like tomato), milk plums, tiny peach and
strawberry wafers. Many of them are new to me. Pickle packages
include what looks like kim chee (but has Pinocchio on the
plastic bag), pickled lettuce and pickled cucumber slices.
Snacks proliferate in colorful packs: sheets of pork tapa (sweet
and hot, Marca Pavo, ''hygienically preserved''); ball cake, little
round, sweetish, crisp brown-tinged white biscuits as small as
aratiles fruits; brown rice crackers marked ''Vegetarian Foods''
(sweet-spicy), and white rice crackers (lightly salted; nice), both
of the Hot-Kid brand.
The dry-roasted peanuts in the shell once called song-song are
now labeled Sweet and Crisp Peanut, 97 Customer's Faith
Product, No-bleached, Pure Color, Specially-Made in Low
Temperature, According to Secret Recipi [sic] to Process in
Temperature Won't Sufer [sic] from Excessive Internal Heat after
Taking,'' ''Not to Taste Not to Know after Tasting You Want
More.'' Further, on the back of the pack, the enthusiastic writer
adds: ''It is made in a special way in low temperature. It is crisp
and delicious. It has much nutrition. It is the good snacks for
you to take and the good gift to your relatives or friends.'' How
can one resist it?
''Delicious Tsa-Tsai,'' marked by two white rabbits, is, we
read,''Smelling sweet, testing crisp, tender and delicious. It is
[sic] distinctive local flavour, giving you a good appetite. It is
easy to carry and eat.''
Soybean drink
From a heavyish box of Yang Jiang Ginger Soy, we learn that
''Preserved Beans with Ginger is processed by a traditional
natural method with black beans grown in Yangjiang area and
fresh ginger as main ingredients. It has a crisp quality, delicious
taste and rich nutrition, being the best kind of seasoning for
Chinese food.''
Soyabean Drink comes in powder form, and boasts a ''Gold
Award of International Food Exposition of Paris,'' as well as ''A
certificate of the finest quality products by the Light Industries
Ministry of the People's Republic of China.''
Chocolate tableas, which 19th-century Chinese merchants used
to make in Intramuros, grinding the cacao in the customers'
homes, then pressing it into tablets imprinted with the buyers
name, are now in colorful packages. One, unsweetened, is from
La Resureccion Pabrica de Chocolate, the other is marked
''Breakfast Chocolate,'' ''Tasty to the Last Drop.''
There is also a vitamin drink, Ching On Tong Appetite Tonic for
Children, orange flavor, ''manufactured according to a traditional
formulae originated from the 'Ching' Dynasty. It is prepared with
many precious natural Chinese herbs, regulates the digestive
system, enhances the absorption of nutrients, and strengthens
the immune system and brain functions. It is effective to
children with eating problems, under- or overweight, taking
imbalanced diet.''
Soup pack
Especially healthy, I would imagine, is a soup pack (12 bags) of
four medicinal herbs.
The back says: ''Recipe: Chinese Angelica helps regeneration of
blood, White Peony Root favours regeneration of blood,
Szechwan Ravage Rizhome harmonize blood circulation,
Rehmannia Root (Processed) is a tonic to invigorate the blood.
Typical Medicinal Herbs, Processed According to Recipe from
the Ancients, Best Recipe as a tonic for blood.'' Dosage: ''One
bag for each adult each time, either stew or boil.''
There are instant noodles, of course, and canned meats (pork
with bamboo shoots, mushrooms and chili; minced pork with
bean paste), and bottled bean curd with sesame oil.
A six-pack of eggs bore five English words on the label:
''Ingredients: Duck Egg, Water, Salt,'' with a picture looking
almost like a dessert plate. Anna conveyed the seller's
instructions: Boil the eggs first. I did, and they are interesting,
but much saltier than our itlog na pula.
An adventure it was, Anna's first trip to Chinatown. She found
everything exciting - the flourishing food scene, drugstores,
jewelry shops. Even though I did not traipse around with Anna,
I felt as if I did, and of course opening the packages constituted
even more adventure. If not indigestion. But alas, there was no
butong pakwan in red and green watermelon-colored packs.
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