Dayton Delectables: Eating Chicken Parts in the Philippines! (Chicken Blood/Chicken Gall Bladder)
Channel: LIFE RPG
Date: 2019-10-26

We are back to snack! Filipino street food is always a pleasure, and today we are jumping into some new tastes with some chicken blood cubes also known as betamax. To top that off we also threw in some chicken gallbladders because why not? One of them is a definite favorite over the other. I'll let you guess which is which.

Have you ever eaten chicken blood? It's not half as metallic-tasting as one might assume. What do you think happens to the blood from all the chickens the meet their end every day? Well, they end up on barbeques all across the Philippines! Amazing!

We also ate some chicken gall bladders. If you enjoy liver then you might dig on some gall bladder. This is where all of the metallic taste is stored! We've hit the motherlode! Come and see me suffer with this taste test of various chicken parts. We will be back again.

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Having traveled a large portion of South East Asia, I realized one thing. People eat some weird and funky stuff! Walking around food markets seem to be like scenes taken right out of fear factor. People buzzing all around you, faint wafts of food coming from everywhere, and the sight of unidentifiable skewers of meat littered in street carts. From deep friend insects like crickets, grasshoppers, super worms, to animal innards like chicken intestines, chicken butt, and coagulated pig’s blood. And I repeat, people eat some weird and funky stuff! Naturally, a large part of traveling is eating the food that locals do and trying out the street food-no matter how weird or funky they are.

Okay, I will now reveal to everyone, my deepest secret, I love blood! Well, basically because, yeah, you’re right, I am a vampire!

Hahaha, nah, I’m just kidding. We’ll use chicken blood this time. But, why not? If I can have eternal youth and be forever young. I’ll eat Betamax every day.

Isn’t it weird that you can grill something in liquid form? Like blood? Maybe you’re wondering how that happened but this recipe will prove to you that it’s possible. Betamax is a popular street food in the Philippines sold together with isaw and atay (liver). So, how did it happen? We all know that blood coagulates right? So when you extract blood from the chicken and leave that in an open jar, it will cool down and the texture will somehow become gelatinous and then scalded. The coagulated blood is now in solid form so it is possible to cut it into rectangular pieces just like the Betamax tape, so now you know why it’s called Betamax, Haha, because it looks like VHS tape. These blocks were skewered in bamboo sticks usually 3 pieces per stick and you can buy if for only 5 pesos. Actually, it doesn’t really have a taste, it’s chewy and you have to dip it in vinegar, that’s where it gets its taste.

Coagulated Chicken blood, shaped in squares and placed in skewers that is served hot off the grill. I mean, there is not much more to describe! Betamax has a liver like texture and is often enjoyed with a good dosing of bbq marinade and vinegar.

You might think that this is your ordinary Betamax ®, but it is not. It’s actually a street slang for grilled chicken blood. Wait a minute, did I read it correctly? How can you grill something that is in liquid form? Most of you might be wondering how this happened, let me just give you a brief background on how this is done.

Chicken blood is extracted from the chicken in liquid form. When the blood is placed in an open container and cooled down a little, the texture becomes thicker and somewhat gelatinous. The “gelatinous” blood is scalded to have a more solid form then cut into rectangular pieces. The rectangular blood resembles the shape of a Betamax® tape and this is the reason why it was called such. 

I used to have this in the Philippines regularly when I was in my teens. After a tiring basketball game in the afternoon, my friends and I would usually go to the “kanto” (village entrance) and have a feast of Betamax and “isaw ng baboy” to satisfy our hunger. Betamax is the cheapest merienda (afternoon snack) next to grilled chicken intestine. Imagine a serving (3 pcs on a stick) would only cost us a Peso (about 2 to 3 cents USD) during those days.

Grilled chicken blood has no taste at all, it’s not gamy or foul smelling as it may seem. It’s just like chewing something without any taste. The best way to compliment this is by dipping it in vinegar and chili mixture. I find toasted blood better because it absorbs more vinegar which is the main source of flavor.