CHINATOWN

By Claude Tayag

Photo: Calesa My familiarity with Manila’s Chinatown started in 1973, when, as a freshman in UP Diliman, I would tend store in my siblings Mario and Carmen’s leather shop Our Tribe on Tomas Morato St., Quezon City, during days I didn’t have classes. At times, I was tasked to drive the blue Cimarron van (precursor of the AUV Ford Fiera) all the way to Binondo to buy supplies needed for the store. Initially, I was accompanied by someone familiar with the area, and not much later on, as I gained confidence, I ventured on my own. It was on these trips I learned the nooks and crannies of Divisoria and Binondo like the palm of my hand: the buttons, zippers, threads, buckles, and paper bag suppliers on Juan Luna and Ylaya Streets.; canvas on Gandara; hardware and lighting needs on T.Alonso.

But more importantly, I stumbled on along the way the countless eateries and food stores on Ongpin and Carvajal Streets that provided me with so much delight and pleasure. The promise of a gustatory adventure motivated me more than my modest stipend, which I ended up spending right away on lunch and take-away goodies like hopia, ampao, mahu, champoy, dikiam, etc. Remember, these were not yet readily available then as it was still light years away before the malls came.

Even after graduation and many years later as a professional artist, I’d go to Gandara for my canvas and to T. Alonso for my hardware needs for the furniture I design and manufacture. And just like before, I tended to ignore having to go through the ordeal of heavy traffic and hard-to-find parking if only because of the promise of a good chow.

Photo: Feng Shui shop Over the years, several establishments have come and gone. Some veritable institutions are but a dim memory like See Kee on Ongpin St. (noodles with fried milk sauce come to mind), Marquina (famous for its crab dishes) on DasmariÃ±as St., Smart Panciteria on San Vicente St. at the back of PNB, where my other brother Pol and I sometimes would join our father and his bosom buddy Tatang Milio (Abe) Aguilar Cruz, for lunch after his PNB board meeting on Mondays, bringing our own milagrosa rice for the Chinese sausage/ham duck rice cooked in clay pot. (The good news is Smart Panciteria has been revived by a third generation descendent of its original owner on E. Rodriguez St. in Libis.)

Quite recently, Mary Ann, our son Nico and I went to Chinatown on a tip from my brother Mario, to try the Ang Tunay Beef House, located on Gandara St., now called Sabino Padilla St.(who he?) As an aside, why do they keep changing century-old street names after some personalities or two-bit politicians? It will take several generations before the change actually sinks in into people’s subconscious, anyway. Rizal Park (at least everybody knows him being our national hero) still is Luneta to most Filipinos; Sen. Gil J. Puyat still Buendia; Arnaiz (who he? How’s he related to Francis, the basketball star in the 1970’s?) still Pasay Road. It took many generations before Admiral Dewey Blvd. (now called Roxas Blvd., named not after Sen. Mar but his grandfather Manuel) was relegated into oblivion (Well, it was a mock battle in Manila Bay in the first place, that).

Ang Tunay Beef House

Anyway, Ang Tunay Beef House is like any typical hole-in-the-wall Chinatown eatery. It has a nondescript, easy-to-miss faÃƒÂ§ade and its interior has a no-nonsense look, pared down to bare essentials. The place doesn’t worry about ambience but puts all its effort into its food. It’s as home-cooked as home-cooked can be, Fookienese style (where most Chinese in Binondo originally came from.) It started out some twenty years ago as a hole-in-the-wall by the mother of the present owner, Pedro Solomon Limson, whose specialty was pato miswa or duck with fine noodle soup.

Having a camera on hand and asking too many questions from the cashier, I was eyed with suspicion by the owner (baka ko daw gayahin) and couldn’t get much information, although I was allowed to take some photos.

