The Isaw Story

By: Martin Paolo A. Laporga

During the late afternoons at UP Diliman, the iskolars ng bayan gather around at a certain location near the UP International Center at E. Ma. Guerrero St. A green food cart can be seen in an open area with lots of trees, cars and people that assemble in long lines in order get that one delectable street food – isaw. An isaw is a common street food in the Philippines. It is made of chicken or pork intestines that are put in a stick then cooked over a grill. 

In UP, no place is more well known in the isaw world other than Mang Larry’s. His food stand has been famous since its humble beginnings in 1985. Every late afternoon, Mang Larry and his staff prepare the food stand for serving customers and hey, they keep coming until about 9pm in the evening. Mang Larry usually acquires the chicken and pork intestines fresh from the market. Then he cleans it with water in order to ensure cleanliness, marinates it in a special sauce, skewers it into sticks and grills it over charcoal. Then the aroma lingers in the air coming from the isaw being grilled and it’s truly enough to make any true Filipino salivate. These, coupled by the trivial success story of Mang Larry, who did not even finish college but was able to buy his own car, send his children to good schools, and own several fleets of food cart through this isaw business, truly touched not only the tummies but also the hearts of its faithful costumers. From these, comes the rise of the university’s most popular street food delicacy that is craved by all.

UP Students from nearby dormitories, non-dormers, staff and the faculty goes to Mang Larry’s food stand to satisfy their craving for skewered chicken or pork intestines that is roasted over burning charcoal that you can dip in either spicy or sweetened vinegar. If this is not satisfying enough, the food stand also offers goto, betamax (pork blood shaped into cubes), walkman (pig ears), pork barbeque and more.

The people eating there say that they crave this isaw because it tastes so good and that it tastes different from the usual isaw that can be bought elsewhere – oh it must be because of that special sauce! The isaw also has a crunchy exterior and a soft chewy interior that makes it all the more mouthwatering. They also said that they like Mang Larry’s isaw because it is very affordable especially for students. You can enjoy the isaw at a very affordable price of 6 pesos per stick, the pig ears is also at 6 pesos per stick, the pork barbeque is at 10 pesos per stick.  You can also buy drinks ranging from 10 to 15 pesos. 

Mang Larry’s isawan is so popular that people from other universities like Ateneo and Maryknoll buy isaw from there. It unites people regardless of social status. Both rich and poor come together to satisfy their hunger for this Filipino street food. It shows that people could join together, regardless of difference, with the joy of eating isaw. Eating isaw together also give people quality time with their friends, family and loved ones.

Truly, this isaw story proves that the Filipino people can come together, without any regards to individual differences, and strive for a unified action – for this case, it is to enjoy and savour the goodness of our university’s very own delicacy called isaw.