 | ||||||
| Straight from the plastic bag. |
I am very proud of this town where I was born and raised by my parents - Cainta. The province of Cainta in Rizal is known as the Philippines best makers of Filipino rice cakes and puddings. Mostly cooked using glutinous rice with coconut milk, steamed in banana leaves or corypha and sprinkled with sugar on top.
Suman is a rice cake originating in the Philippines. It is made from glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk, and often steamed in banana leaves. It is served wrapped in buli or buri palm leaves and usually eaten sprinkled with sugar. Suman is also known as budbod in the Visayan languages which dominate the southern half of the country.
There are a lot of varieties of Suman. Almost every town have their own version of Suman like:
Binuo (or Suman sa Binuo) - the glutinous rice is soaked, milled, mixed with coconut milk and sugar, wrapped in the leaves of the Tagbak plant, and steamed. The leaves give this variety of suman a uniquely balmy, minty flavor, and the suman itself is chewier than the whole-rice varieties.
Suman sa Ibus - the glutinous rice is washed, and is then mixed with salt and coconut milk. The mixture is poured over pre-made coil containers of young palm leaves called Ibus or Ibos, and fixed with the leaf's central shaft. This is then steamed using water mixed with "luyang dilaw" (turmeric) - giving it that distinctly yellow colour - and served either with a mixture of shredded coconut and sugar, or latik.
Suman sa Inantala - The ingredients are similar to the Ibus variety, but the Inantala differs in that the mixture itself is cooked, and then poured over a small square mat cut from banana leaves.
Sumang Kamoteng Kahoy - Cassava is finely ground, mixed with coconut milk, sugar, wrapped in banana leaves, and steamed.
Suman sa Lihiya - Soaked glutinous rice mixed with coconut milk is treated with lye, wrapped in banana leaves, and boiled for two hours. It is served especially with either of two varieties of latik - the brown one which has been darkened with extended cooking, and has a stronger coconut flavor or the white one which is more delicate.
Sumang Wilmacale - Cassava suman of more solid consistency, sweetened with brown sugar and cocojam, steamed in banana leaves and served skewered.
How to make Suman in an easy way. This is how my mom cook Suman.
Ingredients
1 cup of glutinous (sticky) rice, soaked in cold water for at least six hours
1 cup of coconut milk, fresh (see how to extract coconut milk) or canned
a generous pinch of salt
banana leaves
Instructions
1. Strain the rice. Cook in coconut milk with salt. I used a rice cooker and it did the job wonderfully. Cool the rice.
2. Meanwhile, prepare the banana leaves. Rinse it then wipe it dry.
3. Pass every part of the leaves over an open flame to soften and wilt. Unless you do this, the banana leaves will break when you wrap the rice with it.
4. Cut the banana leaves so that you have 8 to 10 pieces that are about 8″x8″ square and another set of 8 to 10 pieces that are about 12″x12″ square.
5. Place two to three tablespoonfuls of cooked rice at the center.
6. Wrap the rice with the smaller piece of banana leaf, as tightly as you can, and folding the sides neatly. Repeat until all the rice has been wrapped.
7. Stack the parcels, seam side down, in a steamer basket. Steam over boiling water for about 45 minutes.
8. Cool the suman for about 10 minutes before unwrapping to give it a chance to firm up.
9. This can serve up to 10 servings. You may enjoy this with hot cocoa (chocolate) or a creamy coffee.
