Binondo Up Close: The Fried Siopao & Eng Bee Tin delicacies

Yes I have Chinese roots and so I love everything that is Chinese especially their food and that is the reason that ever since January I have been back and forth in Binondo with my mother. We just love it. I had scoured the net for blogs that were featuring Binondo foods and there were many who wrote about it. They mostly tried out the Old Manila Walks with Ivan Dy and were taken to really good places.

Upon reading up on some bloggers, I made a list and that included Fried Siopao to try. This is going to be the first in my series of features on Binondo Food. I just can’t get enough of it. Cheap and good! Those are the key words. As the mom and I were walking around, I spotted a little opening in a small shop where it was being mobbed with people. They were busy buying fried siopao. Yes, it is not steamed people but fried so that it has a crisp brown bottom and it was field with delicious Asado inside. We hurriedly grabbed 2 pcs to try out and also we had to buy some of their Machang as it was only PhP35.00 compared to the ones in Eng Bee Tin at a higher price. So I couldn’t wait to taste it hence I ended up eating it at the street while walking and was it so good! I wanted to have another one but restricted myself to just 1 piece since we were going to eat again.

After much walking the mom and I ended up checking out the Mezzanine cafe on the top of Eng Bee Tin at Ongpin Street. It is a cafe where all the proceeds will actually go the volunteer firefighters of Binondo. We ordered fried wanton, shrimp and pork siomai and Asado (violet) siopao. Yummy! It was supposed to be for snacks but it filled us up big time. And of course, the obligatory visit to the deli store of Eng Bee Tin for some take home chinese deli. We bought hopia, kiamoy, strawberry tikoys and went home feeling so sated and with the promise of again coming back. I can’t seem to stop going to Binondo and we actually even saw Judy Ann there doing a shooting of sorts.