One Cebu street food that is popular with the masses and can be found around the city is chicken proven. You often see people congregating around a cart and eating while standing. It’s a delicious, cheap and filling meal.
Chicken proven what?
But what is chicken proven? Birds have a two part stomach: the proventriculus (proven for short) and the gizzard. The former is the part after the crop is where digestive enzymes are secreted before the food is passed on to the gizzard for grinding. And this is what this Cebu street food is all about.
One of the popular Cebu street food
Like many other Cebu street food, it is battered then deep fried to a crisp. Its often dipped in vinegar and minced onions, with chili an option. Eating it with puso (rice cooked inside a coconut leaf pocket, also called hanging rice) is a must and like most Cebuanos, add a bottle of soda, usually Sparkle or Mountain Dew.
One can often encounter these chicken proven carts usually in high foot traffic places where there are lots of workers or students coming out from work or school or waiting for a bus or jeepney. Personally, I usually have this across Fuente Osmena where they start selling at around 4PM till around 2AM. A small container of chicken proven usually costs PHP20, around 10 pieces and a big piece of puso, around PHP10.