Hello my Hive friends. It's Friday once again. It's one of the most awaited day of the Week! It's time for the popular #MarketFriday tag hosted by @dswigle. This is an initiative I highly recommend you join or at least know more about. Just click on the link here and have a real cool Hive experience you'll always look forward to.
For this Friday, I was inspired to feature a Philippine food snack made out of soybean pudding (fresh soft/silken tofu) which is mixed with sweetened syrup called arnibal and sago pearls (similar to tapioca pearls). This snack is popularly known as "Taho" in the country. The Indonesian and Thai equivalent of this snack is Tauhue, and the Malaysian equivalent of this snack is called Taufufah (Wikipedia).
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This sweet and delicious snack is commonly sold by what we call "Magtataho" or taho vendors. A magtataho carries two large aluminum buckets that hang from each end of a carrying pole, usually made out of bamboo. The larger bucket carries the tofu base while the smaller bucket holds the arnibal and sago pearls. Picture below shows the traditional magtataho plying his route.
Taho vendors sell their product by calling its name - "Taho" as they walk along their regular route. They call out "Tahooooo" as loud as they can to let people know he is around. They usually linger a bit longer on the houses of their customers to make sure they hear them and hopefully buy some of his product. Magtataho's carry plastic cups, often in two sizes (small and large) and plastic spoons (and sometimes straws) for their product. Some customers in residential areas like myself tend to use their own cups, and the vendors price their product depending on the size of the cups. The price for a standard sized mug is about 20 Philippine Pesos or about 40 US cents. They use a wide, shallow metal scoop to transfer the tofu into the cups or mugs usually skimming the surface of the bean curd and toss out any excess water. Then, using a long, thin metal ladle, they scoop sago or tapioca pearls and arnibal into the cup.
My regular taho vendor has done away with the bamboo pole and the walking while selling taho. He uses a bicycle! See photo below.
He outfitted his bike in a way that he can place the bigger bucket upfront and the smaller one at the back by using wood planks to hold them. He even has a colorful beach umbrella attached to his bicycle so he can be protected from the heat of the sun or from getting wet when it rains. He is definitely a very resourceful guy.
Photo above shows my Magtataho scooping the tofu or soy pudding from the bucket into my mugs.
How my mugs look like after he adds the sago pearls and the arnibal or sweetened syrup. Normally, he also adds some milk to top off the mugs but I would rather use my own so I declined.
Here's a video of the taho vendor doing his stuff courtesy of my daughter Jacinta.
I bought 5 mugs from him today which cost 100 Philippine Pesos or about 4 US Dollars.
Out comes the milk.
How it looks like after pouring the milk. My wife is lactose intolerant so no milk on her mug.
Here's a video of the milk pouring courtesy of my daughter again.
And it is time to partake of this delicacy, this traditional food snack which some says has its origins from China and has been enjoyed since even before the Spaniards came to colonize our country in the year 1521. It's like being part of history while savoring its sweet taste. And it is almost always available anywhere in the country - from the white sandy beaches of Boracay to the cool pine city of Baguio - one just has to listen to someone shouting Tahooooo by the sidewalk or the roadside. And you're on to having a real treat that's golden age old!
There are also numerous benefits from eating this snack. Tofu is made from soybean curds. It is gluten free and very low in calorie count. It contains no cholesterol and is an excellent source of iron and calcium. So this is definitely a "Feel Good and Healthy Snack". Some of the benefits of tofu is its potential to decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease. Soy isoflavines have been found to help reduce levels of LDL “bad” cholesterol. Some other diseases it can help inhibit are breast and prostate cancer, Type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, menopausal symptoms, liver damage and age-related brain disease. To know more about the Benefits and Risks of Tofu you can check this link here
Well, that's all for this edition of Market Friday. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Thanks for dropping by and until next Friday please stay safe and have a blessed weekend.
By the way, I thought I'd show a monochrome of this food snack. What do you think?
(Unless specified all pictures are mine. Videos are my daughter's.)
I miss this! Sobrang paborito ko po ang taho! Never missed a day eating one. I wish I could make one here in Japan.
haha ganahan bitaw kag taho! pde man ka mag buhat ug imoha tofu soya rmana sago ug syrup? itry daw!
Hi Nikki. Kamusta naman? I hope you are doing okay and family. Hindi ko alam favorite mo rin pala ito. Ka-miss talaga no? Sige lang pagbalik mo uli dito bili ka araw araw :)
I hope your family enjoyed the snack!
We sure did. And were looking forward for the next day when he passes by again lol.
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