04 October 2025

Rural Street Food | Kinablangan Pop-up Snacks

Food is the language everyone can understand. It’s something that nourishes our minds and bodies; at the same time, it is something we enjoy. Living in a rural area poses some challenges with limited ingredients and choices to make something to appreciate when it comes to snacks.

Others would make food accessible to these regional places, as they make a livelihood for themselves.

This month, the small town of Kinablangan in Davao Oriental is getting into the festive season to celebrate the municipal town of Baganga by having sports competitions at the nearby compound, where the town council is located, with basketball and volleyball.



With that, there’s an opportunity for hungry spectators to look for something to fill up their tummies. The town has limited stores that could provide that. Most of the small businesses located in this area are “Sari-Sari” stores, and the nearest bakery is not even located in this town, as there are mobile vendors who could provide that kind of service, which depends on their availability.

Since the town fiesta is slowly getting busier by the weekend, there were pop-up food businesses that started setting up their location. Despite few choices, these small businesses find their way to offer their services by providing them the opportunity to serve snacks in the form of street food.















Kuya Nando’s Taho

Nando is a Taho vendor who passes through this small town serving hot Taho on his makeshift motorcycle, where all his wares are stored at the back, complete with his pre-recorded voice shouting “Taho!” His base of operation is mobile, as he doesn’t have a permanent location.

But he shares that his home base is in Baganga, where he prepares his products. This is not his normal hours being in this town, as he serves Taho in the morning on weekdays, which depends on the need for him to stop and serve his product.

Taho is a mix of ingredients that includes a soft/silken Tofu as its base, which also includes tapioca pearls, condensed milk, and that sweet arnibal. It is a popular snack, mostly served in the morning. Kuya Nando surely has quite the following, but doesn’t have a Facebook page for his business.

Prices

  • Small at ₱ 10.00 Pesos [$ 0.26 AUD | $ 0.17 USD]**
  • Medium at ₱ 20.00 Pesos [$ 0.52 AUD | $ 0.35 USD]**















No Name Street Food

There was a pop-up food stall that was erected just outside the compound where the basketball games and volleyball competitions are being held. They said they will be there for the duration of the festivities, up to the day of the fiesta. They had the demand for their Kwek Kwek and Cheezy Hotdog wraps.

Kwek Kwek is composed of a Quail Egg dipped in an orange batter that was deep-fried. The other, Cheezy Hotdog, was wrapped in some sort of breading. They were just the street food you needed to complement the events happening around. They also served drinks, but the food was the main attraction.

To be honest, the fried orange Quail eggs were great, but the dipping sauce was quite underwhelming. Originally, a Kwek Kwek is served with spicy vinegar with cucumber, and sliced spicy chili to make it something special. They were powering them with salt, not with vinegar. They must have missed something about that type of dip that is not commonly found in the big cities.

The Cheezy Hotdog wrapped in some sort of breading was “okay,” but not as excited if it had mustard that seemed alien for this region. But it pays to try those orange quail eggs again if given the chance to see them,

Prices

  • Cheezy Hotdog at ₱ 15.00 Pesos [$ 0.26 AUD | $ 0.17 USD]**
  • Kwek Kwek at ₱ 20.00 Pesos [$ 0.39 AUD | $ 0.26 USD]**


Overall, it’s been a while since to tried actual street food where an event actually happens. It’s the lack of actual dipping sauce for the Kwek Kwek that has made me wonder if they don’t know that, or they are on a budget, for the reason they went with an alternative that is not common for a street food to have.

Sometimes, a good question and solution had me thinking of buying those without the sprinkled amount of salt when I try to buy a pair again.
Posted by Mark Cerbo at 8:18 PM
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