Live in the Philippines

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What’s for lunch?

Food/Drink, Video / by

A friend of mine recently stopped by at the house.

Michael is from Israel, but lives in Davao City now.  Michael has been a LiP reader for a number of years, and we originally met 2 or 3 years ago when he visited Davao City.

When Michael was at the house, we both got a little hungry, and our conversation turned to Soup!

Michael and I compiled a list of our favorite soups, and they were:

  1. Clam Chowder
  2. Chicken Noodle
  3. French Onion
  4. Split Pea or Minestrone
  5. ??

 

Check our Video below to come along on our journey around Davao in search of what Soup #5 is, what the Ingredients are, and how it tastes.  Seriously, Soup #5 is a specialty here in the Philippines, and we decided to give it a try.  Soup #5 is the actual name of the soup, that is what it is called.  Have you tried Soup #5 before?  Would you taste it?  Did we taste it?  Check the video below to find out.  Leave a comment to tell me if you would eat Soup #5, or if you have already eaten it!

Have a ball when you eat Soup #5, I know that I did!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Hi Bob, how much does it cost for a bowl of soup#5? Cheaper than a tablet of a Cialis or Levitra? Once I get the cost for these items, I can decide for sure! 🙂

  2. Hi Gerry – You know… I messed up. I forget to get the price of the Soup #5! It has to be cheap, though. We had 4 entrees, rice, Soup #5 and two bottles of water for like P230 total. I would bet the soup #5 was maybe P30 or so.

  3. hehe I dont know if I have the guts to try the soup….bull nuts sounds a lite to creepy for me – but I'm sure it taste devine…theese creepy things useually do…

  4. Hi Michael – Welcome aboard! Nice to see you here! Well, I'm not so sure that I would say that it tasted divine, but it wasn't bad at all! I wouldn't go rushing around town to find another bowl of it, but if it were offered to me, I wouldn't turn it down!

  5. Bob,the price of your lunch is very reasonable. This is one reason, one should consider retiring in Davao. I heard of the soup before, but I have not really tasted it. I like bloody pudding (DINUGUAN) made from tripe and internal organs of the bull( but no testicles) in ox fresh blood! BON APETITE, everyone!!

  6. Hey you guys, keep it coming….This is the funniest part of your blog Bob…. Got a stomach ache reading your blog, can’t help laughing, ha, ha, ha,…. This is the part I like the best, sounds like a Comedy Central.

  7. Soup #5 with 2 balut and a cold beer, this is the combo-to-die-for before a big night out in town! Organic stuff over big pharmaceutical!

  8. Hi megre3 – Ha ha… I hate to give you a stomach ache! But, I’m glad that you enjoyed my little lunchtime adventure where I had a wonderful bowl of Soup #5!

  9. Hi Bob – Looks and sounds d-e-l-i-s-h ! 😉

    I'm with David, though: Not much better than dipping some fresh puto into a bowl of "chocolate meat"-dinardaraan (dinuguan) [blood stew]. The one I've become accustomed to is made from baboy (not the sniffling ones, though). Have had some made from aso – tastes like manok! 😆

  10. Bob
    No doubt I would eat it, perhaps with a side order of Manok Feet, and Heads on a stick.

    Sweeet!

  11. Bob,

    Didn't your mom tell you its not nice to point at your food.ha-ha

    I haven't tried soup #5 but, I do enjoy some Rocky Mountain Oysters when I can. I have been wondering what Filipinos do with them, when they butcher. Now I know… Maybe, I can find some soup #5 for myself or buy some fresh and go to the Rocky's with them…LOL

  17. hEY BOB IN texas we them calf fries. We serve them battered and deep fried, with cream gravy. Theres nothing better.

  20. Having travelled the world for many years, I only have 2 rules when it comes to eating – No feet and No insides (kidney, intestines etc)…….I am willing to try anything else.

    So would testicles break this rule, probably but I would be willing to try.

    And Bob how come you missed Sinigang off your #1 to 4 list…you can't be a converted Filino yet !!!

  21. Just teasing Bob, in fact I hated siningang before I moved here permanently, but as we eat it all the time when I go out with my workmates I have come to like it.

    I don't try to be Filipino, but in the year I have been here I have never socialised with any other expats even at work, so all my friends are Filipinos and they joke with me that I am 50% Filipino…..they are just waiting for that extra 1% to tip me over the edge…haha

  22. Hi Sean – Yeah, I was just joking too… I actually do try to show that I am willing to accept the culture and such. For example, not many foreigners take the time to really learn the language, something which I get a lot of enjoyment out of. But, in the end, I do tell people that I am an American, and on some things, that is how I will remain…. 😉

  23. Yeah I am English, so the true test came in the Hatton v Pacquiao fight….obviously I was in the Hatton corner.

    My friends still are still making fun of me one month later…….hehe

  24. HHHMMM perhaps it should have been called soup # 1 1/2 !!
    poor cow…from Bull to Bayot…just so you would'nt go hungry !!!