Espying on the table across us, Mary Ann struck conversation with a man having lunch by himself. Asking what he was eating, he cordially replied it was Kiampeng (literally â€œsalty riceâ€), a rice dish not unlike the Japanese kamameshi, cooked in stock with bits of pork, hibi or dried shrimps, and dried shitake mushrooms. The man looked familiar and I told him so. â€œIkaw si Claude, di ba?, he in turn recognizing me from my column Turo-turo photo. It turned out to be Fred Chua, my suki for my lighting needs (Asean Lights on T. Alonso St.) from way back. I hardly recognized him as he was much thinner then (just like me then, too) and seemed more prosperous (in girth, at least) and had more hair then as a fresh graduate from De La Salle University.

Now, he has another store Light Arts on Soler St., and a couple of branches on MC Home Depot in Ortigas and at the Fort. It was from Fred that we got most of the info about the history of the joint. He admits to be a regular costumer and swears it doesn’t use msg.

Ang Tunay Beef House menu

Photo: Ang Tunay Beef House menu One would have to go to the food display counter and order turu-turo style, with an array of some 30 plus tantalizing dishes on display to choose from, aside from many others that one can order in its a la carte menu (though one would have to wait for the a la carte order). Nakakataranta! Every now and then, sold out dishes are replaced by new ones, still piping hot straight from the kitchen.

Starting with the tips my brother Mario gave, we ordered the palos or sea eel soup (very good), steamed white pompano (rather tough and dry since it had sat there for sometime, I suppose), steamed scallops with tausi (excellent). Mary Ann just couldn’t resist the sight of the red-orange steamed shrimps (very fresh and succulent, according to her), while I ordered the fried frog legs (no good and they’re already cold and quite greasy at that), sautÃƒÂ©ed sea cucumber with mushrooms (good), and Pawekan or turtle soup (not the endangered ones, I hope), steeped in an aromatic herbal mix called seebut, the same mix used for the pato misua, and soup No. 5 (brain and chicken feet soup) being served in most old Chinese joints, Smart Panciteria included.

And, while having ordered more than enough already just for three persons (they’re small portions anyway. Oh justifications!), I had to have somehow at least one beef dish to satisfy my curiosity why this joint is named so. Of the 14 beef dishes listed on its menu, we ordered the â€œBeef Sliceâ€ which came with a light soy sauce and topped with ginger and spring onions (thin slices of meat with tendon, rather dry and tough. Unpalatable without the sauce, if you ask me).

After lunch, we walked towards T. Pinpin St. where I parked the car, but along the way, we bought several packs of the square hopia in Salazar Bakery on Ongpin (the best, especially when newly cooked), and from the fruit stand just across it, a kilo each of the lychees from China and cherries from California.

Walking further down Ongpin towards Binondo Church (now called San Lorenzo Ruiz Parish Church), we dropped by Eng Bee Tin Bakery, famous for its Ube hopia, which now comes in four variants ube queso, ube langka, ube pineapple and ube pastillas.

Photo: Fruit Stand Just around the corner, we headed to Carvajal St. (it’s actually just an alley closed to vehicular traffic) which is a virtual wet market for fresh vegetables, seafood, poultry (dressed duck and black chicken included) and comestibles. At the mouth of the alley is Holland Bakery (also famous for its hopia) in one corner and a grocery on the other (for dikiam, champuy, titina, White Rabbit candy, etc). Inside are more grocery stores, vendors hawking native delicacies, several eateries, and a department store.

We had so much bitbit on the way back to the car. By the way, just across the parking lot on T. Pinpin, there’s President Tea house neighbored by two other stores selling ready-to-eat take-away foods. The main President Restaurant is just several meters away to the corner along Ongpin, housed in a former cinema. Well, we’ll save that for another column, perhaps on the next trip soon (burrrrrrrp).

Over the years, my long-standing love affair with Chinatown never waned, traffic notwithstanding. Even to this day, I am in total awe every time I go there. There’s always something new to discover. It is as if I am setting foot in Wonderland, if ever there was one.

Ang Tunay Beef House, 825 Sabino Padilla St. (formerly Gandara St.), near Ongpin St. corner, just across La Granda Mansion. Tel: 733-1106

Source : Good News Pilipinas