Monday, November 22, 2010

Pasko na!!!

I'm supporting blankPixels' entry to Sulit's Christmas card-making contest. Click here for more details.

(Preview only. Click here for the full animated Christmas card.)



Another support entry here!


With Christmas Season officially starting next week, if I heard the priest right that sunday, the air will soon be filled with the sweet smell of puto bumbong ang bibingka! Although bibingka is already available year-round and sold in mall stalls, I prefer to eat bibingka athe old-fashioned way -- fresh from the "oven" and eaten by the roadside!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

A Quicker8.com Blog Giveaway!!!

Quicker8.com is such a generous person for sponsoring this blog giveaway. Imagine, two Fossil ladies watches up for grabs and a Kate Spade kikay kit!

I entered her first blog giveaway a few months back. She gave away a Fossil ladies watch then, but now, whoo! This is certainly a Level-UP !

I need a watch but I couldn't really bring myself to splurge on them. Most of my watches were given to me as gifts, and in very reliable, old school Casio brands. Or else, another brand with doesn't really live up to the standards. Mga sumpungin! Now, when a ran into some cash last year, I treated myself to a Casio watch. Nothing fancy though. I even bought it on sale! That's how much of a cheapskate I am!

So winning this Fossil Ladies watch would be a very nice Christmas gift, indeed! Keep your fingers crossed, ladie, toe fingers included!

Friday, July 9, 2010

TIPS IN USING LEAVES AS A KAKANIN WRAPPER




Leaves, like banana and taktakkong leaves, are generally “crunchy” and easily ripped. In wrapping suman, balisuso, inandila atc, the leaves have to be “softened” first so they won’t break when you twist and turn it and the kakanin won’t spill out of it.

I know of three ways to this. One, you can leave the leaves under the sun. Second, you can put it through the fire or idarang sa apoy in the vernacular. And third, you can dip it in hot water.

The idea is to heat the leaves up and cook it slightly. They will turn into a deep green color when done.

However, if you’re only using the leaves as a serving vessel, no need to do the above.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

PALUP-SI


This rice cake is a variation of sinukmani. It uses the same ingredients, except for the sugar. You see, palup-si uses salt as its flavoring. And it is easier to cook.

All you have to do is cook the malagkit as you would any regular rice, BUT using coconut cream as its water. Put in some salt accoding to taste. And that’s it.

Like I said, I have a sweet tooth, so the original palup-si I have to dunk into sugar still. OR I would mix in sugar, instead of salt, to tweak it according to my taste.

One more thing, I have never seen it served with peanut or latik toppings. I guess, it is served as it is.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Latik is not a snack in itself (although you can make it into one). It is usually used as a topping to various rice cakes. Latik is the “coconut cream curdle”. It is a by-product from extracting coconut oil from coconut cream.

What to do

To make latik, you will need thick coconut cream, the kakang gata, that is, pressed with no water added. The real coconut cream, not the instant creams, powdered or not, that can be bought in supermarkets. Go to your favorite grocer or the nearest palengke to buy a fresh mature coconut. Have it shredded and squeezed.

Now, cook the coconut cream in low fire.


You will notice that some white stuff will start to form on top of the cream. Leave it be. That will become the latik you can use as a topping.

Eventually, the white cream will be clear with brown stuff/residue. You have now extracted coconut oil AND cooked latik. Just separate the two, put the oil in a jar and keep for future use, and harvest the latik.

Use as a topping for various kakanins.

Try this!

You can opt to squeeze the coconut yourself. But if your grocer offers mechanical squeezing, I would advise you to avail of it to ensure the maximum cream squeezed out of the coconut.

Cook the latik in sugar and this becomes a sweet snack in itself.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Inandila





Inandila is one of the many suman types. But unlike most suman, inandila uses pounded malagkit or sticky rice galapong.

I have only tasted this suman once in the Cordillera region. People I have talked to said that inandila is the snack served in Kalinga before a bodong or a peace pact session, starts. It must be native to the kalinga province.

What to do

To cook this, you will need pound malagkit, taktakkong leaves, coconut cream and brown sugar.

Mix some water with pound malagkit. Use enough water to make it one big malagkit dough.

Portion into fist sized balls.

