#348_Old-Fashioned Suman at Katiba

                           
                                          
This is my all-time childhood kakanin. I enjoy eating it with Katiba, specially with ripe mangoes and Pancit Guisado. Mmmmmm!

My mother has been making this suman ever since I can remember. For her it is usually a 3-day ritual, making the Katiba one day, prepping the banana leaves the next day, then the following day she would make several batches of suman so she can give some away to friends and neighbors (pangregalo) specially during holiday season. Unfortunately, none of her four girls including yours truly have attempted to make it.

When I called her up last week to tell her that I finally replicated her suman recipe, she got so emotional. The reason probably was because finally somebody in the family can carry on her legacy of suman making (sistahs, got the hint?). I told her that I've missed her suman and I've always wanted to make them when I got here in the US. My problem has been that I've never have access to the banana midribs which she uses to tie the suman. The leaves that are available here are frozen and the midribs have been removed. Now, I've solved the problem by using toothpicks to secure the flaps, an idea of which I got on the web just recently.

This Suman is a kind that doesn't have any sugar added in the rice mixture. The sweetener and flavor come from the coconut caramel sauce or Katiba. So beware, if you eat this by itself, it's bland. There's not much taste to it, just like eating mashed potatoes without the gravy or eating spaghetti without Spaghetti Sauce on it. That's why this Suman is best accompanied by Coconut Caramel Sauce or Katiba in Pangasinan, Matamis na Bao in Tagalog. Although you can dip them in white sugar just like how we had done when mother was unable to make the Katiba, the taste is not the same as when it is eaten with katiba. It is so amazing that the katiba brings out the flavor of the suman.

After posting pictures of this Suman on my FaceBook page the other day, I received some requests from friends and fans on there for the recipe and the instructions on how to wrap the suman. Actually the suman recipe itself is super easy to make, but I'll try my best to write down the instructions step-by-step on how to form the banana leaves into "cone cups". Please bear with me. Here it goes.....

                                                 Preparing the Glutinous Rice:

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 Rinse 4 cups glutinous rice with cold water. Discard water.

 In a bowl, combine glutinous rice, 1 can coconut milk and 1 Tb salt.

Let soak for at least 4 hours (best soaked overnight).

 Prepare the banana leaves.... 

  1) Wash then dry the banana leaves 

(I placed the leaves in a pan then poured very hot water in it to welt them)

2) with a pair of scissors, trim off the midribs, leaving  skinny edges.

 Forming the banana leaves  into "cone cups":

1) Tear up the leaves into about 5-6 inches wide
2) take the top right corner.....

                                       3) bring it towards you and at the same time rolling it up.....

                      4) continue rolling it up until the whole leaf  is wrapped around itself and is shaped like a cone.
                                                   
                                               Now you're ready to fill the cups with the rice....

5) With one hand holding the cone-shaped leaf, lightly spoon a heaping tablespoonful (more or less depending on the size of the cones) of the soaked rice into it. (Don't fill it up high so you can close the flap and don't press down the rice so there's some room for the rice to expand while boiling it).

               6) push in the side facing you which is the shortest side, covering the rice.....
                                

                                       7) fold over the left side with your thumb, then the right side or vise versa....

8) Fold down the back side which is a pointy side and bring it to the front, tucking the outer leaf under....

        9) then secure the flaps with strong toothpicks. Use bamboo toothpicks as they are much stronger than the wood kind.

10) Arrange the suman in a big pot; cover it with cold water. On a medium heat bring it to a boil, then turn down the heat to medium low; simmer for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Start testing for doneness after 1 hour 15 minutes.

 

Place cooked Suman in a colander to drain.

11) Serve suman with Katiba and ENJOY!!

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How to make the Coconut Caramel Sauce or Katiba

 or Matamis na Bao:

This is the only kind of hard sugar that I can find. In the Pangasinan, we use what we call "Sinakob" which is a solidified molasses from sugar cane and look like halved coconut or convex shaped usually packed together. At the Asian store, I saw similar ones, but they are "palm sugar".

