The Treasure Hunt for Halal Chicken 

by: Anna Karenina M. Rosana

            I’ve always known Quiapo as the seat of its famous Quiapo church, the hub of the Black Nazarene, and the home for some cheap items. Growing up in Quezon City, my mom always tells me that Quiapo is not a good place to go to because of its notorious reputation, or if one wishes to visit the place, he must show a hundred percent vigilance so as not to be victims of snatchers, robbers, and other people with evil modus-operandi. As the years go by and as my eyes become enlightened on the beautiful diversity of culture and people, my interest in culture and love for adventure develops and grows. So last Thursday, August 20, 2014, during the holiday break, I decided to be a “tourist” in the city of Manila and braced Quiapo with sheer enthusiasm for learning, fun, and adventure.  

            I tagged my sister along to help and assist me during this 1-day field work in Quiapo. We both took 2 tablets of Ascorbate to avoid catching a flu (knowing we always seem to be sickly after coming from places like Quiapo or Divisoria), left our gadgets and phones at home and ate breakfast. We left home at 10:15, rode a Quiapo bound jeep; paid for 18 php per person. After 45 minutes, we arrived and got down at the Quiapo church. I remembered before going down the jeepney, I noticed a lot of people lining up outside the cathedral leading to a small alley. Since my sister and I were seated in front of the jeepney, I asked the driver what the line was for and he told me that the line would lead up to the place where the Black Nazarene was kept and that people were actual devotees of the religious figure. As we got down, we were immediately welcomed by the various vendors, all asking, “Anong hanap niyo, te?.” We happened to pass by the busy Plaza Miranda and saw different kinds of small merchandises and stalls; from candles, fruits, food, slippers, RTW’s, religious items, flowers, oils, magic potions, “pamparegla,” “pampagana,”  and many others. However, the purpose of visiting Quiapo were not about those mentioned but to learn more about the other people group co-existing peacefully with the Filipino Catholic religious community; the Muslim community.

              Figure 1. The Filipino-Muslim Arch with the Arabic words “Ahlan Wasahlan” meaning

                                                 “Welcome to  Muslim Town!”

           

            We passed through under the flyover bridge linking Quiapo proper and Muslim Town. Under the bridge, you would find more stalls and shops where one could buy lots of Philippine souvenir items made from local products such as abaca, wood and bamboo. I even saw bamboo buzzers being sold in some of the stalls I stopped by. At the doorstep of the Muslim town, an arch was built with words engraved in Arabic words: “Ahlan Wasahlan” meaning, “Welcome.”  Unlike Plaza Miranda, the place was less crowded and more quiet, but just like the Quiapo proper, the place was filled with lots of food establishments (mostly carinderia-like food stalls/restaurants), tiangge selling Muslim malongs, abayas and combongs (head gear) street vendors selling halal foods such as dried fish, onions, fruits, spices, furnitures, ceramics, and pirated DVD’s. Contrary to popular and negative stigma of the Quiapo area, I actually felt a bit “safer” inside the Muslim town than when I was in Plaza Miranda.

            The creation of the Muslim town could be traced from the supposedly small settlement of the Maranaos when they were driven out from Mindanao during Martial Law in the 70’s. From a small community, it continued to expand until it became the community that it is now. During our walk and observation in the community, I noticed that there were no beggars in the sidewalks but shops after shops. Most of the items being sold inside the Muslim town are nowhere to be found in other places of Quiapo. People are peaceful and the area was indeed more quiet than the streets nearby the Quiapo church.

          Figure 2. The quiet and less crowded streets in the Quiapo Muslim community.

            Everywhere I looked I saw lots of food stalls offering halal food. One sidewalk vendor was selling onions and dried fish which according to her were even imported all the way from Mindanao. I wasn’t sure though if he was telling the truth. I went on further inside the town to canvass for the prices of halal chicken.

            Herein, I began to ask some bystanders to help me in my quest. I approached a middle aged woman, who I assumed to be a saleslady in the bakery and asked, “Ate, saan po dito yung nagtitinda ng halal chicken.” In my ignorance, my sister tugged me and said, “Ate, halal is not a cuisine, hindi siya uri ng luto na parang menudo; halal means clean or walang halong baboy.” At first I did not believe my sister and I asked the lady I asked directions for to tell me what halal meant. She said the same thing and added that everywhere in the town, they are selling halal. I realized, I should do more research (other than the main directions) about my topic should there be next topics to be do field work with.