Wrap it in taktakkong leaves. These will give it a lemony scent and flavor. If there are no taktakkong leaves available, you can use bamboo or banana leaves.

Taktakkong Leaves

Put the wrapped inandila sumans in a cauldron. Pour some water in it, enough to steam-cook the suman. Cooking time takes approximately 30 minutes,depending on the amount of inandila you are cooking. Remove from fire when cooked.

Now the dipping sauce.

Cook the coconut cream and sugar together. Remove from heat when coconut cream is already oily, but has not entirely transformed into coconut oil.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Tapey

Photo from this site


Tapey is a native wine, actually it is a rice wine that originated from the Cordillera region. It uses traditional diket or sticky rice called balatinao, and bubud or the fermenting agent. Tapey is usually served on ceremonial occasions and during traditional bayanihan or mutual aid, like moving or building a house, gathering big rocks for the rice paddies, etc.

A 3-day old tapey can be eaten like dessert. It is not strong enough yet to make someone drunk. But a tapey that is at least a week old, packs a wallop in its sweet, rich taste.

What to do

To make tapey, cook the 5 cups of balatinao rice.

Spread it on a platter. This will facilitate faster cooling of the rice. Hot temperatures will kill the yeast.

When the balatinao has cooled down a bit, sprinkle finely crushed bubod as evenly as possible. One whole bubud is about the size of a thick cookie. Use only 1/2 of it for 5 cups of balatinao.

Transfer it to a clean vessel where it can sit for a few days. Seal it well.

In three days, when the fermentation has just begun, the mixture will produce some water. This is natural. As the balatinao rice gets more and more fermented, the rice will dissolve and the liquid that is left is the wine itself.

SINUKMANI or Biko


Sinukmani is also known as biko. It is a native rice cake that is a favorite snack of many pinoys. I love this snack which is usually cooked and served during social gatherings, like birthdays, fiestas, reunions,or simply whenever a group gathers. In the provinces, like in the Bicol and Southern Luzon Regions, this is served as a snack to people during and after a bayanihan. A bayanihan is a labor exchange activity done to move a house to a new location, to plant rice, clean up a field, etc.

What to do

To make this dish, you will need malagkit or glutinous rice, gata or coconut cream and sugar, brown sugar is traditionally used.

Cook the 2 cups malagkit and 1 cup ordinary rice as you would any regular rice.

Cook the coconut cream and brown sugar together into a creamy santan (How to make Santan). Do this in a frying pan big enough to accommodate the malagkit as well.

Slowly mix in the cooked malagkit. Mix the malagkit and santan thoroughly. This is a tough job, so the men in the provinces usually get delegated to this strenous job.


But small quantities of sinukmani can very well be managed by women, like this biko vendor in the market cooking her kakanin for the day.

Transfer the sinukmani or biko in a serving dish. Banana leaves are used for transfering it. Banana leaves have a smooth surface that makes transfering the sticky sinukmani into the serving dish a littler easier.

You can serve this as it is or top with latik.

Try this!

Kapeng barako,or brewed coffee, if not salabat, brewed ginger, will complete the snack.

One option is topping it with ground roasted peanuts.

Turon

I know I’ve said this a million times, but I’ll say it again. Turon is a favorite-favorite of mine. And yes, it is a banana treat that is also peddled in the streets or found in the market.

My aunt cooks very aesthetically pleasing turons. The secret she says is in the wrapper. Turon is banana (plantain or saba variety), in lumpia wrapper. My aunt recommends the using the yellow lumpia wrapper found in the market, instead of the regular white ones.


The yellow color of the lumpia wrapper turns into an even golden brown shade when fried. It’s bigger than usual size enables wrapping two whole pieces of saba.

What to do

To make turon, in a single wrapper, lay down two pieces of medium-sized saba/plantain.

Sprinkle it with sugar. Having the sugar inside minimizes splotches of caramelized sugar outside the wrapper. It minimizes too the chances of burning your sugar.

Wrap it as you would wrap a spring roll, tucking in the edges nicely.


Deep fry.


Try this!

There are two variations I have tried with turon. One is inserting strips of langka for a more tropical flavor and the other is sprinkling it with a bit of cinnamon for a modern twist.