  27. HI BOB, I know exactly whats SOUP#5 is , Its made of male SEX organ of a cow I Havent tried it and I dont think I will:)

  28. Kamusta ka Bob,

    Looking at the picture you have with the article, no, I would say I would not be a good selling point for me to try that soup.
    But I would, it looks ok with me, and we have plenty of small meat markets near here, that sell all types of meats and ALL the parts. I won't have a problem with trying that soup or some of the other things that might not sound too appetizing.
    I actually like those kinds of little eateries, and usually find some of the best food in town to eat. Here in West Palm Beach, there are a few Hispanic eateries like that, and you find very good latin foods to eat and cheap too.
    Rose has a little place like that in her barangay she says, that serves really great foods for break feast and lunch.
    So go ahead, order me some Soup #5, I'll give it a try!!! 🙂

    Ingatz,
    Danny 🙂

  29. yup mountain oysters! We use sheep nuts in New Zealand. Can,t say i,ve tried the soup, my girlfriend wasn,t too keen on the photos of it and she,s normally pretty adventerous. Maybe next time i,m down that way i,ll stop in for marienda. Although I may have to chase it down with a cold san mig!

  33. If the picture did not give it away, the caption sure did LOL. Something similar to this is an item known as " Lamb Fries " . I believe they are coated with some kind of batter, rolled in bread crumbs and then deep fried. I have never tried them myself and I don't know if I would try " Soup #5 " or not. If this is a common name for that soup in the Philippines, then thats another one I'll remember for futur use, or, refusal if I am out to dinner or lunch with friends there LOL.

    As you may know, whenever I watch home video taken in The Philippines, many times it is what is in the background that interestes me as much as if not more than the actual subject of the video.

    In this case Bob it was the background noise in the opening of your video. I know you are in a big city there so the traffic noise is understandable, sounded like a motorcycle or two as well. Can you tell what the other noises are ? Sounded like some kind of hand held phneumatic tool as used in changing tires in an auto shop, or a phneumatic buffer as in an auto body shop. Then there was that little tapping sound as with a small hammer tapping on something metalic ? Like maybe attaching balancing weights on auto tires ? Well, thats my guess. Was the opening of your video taken next to or near some kind of auto repair shop ? Another brief sound reminded me of a chain saw.

    Why is tableware kept in " warm " water ? I noticed that in several places including a place I went to for lunch. I did not really care for that too much as I wondered if the warmed water was tap water. I made sure to dry off my utensils thouroughly before using them.

    Thanks for the view !

  34. Hi Bob NY – Thanks for commenting on this. Background noise was, unfortunately, terrible on this video! Yes, some of it was traffic. The noise you hear of tools and such is not an auto repair shop. Rather, the house next door is being renovated into a school (watch for tomorrow's article for more on this), and they were power tools like saws and drills and such.

    I really don't understand the warm water thing myself. It is supposed to make sure that they silverware is clean. However, it would seem to be that luke warm water would be a breeding ground for germs! 😀

  35. sorry Bob ! no ball soup for me ..I was at Jess's aunt's house for supper and she poured boiling hot water in a cup of silverware then she sit it on the table i have seen that a couple of times now and in resturants too,maybe it gets rid of the ants 🙂 …Phil n Jess

  36. Hi Phil – boiling hot water would make sense. What I always see in restaurants is either lukewarm or even cold though, which makes no sense.

    • Hi Bob,

      The water was initially boiling hot but they cool down over time. I don’t know why they keep them immersed in the water until they cool. It is better to just boil the utensils then place them in a covered container.

  39. Maybe they leave it in the water so that flies don’t get on the end of the utensils that goes in your mouth. You know it has been in water since they was cleaned. Opening a closed container dont stop a fly from getting in it when you have to open it over and over.

  40. My comment went in the wrong place. Wow you want to say something intellegent and still looks not lol

    • Come on now, Paul. That stuff from NY is not even clam chowder! New England is the only way to go! 🙂 At least you Boston guys got that one right!! 🙂

          • Well if it is better then the clam chowder I have had. Everywhere but New England. Never been there. Then it must be good. That is what I ment. And I guess you are not meaning “Campbells New England”

  42. Hi Bob,

    OK, I haven’t tried Soup #5 in my life but the other four you mentioned I actually have, they’re all pretty common soups to me: the clam chowder, chicken noodle, French onion, and the Split pea soup. These four soups, I know you could get the common ingredient easy in the Philippines, like I know you can utilize Manila clams to make chowder, “native-raised chickens” with miki noodles for the chicken noodle, native-grown red onions for French onion, and mung beans for split pea soup.

    The curious thing to me though is where do these restaurants get their “balls” for their main recipe for Soup #5, in the Philippines? You know what I mean? I’m not sure where do the Philippines get their “balls” for the said recipe. Masbate province? That’s the only place in the Philippines I know that has cattle ranches, or even hold cowboy rodeos there. I was in Spain once, and I attended a bull fight. There must have at least around 7-8 bulls in that bullfight and of course the matador always wins the fight in the end. I’m sure people there eat a lot of Soup#5. 🙂

    Now, I love bulalo soup, but thank goodness, that doesn’t have these “balls.” 🙂

    Thank you!

    From, Aklan Heat.

    • Hi Aklan Heat – Oh, the first 4 soups we listed are not really anything to do with the Philippines. Since they call it Soup #5 we just used the listing of 1-4 as a joke, more or less. 🙂

      Mindanao is famous for raising cattle, especially down around GenSan, so getting the gonads should be no problem. 🙂 There is also a huge cowboy culture and lots of cattle raising in Bukidnon.