I remember back when I was in high school where everyone pays no more attention to the last subject because of already being very busy arranging our things, fixing our hairs, powdering our faces, and just really being anxious to get out of the door, meet our friends, share about our day, and talk like we have not seen each other for years, as we walk out of the school premises. Approaching the gate, fetchers chit-chattering while waiting, students going in and out of the campus, busy roads and street vendors attending to the demands of their customers welcome us outside every afternoon. Dismissal time at 4:30 pm is a regular snack time, since it is customary for Filipinos to eat “meriendas” or snacks between meals. Therefore, for us students who are looking for foods to fill our tummies, street foods--ready-to-eat foods and drinks sold in streets or other public places--are the most convenient ones. Students buy street foods because, besides being fed up with the expensive and unsatisfying foods in the canteen, it is more affordable, more satisfying and “sulit”, as well.
We also have the sweet corn which is the easiest one to prepare. When I was young, I remember waiting outside our house for the sweet corn vendor to pass by every afternoon. He sells sweet corns that are boiled still with its skin on it where the fun in eating it starts from peeling it, to removing the last strays of silk from it until eating the last kernel from the corncob. Yet the sweet corns he sells are different from that of the one sold nowadays. It is still prepared by boiling though, but boiling it with its skin already peeled off and the strays of silk already removed. After about 5-7 minutes boiling, it is attached to a stick and it is up to you if you add butter or most commonly, margarine, a butter substitute, and cheese on it. But kuya Willie, the vendor, makes it more convenient for us, students to eat it. He does not only peel off its skin and remove the silk but he also cuts the kernels from the cob. I wondered how he cut the kernels off the cob, so I asked him. He said he manually cuts off the kernels by row before he boils the corn. Then after boiling, he places it in a plastic cup with different prices according to its size, and still, it is optional if you add margarine and cheese on it. He even has condensed milk, if you want. The juice that is squeezed out form every kernel once you chew it and the pleasing arrangement of the flavors make the sweet corn distinguished from the other street foods
.Last is the hotcake which, just like the other three, is prepared simply too. Kuya Dodong, the vendor, told me how easy it is to cook a hotcake that I could even make one at home. Egg, Starch, water, butter or margarine, and sugar are the only ingredients. You just have to mix the egg, starch, water and butter or margarine, which is most commonly used. After, heat the pan and add a little oil so the cake won’t stick, pour the mixture with the desired amount, shape it as you wish, it is usually circular though, and facepalm it with your desired thickness as well. Then, flip it over to cook the other side of it and your hotcake is now ready to be garnished with margarine and sprinkled with sugar. The congruity in the mildness of the flavor of the cake and the butter completely creates a great impact on the very simple food, and just like all the others, it comes in a very cheap price too.The most common reasons why students prefer to buy and eat street foods rather than those in restaurants or fast food chains are its cheap price, its accessibility and being able to get more than enough of what you’ve paid for. Oftentimes, street foods and restaurant foods have equal quality in taste. The thing that gives street foods a completely distinguished character is the joy you get when eating it with a typical ambiance; the streets, which make you feel much more of a normal and ordinary person. It is when you eat these foods with these simple people(vendors)who are trying to get the best out of life and still manages to smile despite all the struggles and pains that they have encountered. By this, You have shared in their struggles and helped them ease their pains even in the least way. Students unconsciously get more satisfied eating these kinds of foods that are prepared with the sweat of their brows and again, its cheap price compared to that of the restaurants that are prepared in hurry plus, the pressure to keep the quality of the food in high standards. To top it all off, most students prefer street foods because of the satisfaction it gives with its cheap and affordable price.
