Written by: seigfredtristan on May 20, 2011

You are what you eat. Raise your hands and eat money if you believe this!

If there is a Filipino street food where all the other street foods got their name it would be from intestines. Everyone calls it “Isaw” in the Philippines and it has somehow found it’s way to name every other animal meat organ barbecue after itself. Right. I thought I confused myself there.

It’s yucky, it’s icky, it’s ew-wy, it’s dirty, if you don’t clean it properly. In the Philippines where butchering and slaughtering in the household is a usual event, the cleaning of chicken or pig intestines takes most of the time. The intestine is plugged in the mouth of the faucet so the water can flow freely all throughout it’s canals and hidden places. And you can witness every unimaginable whatevers and thingamajigers come out of the other end worse than movies about Aliens and Predators.

You have to clean it carefully. Failure to clean the insides of this wonderful delicacy would lead to… how shall I put this? Death? Chicken and Pig intestines are home to tapeworms (should I continue?), E Coli, Salmonella and other cruel stuff that can beat your insides to pieces. The chitterlings (that’s what the English call their Isaw) that you buy from the supermarket have been cleaned from hell to heaven. Some of them have been simmered with a baking soda solution. Yep, the ones that your moms use to clean the carpet if some foul material found its way to your divine bare-foot path. Rumors in my local market in the Philippines tell that even chlorine is employed to edulcorate, elutriate, expurgate and launder these beauties before they are being sold for a virginal appeal. If ever you are the victim of this immaculate process, don’t fret, just imagine that you accidentaly drank water from a chlorine-filled swimming pool. It’s better than having to gulp E Coli or Salmonella.

Well, too much atrocities. Let’s talk about the good. Chitterlings, Isaw or intestines are rich in Zinc. A mineral that is also rich in oysters. If you click and go to this post, it will tell you about Zinc and oyster and having lots of baby-making time. Zinc also makes your tummy stronger. So that no matter how much dirty stuff you eat, the possibility of diarrhea is futile. But don’t take my word for it. I just realized that a lof of Filipinos can eat a lot of strange stuff but still survive unscathed. Although true enough, zinc difficiency can lead to frequent diarrhea which could of course, in really impoverished and malnourished areas in the world, cause death. So next time you see that “Donate a dollar and save a life” clip on TV, you have been informed. If you do not donate, you are guilty. You’ll feel bad the whole day because kids who can be saved from diarrhea did not have a chance because you did not give at least a dollar from your platic money.

Now you were wishing you haven’t read this article. And we are swaying too far away from what were supposed to talk about.

Where were we?

Aha! Skewering these stuff is the most difficult part. But to put it simply, you just need to fold and skewer. Fold and skewer. I have also marinated this using this marinade, so clickety-click. You have to grill them carefully around 12-15 minutes on each side in low heat. Just like what we did with our gizzards. Make sure that the insides are cooked. Just slice a piece of it and take a look if it’s moist and not wet or mushy because if they are that means it is still raw. Do not try biting through it. It’s not pasta. You will endanger yourself and the future of your unborn kids.

This is getting long. I resign.