Definitely Cebu #1: Tuslob Buwa at Colon Street (Cebu's Street Food Scene)

^{Have you ever tried eating pork brain and liver stew with hanging rice in the oldest street in the Philippines? Or do you know what a hanging rice is? If your answer is no for both questions, read on for you might be in for a treat.}

I promised in my last post that I will be having a new series that will highlight Cebu. As promised, I'm so excited to present to you the very first entry of this series!

Definitely Cebu is my new travel-feature series that's exclusively for Steem. You can think of it as a guide whenever you wanted to visit Cebu. This will still be in a travel format just like in my Kim's Quest series, but it will be more of a feature special than a personal blog. As I think I'm the only one from Cebu who's still active in this platform, I think it's high time to introduce this series.

While Kim's Quest showcases my travel stories which also serves as my identity as a "travel blogger", Definitely Cebu will serve to identify Cebu from the rest of the world. It will be in a very wide range of interests; may it be exotic food, places to visit as a day tourist, cafes and chill spots, dive sites and beaches, mountains and peaks, museums and heritage sites, handicrafts, festivals, or anything that could identify Cebu, I will feature it in this series. After reading a post under this series, I want you, the readers to have an impression that, "Yes, that's Definitely Cebu!

Disclaimer: I will try to cover everything about the featured topic to the best of my abilities and given the resources I have, but it might still be subject to my own bias. You can take it as is or you can take it with a grain of salt as our perception might be different.

And now for the first topic of this series...

This is actually two things that's unique to Cebu that is packaged in one post. One is Tuslob Buwa and the other is Colon Street. Tuslob Buwa literally means "dip in bubbles" since tuslob is a Visayan term which means dip and buwa means bubbles. Why is that so? Let's have more on that later. Let's start with Colon Street first.

Colon Street is the oldest street in the Philippines - that I know by heart. When I researched more about it, I only knew just then that it is also the shortest National Road in the Philippines. I don't know about you, but that's so cool for me! I learned something new.

Colon Street is historical by its own right. It was named after Cristóbal Colón (Christopher Columbus) by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi when he arrived in the Philippines in 1565 to establish a colony. It was once a center of commerce in Cebu and was lined with shops and movie houses, but became outdated and run-down lately when business activities shifted uptown.

Although the current Colon Street is just a shadow of its glorious past, it doesn't make it less interesting. Aside from its rich history, the street is still colorful and lively regardless of the time of day. Darryll (Hive account@legendarryll) made a visual series about Colon Street two years ago and it was amazing. You can find that post here:

Darryll's visual imagery of Colon Street captured the current state of the street while telling a story that there's beauty in there. I was really inspired to do a similar photo session, but I feel I'm not yet equipped to tell a story via my photos.

The reason why Tuslob Buwa and Colon Street became connected is because every Christmas season until Sinulog Festival, sections of Colon Street are to be closed from vehicular traffic to become a site for a seasonal night market.

We got the chance to experience the night market last week and it was epic. Street food stalls and barbeque stands were popping everywhere. Almost all kinds of merchandise were available. One of those in the food section offered Tuslob Buwa for Php 100.00 per set that's composed of 15 pieces of small puso (hanging rice) and unlimited buwa (pork brain and liver gravy).

Tuslob Buwa became popular here in Cebu just recently and it originated from Pasil, Cebu City. Now, Pasil is known for its reputation to be a little bit unsanitary, but you don't have to go to Pasil just to try Tuslob Buwa. Restaurants in Cebu have copied the recipe and included them in their menu. Pop up night markets like the one Colon Street sometimes offer this street food. The good thing about this is that you don't have to share your wok with strangers.

Tuslob Buwa is pork liver and brain that's sautéed in garlic, onion, and chili. It will start as watery stock, but will turn to a bubbly and thick stew when stayed longer in the fire.

In the middle of the street, tables and chairs were set up. Open tents will serve as shelter in case it would rain. In the middle of the tables were butane burners and small woks. All you have to do is tell the seller how many sets of hanging rice you want and they will prepare a table for you.

This is best done in groups. You will do your own cooking with the provided ingredients so you are in control of the taste that you want to achieve. Some love it spicy so red chilis are available. Soy sauce and thickeners (starch) are also available for taste and consistency.

My friends are such great cooks so they know how to cook the pig's brain and liver stew to their choice of taste and consistency. Here are the following tips I learned from them:

Minimize the oil. They provide more than enough oil per set so if you use all the oil, it will tend to get greasy.

Do not put everything in one go. Far faster bubbling and cooking, cook the half of the set and once it starts to bubble, add the other half. Always stir the stew until it bubbles. You'll it's ready when the bubbling never stops and the consistency thickens.

Take the half of puso (hanging rice - rice that's wrapped in weaved coconut leaves) and dip it in the bubbling stew at side of the wok. That's the tastest part.

Sodas like Mountain Dew, Royal, Sprite, or Coke will complete the whole meal.

As for the taste, I can't properly describe it. I love it though. It's not that exotic for street food for me. It's for you to try and figure out if you like it.

I guess that's all for this post. I hope you'll like it. If you do, leave a comment down below and show some love. Next post under this series will be about desserts that's unique to the Philippines.

With the most spontaneous squad...

Kim Ybañez

_{Welcome to Kim's small corner in the Steem blockchain. He is a chemical engineer by profession, but a blogger by passion. He is a wanderlust and an adventure seeker. Join his quests as he visits secluded destinations, climbs mountains, tries new and exotic dishes, and explores his country (The Philippines) and the rest of the world even if he's still a poor corporate slave with tons of bills to pay and two siblings to support in college.}