In a pot, dissolve the "sinakob" with a can of coconut milk over low heat. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally until the mixture becomes thick. That's it! but here's a caveat for you....this process takes a lot of patience as it takes a long time to thicken the mixture. It took me about 1 hour to get the consistency that I wanted, which is a pourable consistency. Here's an idea: if you don't want to make katiba from scratch, you can use the store-bought Coconut Jam sold at the Asian or Filipino stores. And here's another idea that I still need to try: take a can of Dulce de Leche and dilute it with some coconut milk and heat it up on the stove over low heat, (maybe microwave will do). Dulce de Leche are available in Mexican stores or you can make your own Dulce de Leche by boiling a can of unopened condensed milk for 1 hour...a process that I still need to try one day.

#291_Thai Mango-Sticky Rice

Thai Mango Sticky Rice

A guest at a dinner party I went to just recently brought this delicious dessert (picture above) with some coconut sauce in a separate container for the topping. The guest who brought it was actually a Filipina who grew up in Thailand, so there should be an authenticity in her dish. Too bad she left early so I was not able to ask for her recipe....maybe, she knew I was going to so she left early... just kidding.

I wanted to replicate that dessert so bad so I browsed the net and found many different recipes out there, so it was a little hard to choose which one would be close to the kind I tasted at the party. Fortunately, I am able to put a recipe together.....

This dessert is a "cousin" to our very own "Biko" or is a variant of Biko or vice versa (click here for my post on Biko). The reason I said that is because they share common ingredients, i.e. glutinous rice or sticky rice, coconut cream and sugar, but the method of preparation is different from each other thereby resulting to different end products.

Here's what separates the two:
First, the consistency of the Thai sticky rice is so moist, as the rice is saturated with coconut sauce. Whereas the Philippine Biko is drier as we cook the rice a little passed "al dente" stage, which means the rice grains are soft and yet firm. Second, the Thai sticky rice uses coconut sauce for toppings, whereas the Philippine Biko is topped with "latik" ( "ganusal" in Pangasinan), or sometimes topped with toasted flaked coconut. In other words, Thai sticky rice is wet that you have to scoop the rice out with a spoon while the Philippine Biko is dry, and can be sliced. Both kinds are very good.

Thai Mango Sticky Rice, a.k.a. Biko con "Sabaw"

I made this dessert using both white glutinous rice and purple rice
and they turned out really good.
The purple rice is maybe another cousin...
maybe a third cousin. (*..")wink, wink!

Here's my take on this recipe which tastes
so close to the one I tasted at the party....

Rinse and soak 4 cups of glutinous rice in water overnight.
Cook sticky rice either by steaming method or rice cooker method.(to cook rice in rice cooker,
refer to my post on Biko, recipe #7, click here)
While the rice is cooking make the Coconut Sauce:
Sauce 1:
1-1/2 cans coconut cream
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
Cook this mixture in a pan over medium heat,
stirring until sugar is dissolved.
Stir in 1 tsp vanilla extract, a secret ingredient

Spread cooked rice on a dish and pour Sauce 1 over it.
Let the sauce soak into the rice.
(can also stir/mix sauce and rice together)

Sauce 2:
1/2 can coconut cream
1/4 cup sugar
dash salt
1 tsp Tapioca starch dissolved in a little bit of water.

Put ingredients in a sauce pan and cook over medium heat, stirring
until sugar is dissolved and sauce is thickened a little bit.
Add a 1/2 tsp of Vanilla extract....or a drop or 2...
that's a secret ingredient.

(Note1:this sauce won't get too thick, it is just slightly thicker than Sauce1. The 1/2 tsp of tapioca starch is just enough to give the sauce a little body to consistency of the sauce.

To serve the Sticky Rice, scoop up the cooked rice
with an ice cream scooper onto a platter,
then pour Sauce 2 over rice. Arrange mango slices along side.



