Citations:betamax

Noun: "Coagulated chicken blood"

 * 2001 — Sutherland, Matthew, Matter of Taste, The Observer, Sunday Inquirer Magazine
 * Filipinos also eat strange bits of animals --- the feet, the head, the guts, etc., usually barbecued on a stick. These have been given witty names, like “ADIDAS” (chicken’s feet); “KURBATA” (either just chicken’s neck, or “neck and thigh” as in “neck-tie”); “WALKMAN” (pig’s ears); “PAL” (chicken wings); “HELMET” (chicken head); “IUD” (chicken intestines); and “BETAMAX” (video-cassette-like blocks of animal blood). Yum, yum. Bon appétit!


 * 2013 — Pike, Ian, Filipino Street Food at Kalye Hits: National City Restaurant Somehow Fits Karaoke and Skewered Pig's Blood Under One Roof (08 October), Feast! Restaurant Revies, San Diego Reader
 * Kalye Hits’ BBQ skewers, just a couple dollars each, make the grisliest yakitori-style gizzards look like dainty little tea nibbles! To name a few, there’s “Betamax,” cubes of congealed blood (in this case, pig); “Adidas,” chicken feet named after tennis shoes; pork and beef intestines; chicken livers; fish balls; sliced pig ears; and battered quail eggs called “kwek-kwek.”


 * 2014 — Caguingin Ochoa, Cecil, Kwek-kwek, Betamax – Hot Sells at LA Filipino Street Food Hub (21 August), Philippine Daily Inquirer
 * At 6 p.m., the line starts forming, the patrons looking like more of the young millennial college types from Westwood than those of Evans Community College nearby. Elvie Chan, proprietor of the street food, calls out to the waiting patrons: “Malapit na! We have ‘Enrile, Betamax, Adidas, kwek-kwek, pares, goto!” Mark A. from Anaheim blogged: “Being born in the Philippines, this was a great experience for me. The ambience reminded me of back home when eating street foods such as isaw (intestines), betamax (pork blood), and adidas (chicken feet) was the best alternative for lunch and dinner.


 * 2014 — Duarte, Angie, Dollar Hits: Los Angeles Gets a Go at Street Food, Pinoy style (26 August), Philippine Canadian Inquirer
 * For newbies to the Pinoy street food experience, here is a glossary of items sold by Elvie. The squeamish may balk at this list, but aficionados swear by these delectable dishes:
 * • Enrile – head of chicken coated in tempura batter and deep fried


 * • Betamax – grilled cubes of coagulated pig’s blood


 * • Adidas – marinated chicken feet


 * • Kwek-kwek – pigeon’s egg dipped in batter and deep fried


 * • Pares – flavored rice, beef tendon, beef fat and meat; combined and simmered with spices


 * • Goto – rice porridge with chunks of chicken and tripe, topped with condiments such as finely chopped green onions and fried garlic bits


 * • Balut – boiled, fertilized duck egg with a small embryo inside


 * 2014 — Torre, Nestor, Filipino Taste-Ticklers Featured in TV Show for Peripatetic Foodies (23 December), Philippine Daily Inquirer
 * Another highlight of the lightning culinary tour of Manila’s hungry underbelly was the bemused visitor’s “you-gotta-be-kidding!” discovery that Pinoys don’t only eat all sorts of innards and stuff, but have also even coined really witty pet names for them—like IUD, Helmet, Adidas, Betamax, etc.!


 * n.d. — McLaughlin, Elle, Street Food in the Philippines, Travel Tips, USA Today
 * The names of street food are more often pop culture references to what the food resembles than any sort of a clue to taste or ingredients. Beta-max is named for it's vague resemblance to old-school video cassette players. Which is only slightly less appetizing sounding than the description of ingredients: curdled chicken or pigs' blood, cubed and skewered, and serves with a variety of sauces, it's slightly sweet and very meaty. Similarly IUDs are not grilled contraceptive devices on a stick but rather barbecued skewered chicken intestines, also known as Isaw. Walkmen are crispy pigs ears.

Noun: "a Betamax"

 * 2017 — Pareja, Gerard, Papa di Ganahag Bomba Mama (207 May), Salins Hulbot, Opinion, Cebu Daily News
 * Pag-uso sa betamax. “X” na maoy gitawag sa mga sex film. Ug pag-abot sa internet, porn na maoy nahimong generic name niani.