There are few street foods that I balk at trying, but pag pag was definitely one of them. Basically it is leftover fast food, mostly chicken from KFC or Jollibee, that is taken from the trash, cleaned, boiled and then fried to make a cheap snack for the Manila slums.
Salivating yet? Probably not, but whatever you think about the morals, cleanliness or desirability of pag pag, it is very much a thing. And the Queen of this genre is the wonderful Nanay Evelyn.
So, obviously I went to not just find her, but eat pagpag.
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What is Pag Pag?
Pag pag is one of the most infamous foods in the Philippines and certainly one of the most misunderstood. At its core it is recycled fast food, usually chicken from places like Jollibee, KFC or McDonald’s (https://perte-poids.today/mcdo-phlippines/), that has been thrown away by customers, collected from garbage bags, cleaned, boiled and then cooked again. The name itself comes from the Tagalog word meaning “to shake off the dirt”, which is pretty self explanatory when you think about where the food comes from.
It exists because of poverty, pure and simple. In places like Tondo there are huge communities where people simply cannot afford regular meat on a daily basis. Pag pag therefore becomes a source of cheap protein that can be sold for a fraction of the cost of proper fast food. Usually it is fried crispy again, although some people stew it adobo style with soy sauce and vinegar. There are even versions using fish, pork and supermarket waste. Glamorous it is not, but it is absolutely part of the urban food chain in parts of Manila.
Who is Nanay Evelyn?
Dubbed the “Queen of Pag Pag” after a YouTuber did a viral video with her, Nanay Evelyn is more than just a gimmick. A native of the slums, she is the most famous practitioner of pag pag, having made the food for over 20 years. And whatever you think about the dish it exists because of poverty. Nanay Evelyn exists, is well known and sells out every day because she is good at what she does.
Someone I have known for many years, she gets up at 3 am every day, gets leftovers delivered and does her thing. She then serves in the morning and is pretty much always sold out by 10 am. Of course not making people sick is also self serving, but it is obvious from talking to her that she does actually care about her customers and her community. Obviously though people have been sensationalist about her and pag pag in general, which is unfair.
How much does pag pag cost and what does it taste like?
You basically get a big plate of either fried or stewed pag pag with rice for about 20 pesos, or roughly 40 cents USD, give or take. Generally speaking the fried variety is more popular. The smart thing then is to put sauce or vinegar on it to mask the flavour. This is truly cheap food for those who cannot afford much else.
So, how does pag pag taste? I only tried a bit if I am honest and while it was greasy it was for the most part OK taste wise. The problem was that I struggled with the mental element. You see pag pag has been known to cause not just the shits, but food poisoning, cholera and even parasitic infections. That is not to say I do not trust the Pag Pag Queen, I do. But this is real life and pag pag is what it is.
Why does Pag Pag exist?
Sadly pag pag exists because intense poverty in the Philippines exists. I personally have not seen a country with such a gulf between the haves and have nots anywhere in the world. In this case it is not surprising they have the longest running Maoist insurgency in the world, but I digress.
In fact the government regularly tries to “ban pag pag”. A novel idea, but the only reason it exists in the first place is the corruption and inequality that lead to the extreme poverty of the Philippines. Therefore dealing with that might be a better first step than simply banning a food that, bad as it may be, is still providing sustenance to the poor.
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