Note: the amount of coconut milk and sugar to use in this recipe
is totally a personal preference.
If you want this dessert to be sweeter,
then add more sugar,
if you want to use more coconut cream,
there's nothing wrong with that either.

Another option on serving this dessert is to
put Sauce 2 in a separate bowl
and place it along side the plate.

******
Here's a simpler way to make the Coconut Sauce:

Pour 2 cans of coconut cream in a sauce pan, then add 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp salt. Bring to simmer over medium high heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Take out about 1-1/2 cups of the sauce into a bowl. Set aside....This is Sauce 1

Dissolve the Tapioca starch in a little bit of water and mix it in with the remaining coconut sauce in the pan, continue to heat it up, stirring, until the sauce is slightly thickened....
This is Sauce 2.
Don't forget to add in the secret ingredient!

Steamed Glutinous Rice
I will be posting "how to steam rice" in another entry.

FYI...this is the best kind of mango to serve with this dessert.

Update 5-2-11...See post on how to steam rice with an improvised steamer, click here.

Related post from this blog: other ways to serve Biko:
http://pinoyamericanrecipes.blogspot.com/2009/08/biko-with-mango-jam-topping.html http://pinoyamericanrecipes.blogspot.com/2009/08/165biko-mango-custard-sushi-style.html

#227_Tupig

Tupig is a very popular street food in Pangasinan
It is mainly made of glutinous rice and freshly shredded coconut.

A friend Stella, showed us how to make Tupig from the start, i.e. making the batter, wrapping, then broiling.

Another friend, Nieves, joined us with the tupig-making lesson.

A FB friend, Virginia posted her recipe on my facebook page and with her permission, I'm posting it here.

Virginia Ganzon Rodriguez

Ok, Here is the much anticipated recipe for Tupig, Tenpigs, or a Dozenpigs!

Ingredients:

2 cups young coconut meat (buko kinayod)
1 cup macapuno string
1 plastic bag glutinous rice flour
2 cups brown sugar
2 cans coconut milk
vanilla extract
banana leaves, wilted and wiped clean then wipe with coconut oil or spray with
Pam to prevent sticking

Procedure:

Mix all ingredients together. Mix should not be watery. Add more glutinous rice if consistency is too watery.
Spoon mix on prepared banana leaves. Roll and fold edges. Broil in oven until the banana leaves are charred.

If banana leaves are not available, aluminum foil can be used though it's not going to be as delicious.

February 23 at 6:53pm ·

Virginia Ganzon Rodriguez

Use the top rack and broil. Keep a watchful eye because you don't want to burn them too much. Don't use mochiko brand. Use the plastic bag glutinous rice w/ green label.

February 23 at 9:21pm ·

#17_ Ginataang Mais

A drizzle of coconut cream makes this even more delish!

This is a merienda "on a budget"...a cup of rice will feed an army, and can be eaten warm or cold,(room temperature). Make sure to use coconut cream and not coconut milk as coconut milk is thinner than the coconut cream.

Ingredients:

1 cup glutinous rice

10 cups water

2 cups white sugar

2 cans coconut cream, reserve 1/2 can for topping

3 ears of young corn

Procedure:

Remove kernels fron the corn if you're using fresh. I used frozen corn in this recipe as fresh corn were unreasonably expensive the day I made this. After thawing out a 15 oz bag of frozen corn in the microwave, I put them in the food processor and pulsed it about 5 times until the corn kernels are just broken up but not ground.

In a large pot rinse the malagkit and discard the water. Replace it with 5 cups water. Bring to a boil then simmer until the rice grains are halfway cooked, then add the sugar. Continue to simmer, about 10 minutes, then add the rest of the water and the corn. Let it simmer for another 20-25 minutes, stirring ocasionally. Add 1 1/2 cans of coconut cream about 5 minutes before you take it out from the stove stirring well.

NOTE:

The reason I added the coconut cream 5 minutes before taking it out of the stove was because cooking the coconut cream longer will cause it to render its oil. I personally don't like to see coconut oil on the surface of my ginataan.