BAYANIHAN REPUBLIC:
Tahoooo!!!
Tahoooo!!! Tahooooo!!! I used to hear this line in our neighborhood
in Makati City (a city in Metro Manila) when I was a kid. This often
wakes me up during Saturday mornings (as for weekdays, I usually wake up
at 5:30 am for my morning classes, which is way earlier than the round of
that morning shouts). So during weekends, when I hear that shout, I
immediately grab my cup from the kitchen and run towards the gate to buy
my favorite taho which I think is an icon in Pinoy's breakfast meal.
Taho is a Philippine snack
food, traditionally sold and taken during mornings, made out of medium
firmness tofu, arnibal (similar to caramel) and sago (similar to pearl
tapioca). Philippines' taho, which can be found anywhere in the
country, is similar to Indonesia's and Malaysia's tahu. Ancient records
suggest that taho originated from the Chinese douhua. Even before the
Spanish conquest of the Philippine islands, Chinese traders have
interacted with our forefathers, hence enriching our culinary.
Taho is made by processing the silken tofu to become a very fine custard. Brown sugar will be caramelized to create the arnibal which will sweeten the recipe. Sago will be boiled until it becomes gummy. All the ingredients will be put into two large aluminum cans - sago and arnibal (plus the plastic cups and money) ompartmentalized in one can while the actual taho will be in the other container. Once a customer buys, the three main ingredients will then be put in a cup and mixed. And taho is then ready to be taken either by using a spoon or sipping it from the cup.
