The Big Binondo Food Wok by Grace C. Sorongon
Binondo, a district of Manila, Philippines is the oldest Chinatown in Asia. In fact, this place has long existed prior to the colonization of the Philippines by Spain during the 15th century. Southern Chinese traders had been visiting our islands as early as the 9th century. It is also recorded in our history that a Chinese community was living peacefully with Filipinos during those times. More Chinese arrived during the 15th century due to the bustling economy when the Spaniards came and colonized our country.
As a matter of fact, Chinatown has landmarks of Spanish colonization as seen in Binondo Church. Spanish imprints can be found all over the said church: the outside structure of the church is of Spanish design and the interiors are also of Spanish influence. Most of the streets are named after the most influential Spanish and Chinese people of the time as well. Notably, Binondo is only a 10-minute walk from Intramuros, the walled city and the place where the Spaniards lived at the time. One can conclude that Intramuros was the seat of the Spanish government and Binondo was its commercial hub. Thus, a close connection with the Chinese and the Spanish communities was most likely prevalent.
In the past, Binondo was considered a dangerous, dirty (littered with garbage) community and somewhat chaotic due to the presence of peddlers along the streets. Today, thanks to the current local administration, Binondo is free from garbage. It is a breeze to walk around since there are no more peddlers congesting the streets. Chinatown streets are really designed for walking and eating together since these streets are short and easy to navigate.
We were briefed on various street names: Ongpin, Juan Luna, Dasmariñas, Nueva, and Rosario, just to mention a few. The street names are associated with the wares being sold. For example, Nueva, formerly Yuchenco St., sells only paper and school supplies; another street sells hardware, curtains, kitchen utensils and many others. It was a joy to learn a little bit of history. We also learned that a lot of restaurants in the area have long histories and have existed for over 50 years.
What started as a gloomy day became a blessing in disguise as we traversed the streets of Chinatown for our “Binondo Food Wok.” As it turned out, the overcast sky allowed us to go on the food walk with no sweat at all. The University of the Philippines Batch 1977-Q1 Celebrators organized this food tour to celebrate their birthdays together with their ’77 batchmates.
We began the day by distributing the tour kits which consisted of a bottle of sanitizer, a face mask, and the day’s itinerary, followed by a short briefing about the tour. 29 batchmates from the University of the Philippines made it to the food walk. Q1 birthday celebrators (including this writer) were the hosts and the organizers of this event. It was a good thing that one of the Q1 celebrators was Chinese and that he knew his way around the area. We were also thankful to his family who helped make us feel safe, as well as making sure things happened as planned. The tour was managed by Ivan Dy of Old Manila Walks. Ivan was also our guide and entertainer “par excellence.” His knowledge of Chinese history, not to mention food, was a joy to experience.
If you are a foodie, you should not miss this tour, which consists of four food stops. Our first stop was Poland Bakery, where freshly-wrapped Hokkien-style lumpia or spring roll was served as our appetizer. The specialty of this bakery is mung bean-filled hopia, which they have been serving since 1966. They also offer moon cakes and sweet ampao. Our next stop was Sincerity Panciteria, which opened in 1956 and is still located in the same building. They served breakfast consisting of oyster cake, fried chicken and kikiam. The chicken was heavenly, the omelet was so gooey (which I tasted for the first time), and the kikiam was very good.
Before we knew it, it was already 10:30 am and we still had two stops to go. Our third stop was Quick Snack, another community favorite since 1968. We tried their empanada, sate mi noodles, and lumpia. Since it was nearing lunch, we decided to move on to our fourth stop. Unknown to us, our batchmate arranged a dragon dance for our viewing. It was a delight to see the synchronized steps of the dancers as they moved from one area to another. Our last stop was Eng Bee Tin, the makers of ube hopia, where we lined up to buy our favorite food items. It was quite an experience to shop and do a food tasting of their new flavors. There were a lot of choices and we filled our carts to the brim.
Our last stop also included a program for Batch 1977 and gift-giving among the participants. It was a great experience — the fun-loving, down-to-earth, easy camaraderie of this batch is always a pleasure. Overall, “Binondo Food Wok” was both a culinary and cultural adventure rolled into one.
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About the author:
Grace C. Sorongon was the 2013 President of People Management Association of the Philippines. She has been working with John Clements Consultants for more than three decades now. She is a Senior Vice President and is in charge of various corporate projects, steering these projects towards completion. She also manages the operations of Professional Staffers, a business unit within the John Clements group.
