Ang Binatog, Bow!

I was surfing through the Net when I came upon a photo of binatog. My mouth began to water instantly. The thought of that concoction of boiled corn, condensed milk, and coconut (kinayod) thickened my scalp, made my lips shake involuntarily, and had me sweat profusely. That's me when I want to devour something really bad. At that time, I swear, could sell my soul for a plateful of binatog.

I thought my agony won’t last long, since I hear the batingting of the bicycle of the binatog vendor in the subdivision every afternoon. Well, that’s what I thought. When I heard the batingting, I grabbed a plate, rushed to the gate, and called the vendor. He was puzzled. “Magkano po ang binatog?,” I excitedly said, with the plate on my chest. Grinning, he opened the container. Kanin-baboy. It was so embarrassing I wished I had a paper bag to cover my face. When I turned my back, I heard the manong and the house helpers burst into laughter. Ah, I wanted to commit seppuku.

I went to the market and rummaged around every corner for binatog. Rien. Nichts. Nada. Nothing. As an act of desperation, I bought two pieces of corn (still attached to the cub), kinayod na niyog, and Carnation condensed milk. I had to make one of my own.

Not sure about the variety of corn, though. The corn used in binatog I know is whitish and bloated. The variety I bought was yellowish. I was told I had to overcook the corn to achieve this effect. However, after almost an hour of boiling, and my gasul was about to run out of gas, the corn kernels still hadn't turned white.

By the time I drained the kernels, my craving for binatog was gone. I had a lukewarm feeling about the finished product. It did not turn out the way I wanted it to be. Anyway, it was still a lamang-tiyan, so I had to eat it.