            In Arabic, the word halal means “permitted” or “lawful”. Islam followed certain dietary guidelines with regard to their food and according to Qu’ran, their holy book, they are not allowed to consume pork, blood from animals, or products/ingredients made from pork, birds of prey, carnivorous animals, alcohol, animals that were dead prior to slaughtering, or animals not slaughtered properly or not slaughtered in the name of Allah. This law means that animals who are slaughtered for human consumption must be killed in a respectable manner and blood must be drained properly.¹

            The Muslim community in Quiapo were filled with lots of halal eateries whose meal prices can range from 50 pesos to 250 pesos. An order of halal chicken (say breastpart or any chicken part) can range from 75 pesos - up. Halal chicken can be fried, roasted, or grilled. The friend chicken costs 75 pesos with a cup of rice and a whole roasted halal chicken ranges from 175 – 210 pesos. Some halal chicken dish has some turmeric yellow spice on top of it, which costs 65 pesos – up.

            Figure 3.Halal Roasted Chicken for Php 200/whole and Fried Chicken with yellow Turkmenish spice on top for Php75/order in Muslim Town in Quiapo, Manila.²            

            I noticed that in most (if not all) of the eateries we went to, they use golden pitchers that looked like kettles, with delicate ceramic designs and some with silver and golden plates. There were even food establishments offering different varieties of halal such as halal siomai and halal pizza.

            At first, my sister and I were actually taken aback from the eateries and we were not enticed to dine in; for one, it was too crowded and hot inside any of the restaurant; the heat outside was draining and exhausting both of us. We were so unsure by the sanitation of the eateries in the place that we decided to canvass on the price ranges of the halal chicken, have lunch elsewhere, and explore more within the Muslim town, Quiapo area beside the church, and visit Chinatown. Meantime, we stopped by a nearby Ministop to buy a bottle of energy drink and be refreshed by the air condition.

            We just decided to roam around the community some more. I began to notice some stalls selling pirated DVD’s and CD’s. I was enticed to ooze in because they were playing Maranao music, and shortly after that, a familiar song was played; Let it Go, OST from Disney’s Frozen. I found out that the vendors were all natives of Maranao and have been living in the community for many years already. I also noticed that people in the Muslim community were polite and accommodating; and despite of the extremely hot and very humid weather, the women were traditionally clothed and fully covered (only their sweaty faces were seen).

            We decided to have lunch in Binondo since the town was nearby and we haven’t gone through Chinatown yet. From Muslim town of Quiapo, we walked back to Plaza Miranda, passed through Paterno Street, and walked all the way straight to LRT Carriedo Station and even further. During the long and exhausting stroll, I couldn't help but blame the local and national government for the very poor maintenance of roads and streets, a handful constructions (on going and unfinished) on roads, traffic, closed roads, and undisciplined motorists.

            After a number of asking for directions, we have finally arrived in the arch of Manila Chinatown. 

                                               Figure 4. Manila Chinatown in Binondo, Manila (Sta. Cruz Area)

            Few minutes after, the rain began to pour. We had to walk for about 10-15 minutes more to brace inside the Chinatown where the delicious authentic Chinese food could be found. Back then, I have heard of the positive reviews on Wai Ying Fastfood’s dumplings. We asked a tricycle driver if we had to go further o find the restaurant and fortunately we were only few blocks away. When we arrived to the place where we decided to have lunch, the place was full and we had to wait for 20 minutes to have a seat. We had siomai, hakaw, milk tea, mami, and chicken mushroom rice for lunch and we brought a lot for take home. We paid 900php for the bill. We did splurge.

             

                                        Figure 5. Our Lunch at Wai Ying Fast Food, Binondo.

            I noticed a lot of differences between the 2 communities. The Chinatown is more business-like and developed with high commercial and residential buildings, as compared with the Muslim communities where establishments were either low-rise houses and some, shanties. On the contrary, the Quiapo Golden Mosque was exquisite even from the outside. On the other hand, the streets in Chinatown are much busier than the Muslim towns; there were more automobiles in the Chinatown as compared to Muslim town. There were no tiangge but Chinese hotels and big merchandising shops like Anson.

            Nevertheless, whether one would be in Muslim town or Chinatown, the presence of culture and traditions were so evident. The two cultures are also skilled in their own ways in terms of entrepreneurship and business.

            I could say that indeed there is more to Quiapo than the famous church and the Black Nazarene. Quiapo, in spite of its bad reputation on notorious pickpocketers, was actually a center of thriving businesses and home to diverse people groups with different beliefs; all managing to live at peace with one another.

           

Citations

1. Fayed, Saad. “Halal Food. What is Halal Food?” About.com http://mideastfood.about.com/od/middleeasternfood101/a/halalfoods.htm. Accessed August 23, 2014.

2.  Aminah. “Muslimah in Manila.” (2011). \http://muslimahinmanila.blogspot.com/2011/10/quiapo-and-chinatown-food-trips.html. Accessed August 24, 2014.