My Class' Top Baons

I was eating my lunch at my table while chatting with my pupils when curiosity got the better of me. I stood up and looked around to check what my pupils were eating for lunch. 

Here are the popular baons (in no particular order):

1. Hotdogs

This is a no brainer. Children loves hotdogs and I too love hotdogs. Everybody loves hotdogs.

2. Hams

I grew up in the martial law era when hams, apples, grapes, chocolates and other imported stuffs were rare and we only see ham during Christmases or when an OFW aunt brought home one, the canned variety. 

But with globalization (or climate change), ham became one of the most popular viand in the country.

I don't know much about hams all I know is that they are sweet, tastes good and they come in variety of shapes like pear, round, oval, sliced for sandwiches etc. 

But what some of my pupils are eating is something else. I don't know how to describe but the closest thing I can think of is paper, it's paper ham. Ham so thinly sliced that I sometimes think the manufacturer uses a state of the art laser surgical scalping instrument capable of slicing materials at a molecular dimension.

I have tasted and ate the ham too and I have to say that they taste like paper. maybe its because its paper thin and my mind is telling me that it is paper so it tastes like paper. Whatever...But the children like it.  

3. Embutido

My wife and I eat embutido as a companion dish to veggies like ampalaya, pakbet, monggo etc. But this embutido is more bread than anything else. Frying them is like frying a pandesal; I can smell the flour. There are no raisins and the carrot is so minuscule that it is virtually invisible except for the orange discoloration here and there. 

What to expect at seven pesos each. But we do eat it at home.

4. Eggs

Fried, boiled, egg fo yung (what ever that is), torta, omelette, sunny side up...

5. Meatloaf

Sliced from cans and deep fried. Of course with a lot of ketchup.

6. Longganisa

I started to have some misgivings about longganisas when I found out from the news that many unscrupulous food processors use "double-dead" meat. That is why it's better to buy from the malls or from established food processors. Or better yet, stop eating them.

7. Burger Putties 

Filipinos will make viand out of anything. Burger putties is one of the "conversion" (from bread to rice) that I find really weird. I cannot think of eating burger putty with rice, its just weird. That is until one food processing company created a burger putty specially made for eating with rice and now they are creating many recipes with it.

But the weird thing is, try using this putty for a sandwich and you'll find that it's too tough and dry for buns or bread. So technically, it's not a putty anymore.

8. Fried Chickens

This is also an all time favorite but I'm seeing less and less of this.

9. Adobo

Adobo is a staple baon because it does not spoil easily. Usually the adobo baons are left overs from last night's dinner.

10. Fried fish

I hate fried fish because of the bones and it is difficult to eat using fork and spoon. But it is a popular baon because, like almost all of the above, it is fried and does not spoil easily.