I've heard of nganga in Taiwan with the famous nganga girls and also locally in Baguio. I've always wondered what it tastes like. Finally, in Nueva Vizcaya, the Juniors who kindly helped me achieve my dream of acquiring abuos / ant eggs asked me if I wanted to try their nganga. OF COURSE!
They taught me that it's actually taken in 4 steps. First is the fruit itself, which I hurriedly tried.
Eeek!!! It was overly bitter! I just chewed a bit more and then swallowed the sap. (Which was my mistake!) and when I can't seem to breath due to the sap getting stuck on my esophagus, I just sheepishly told them I can't stand it and went out to spit it all out. Yes, on the ground like how they do it.
I felt thankful that even when Ferdinand suggested that they give me the second step, the leaf, to try, JR argued that I might get dizzy with its stronger kick. More so for the 3rd (the red powder that gives their mouths the red color) and the 4th, the tobacco.
This is such a shame because I fancied having my picture taken with my teeth and gums all reddish.
What happened after I tried the famous nganga? I started to get dizzy after a few minutes. (Not exaggeratedly so, but enough for me to focus in and out.) Until I was shivering so badly (due to the cold weather- yes, during summer!-brought about by the rain) all the while I was sweating buckets! Pretty soon, I felt like vomiting but I held it in until we were on the road, out of sight. (I was feeling shy since they might think I didn't like the food or something and they would be soo wrong since I adore their food so much.) This lasted for hours through our drive home. It only lifted some after we finally reached the hotel and I vomited so much reddish water. I went to sleep all dirty, too weary to clean up. Until a couple of hours later, I was called up for dinner of abuos. That's the magic word! I got up and went down to the dining room! :)
I guess nganga needs some getting used to. :(
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