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.

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.

Ginataang Halo-Halo

Photo from this site.

For the Ginataang Halo-halo

Roughly dice the cassava, sweet potato and ube. When cooking for 4-6 persons, you can use 1 to 2 pcs. meduim sized sweet potato and ube ,and 1/2 to 1 pc cassava.

Slice the plantain crosswise. Three to four pieces of medium-sized plantain.

Get P10-15 worth of jackfruit (about 100-200g), approximately 5-8 pieces of ripe langka meat, and cut into strips.

Use the same procedure when cooking plain Ginataang Bilo-Bilo but add the ingredients according to the length of its cooking time. So, the cassava, sweet potato and ube goes in first. Followed by the jackfruit strips, then the bilo-bilo and plantain.

Try this!

Mix in some freshly toasted pinipig for added crunch.

Ginataang Bilo-Bilo

Photo from this site.

This is a dish I remember from childhood. I remember kneading the galapong into small balls in the palm of my hands and arranging them one by one on a plate, then plunging these into a simmering pot of coconut milk. We’ll put in some sugar and a pinch of salt to bring out the sweetness. The hot sweet soup is nice to combat the dreariness of a rainy afternoon. Just watch out for those bilo-bilo as they turn real sticky when cooked. I love its gooeyness so I make larger than normal balls. To be on the safe side, and avoid embarrassing situations make balls just the size of tapioca balls in your pearl shakes.

One more thing, this dish is very versatile. You can make it just with bilo-bilo and tapioca balls, or you can add more fruit and root crops into it. Usually, a mix of sliced cassava, sweet potato, ube, plantain (saba) and some jackfruit is considered a fully-loaded ginataan, this becomes Ginataang Halo-Halo. If you are more adventurous, you can experiment with more fruits.

The cassava and sweet potato help thicken the soup. The jackfruit will add a different flavor and a nice aroma, while the tapioca balls further adds texture to the snack. Just be careful not to use overripe plaintain as this will add unnecessary sourness to the dish.

What to do?

Get pre-mixed galapong from the market or buy rice flour from the supermarket and mix it yourself.

Get a pinch off of galapong, about the size of regular marbles, and roll it in your palm until it becomes a smooth circle. Make as much as you would like to. A 1/2 kilo of galapong should be enough to serve 4-6 persons.

Photo from this site.

Bring your coconut milk soup base to a boil. You can boil 8 cups of water first before adding the kakang gata (first press/thick coconut cream) or you can go straight to boiling a watery coconut milk.

When already boiling, drop the bilo-bilo. These will drop to the bottom but will resurface when cooked.

Add sugar to taste (and a pinch of salt!)

Try This!

When cooked, mix some pre-cooked tapioca balls in various color for added texture and a splash of color. A P5-worth of pre-cooked tapioca balls available in the market should be enough.

Banana-cue

Maybe banana-cue got its name from barbecue because both are skewered into short bamboo sticks. But while the latter is roasted on coals, the former is fried.

Banana-cue can be tricky to cook. It can be wasteful of cooking oil, because of its sugar content and sugar, because when the sugar doesn’t stay on the bananas, the tendency is to put in some more. Also, the sugar can be burnt, making it bitter instead of sweet.

Banana-cue is a snack for the sweet-toothed. I, personally, choose the ones with lots of hardened sugar clinging to it. I also make sure the ones I’ve picked have already cooled down a bit, because one, the sugar isn’t so sticky anymore (be careful just the same, carelessly biting into it will disturb the peace and might cause other sugary chunks to break off and fall), two, my tongue won’t be burnt while I bite into the bananacue’s sweet goodness. And for just P12, one bananacue serving is composed of three small-sized bananas or three medium-sized ones, you can have your fill.

What to do?

To make banana-cues, roll the peeled bananas, plaintain or saba in the vernacular, in sugar, traditionally brown sugar.

Heat 1 cup of cooking oil.

Let it simmer before putting six bananas (or just enough bananas to fill your pan). Too much oil will cook the bananaas but will also cause the sugar to settle in the bottom of the pan, which leaves the bananas themselves less-sugar coated. Too little oil however, might only be enough to melt and caramelize the sugar but will not be enough to cook the bananas.

When removing the bananas from the pan, DO NOT drain them on paper towels. It will only stick to it. Instead, you can skewer them into a bamboo stick and then let it stand on a strainer to let the oil drip.


Try this!

Dip into powdered chocolate drink, like Milo or Ovaltine.

Or, into peanut butter. YUM!