Boiled Peanuts on Wheels

Cebu is a metropolitan area, night clubbing arena, resort island, education and technology park, manufacturing and exports zone. As such, it attracts so many people mostly coming from the nearby islands in the Visayas and Mindanao. Hence, the idea of a melting pot. But for the absence of Philippine national government offices it is on a smaller scale than Manila.


Cebu has many vendors selling all kinds of goods. People consider themselves poor but happy. Creativity is rewarded well. Stealing ideas is also lucrative. A wide variety of goods is to be expected. There is a vast number of consumers constantly searching for goods that are new, exciting, nostalgic, cheap, fast, simple and complex.

Thrown in the mix is boiled peanuts (maning nilung-ag) on wheels. This snack is simple. Peanuts in their shells are boiled in large barrels until they are cooked. They are heaped up on bamboo trays (nigo) and loaded on carts (karromata) to be pushed around the city wherever they are welcome. After a while the peanuts get mushy, cold and unappealing. Innovative vendors solve this problem by putting the bamboo trays on top of boiling water, heated by constantly burning charcoal underneath. This creates a beautiful steam coming from the peanuts. It smells good too, and keeps the peanuts warm.

The peanuts are soft, warm, they smell nice and gentle. It is simple fare. They also keep the hands busy. It is a nice way to idle away the hours until sunset and dinner time.