Isaw

Chicken has probably the most edible part (second to pigs | hogs) easily available in the market, much less ordinary food stalls and barbeque stands. The sight of chicken heads, wings, thigh, legs down to chicken feet (called adidas) in sticks are among the nightly ordinary menu of an ordinary barbeque stand. Frozen chicken blood cut in cubes also forms part of the mighty chicken menu repertoire which also includes chicken intestines or Isaw.

Isaw is a street food from the Philippines made from barbecued chicken intestines. The intestines are cleaned several times, turned inside out, and cleaned again and repeating the process several times until the chicken part has been thoroughly cleaned. After this preliminary process, the intestines are boiled then grilled on sticks for the masses to enjoy. Isaw has taken tremendous popularity in the Philippines especially now that feasting on a whole chicken at a dining table has become a privilege for the few, at least in the village where I came from.

A chicken’s intestine is probably about plus or minus two (2) feet long, this means one chicken accounts for about plus or minus three (3) barbequed Isaw sticks. Doing the math for the thousands of Isaw vendors all over the country, it is safe to assume that there are about over a million chickens being slaughtered everyday for food in the Philippines which eventually addresses the demand for everyday Isaw. It makes me wonder where in the world do these chickens came from? But then looking at United States consumption of chicken per day, it is said that in that part of the world, about twenty-six (26) million chickens are being slaughtered each day. Now do the math on how many barbequed Isaw could that possibly make!

Isaw has been one of my favorite “pulutan” back in college. My boardmates, classmates, friends and I would drop by downtown area after class to take out our favorite Isaw in one of the many Isaw stalls lined near the plaza. With every shot of Gin and an Isaw bite come endless stories of our daily exploits and misadventures told in a more exciting manner. Old stories and jokes sounded like new near midnights when sticks are what’s left of the delectable barbequed Isaw. Back then, Gin and Isaw are perfect combination for an in-house overnight drinking spree. While we knew that there’s still a class tomorrow, the gathering sometimes became extensions for classroom deliberations which Isaw even more intellectually useful.

My youngest daughter, Maria Theresa, loves Isaw at her early age. I didn’t know she was eating this exotic street food until her mother told me she saw her lined up in the barbeque stand next to the sari-sari store across the street. Her ate and kuya must have influenced her to try this bizarre delicacy. I would want to stop her from engaging in barbequed Isaw yet I don’t want to deprive her of the experience shared by millions of ordinary Filipinos. This early, I wanted Motet to remember the taste of Isaw. Isaw for me is not just an exotic food; it is a vivid representation of our state as a struggling country and a precise symbol of Filipino resiliency.

Go Motet, take as many Isaw as you want then in time I hope you’ll realize that Isaw is not the best tasting part of a chicken. The best tasting part of a chicken is the part you will give me in the future when I can no longer give you one.