Pungko Pungko sa Dakbayan sa Mandaue

"Pungko-pungko" Basically are food stalls that you find along the streets which sell a random assortment of fried food. The term "pungko" is Cebuano for squat or crouch. Usually you will be sitting on low benches so you will have to be slouching while eating. Hence, the name "pungko-pungko." The more famous pungko-pungko stalls are found near Redemptorist Church, Fuente Osmena, and Salinas Drive.Normally, pungko-pungko stalls have a wide selection of fried food ranging from lumpia (spring rolls which can be made of meat or vegetables), bola-bola (meatballs), longganisa (Filipino sausage), fried chicken, buwad (dried fish), utok (brain), but the most prominent perhaps among these (and the star, if you ask me)  is the ginabot, the Cebuano version of the chicharon bulaklak. Sinfully good, but remember to take it in moderation!

We choose to eat pungko-pungko near at the University of the Visayas Mandaue Campus This particular stall had limited choices (maybe because it was lunchtime and probably a lot of people arrived before us), but nonetheless, we had a little of each: Lumpia, Chicharong Bulaklak and Other dishes there. The white stuff on the bowl that you see on the left are actually thinly sliced white onions or sibuyas, which you will be pairing with your fried food later.To prepare your sawsawan (dip), you pour some spicy vinegar on to the onions that I showed you earlier. This sawsawan balances out the oiliness of the food. You may also wish to add some salt and sili (chili pepper), depending on your preference.Pungko-pungko food is best paired with soft drinks like Sparkle (aka Sparkol) or Mountain Dew, whichever is available, and puso (hanging rice).It is important that you take note of the food that you ordered, because you pay for the food that you declared. In short, honesty is the best policy here.