Fresh food finds at Aani Market

Like any typical female, and foodie for that matter, a trip to the market is always anticipated. It is actually a de-stressing activity for me, especially after a full work week. For me, going to the market and checking out fresh produce and other interesting food items is like a child heading for a carousal ride.

Because I live "down south", going to the FTI Aani Weekend market along the East service road in Paranaque was easy. Though much bigger than Salcedo Market in Makati, a colleague who lives nearby warned me though that it is not as "high end" as what I have seen in Makati.

Dragging my hubby with me as early as 8am this Saturday, we drove to FTI with the primary objective of purchasing our week's food requirements, specifically seafood and vegetables (I have succumbed to the idea that seafood is always best purchased in the wet market - and this goes for vegetables too). Of course, on the side, we intended it to be our "breakfast date". What with all the food items there - raw and fully-cooked, there is more than enough to choose from.


The Aaani weekend market offers fresh seafoods - from tuna, live tilapia, gindara, lapu-lapu, to prawns, clams and mussels. Hubby and I opted to buy my favorite "tulingan" which will be cooked "sinaing" style. I keep this frozen after cooking and for breakfast, I typically serve it fried with achara and sunny side egg on the side. Hubby requested for the "gindara" which at 3 large slices cost around Php250. For the kids, the small "galunggong" is much preferred. This humble poor man's fish is surprisingly a favorite of my kids, crispy fried.

Fresh meats are also found there, though I still prefer to buy these in supermarkets and meatshops. Fruits are in abundance, mangoes from Zambales and Guimaras, paho mangoes - green mangoes, the kind that you coarsely chop and mix with tomatoes and onions, simply the best with ensaladas; and "supsupin" mangoes - ripe mini mangoes that does not require a knife but instead, you eat it by peeling off the skin with your bare hands and by biting and sucking into its flesh - thus its name.



Because I have a bag of fish tofu at home, I would have wanted to serve it with asparagus, stir fried in garlic and butter. Though after knowing that a bundle of fresh ones would cost around Php85, I opted to use Tagalog sitaw instead. It is much shorter than the ones you see around, about 6 inches in length and more green at that. What's more, with a mere Php12, I have about a fourth of a kilo, just enough for the entire family.



As I was walking around, I found one "manong" working on "patani" seeds. Though I don't really use it in my own kitchen, I have fond memories of this seed being served with sotanghon soup in San Pablo where I used to spend summer vacations in.


Turo-turo style, we bought pancit malabon, puto bumbong and bibingka, beef kaldereta with rice and Coke for breakfast. All these for a mere Php200! Really cheap! I don't really drink soda for breakfast, but unfortunately, there was no one in the area offering hot chocolate or coffee - at least I didn't see one. That's something that I noted and really liked about Salcedo market. In Aani, there is an abundance of fresh produce, in Salcedo, you find more ready to eat, fully cooked items of various cuisines.

If however, you are a fan of our local delicacies, there is no need to go to far-flung places because its all in Aani - puto calasiao, cassava cake, sinaing na tulingan, suman sa ibus, even fresh pinipig (for a while, I though I was in Baguio Market, hehe). Those who prefer organic vegetables will also be happy to know that they offer beautiful salad greens and herbs here.



I am not much of a gardener, but if you are, you will find a lot of interesting plants and gardening tools here - pots, fertilizers, etc. On our way out, I stopped by the sole barbecue place in the area. Bought 2 sticks of pork barbecue at Php25 each and brought it home. My 6 year old son finished it off. I will buy more next time.



Fresher than you can imagine, another booth offers chicken newly slaughtered and dressed at Php125 per kilo. Though they had no native chicken at that time, I was enticed with the interactive way they do it, that, you just had to buy one. And buy one I did, in fact, by lunch today, we will have and enjoy our chicken tinola with green papaya and for dessert, my sweet star apple (kaimito) also found in this market.


Happy eating everyone!




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