Journeys in photographs and words.

Places we stopped along the way

Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu

Pekto's Sizzling Plato (Mercato de Mactan)

From: Everyday life on Mactan Island

Sisig topped with egg, mayonnaise and green chilies
Sisig topped with egg, mayonnaise and green chilies

A sizzling-plate stall at Mercato de Mactan, a night market in Lapu-Lapu City. The sisig is stir-fried on a hot iron plate and served with a raw egg, mayonnaise, green chilies and kalamansi. I ate it with puso, rice wrapped in coconut leaves, and a mango smoothie. Mercato de Mactan is an open-air food market in So-ong II, Lapu-Lapu City.

Sources: weekend.sunstar.com.ph theasianaffairs.com

This moment in the journey

To the night market at dusk

For dinner, let's go to a night market, the tropical way. A jeepney full of passengers drove down a street glowing in the evening sun. Bunches of bananas hung in front of a shop.

I headed for Mercato de Mactan, a night market lined with food stalls. As the light bulbs came on, I found a sizzling-plate stall. The cook brushed oil onto a hot iron plate and tossed ingredients in a flaming pan.

And one thing you can't miss in Filipino food is sisig. Finely chopped pork and onions were stir-fried briskly with wooden spatulas, then finished with a raw egg, mayonnaise, green chilies and kalamansi, and brought to me still sizzling.

Watch this scene on YouTube4:25

Read this scene in the full journey

A jeepney on a street glowing in the evening sun
A jeepney on a street glowing in the evening sun
Bunches of bananas hanging at a shopfront in the evening
Bunches of bananas hanging at a shopfront in the evening
Food stalls at the night market at dusk
Food stalls at the night market at dusk
Brushing oil onto a hot iron plate
Brushing oil onto a hot iron plate
Flames leaping from a pan in the stall's kitchen
Flames leaping from a pan in the stall's kitchen
Stir-frying sisig on the iron plate with wooden spatulas
Stir-frying sisig on the iron plate with wooden spatulas
Chopped pork and onions sizzling
Chopped pork and onions sizzling