By: Joan Mae Soco-Bantayan
Puto Bumbong, By: Joanne Escober
Your Christmas in the Philippines won’t be complete without being able to taste the locals’ signature rice cake. It is named after the bamboo tube in which it is steamed. If you’re aching to try this at home, prepare your steamer and wrap that apron around so you can do this step-by-step guide to this piece of heaven.
Puto Bumbong Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 cup glutinous rice
- 2 tsp purple food color (ube)
- 2 cups water
- Brown or Raw (Muscovado) sugar
- fresh ground coconut meat
*Optional: wilted banana leaf
Utensils:
- knife
- muslin cloth
- sifter or strainer
- 2 pcs bamboo tube (bumbong)
- steamer
- grinder
How to make Puto Bumbong:
Preparation:
- Soak the glutinous rice in salted water for 10-12 hours.
- Grind the soaked glutinous rice.
- Combine the purple food color while the rice is being ground.
- Wrap the ground glutinous rice in a muslin cloth and use a strainer to drain the water.
- When the glutinous rice is drained and slightly dry, rub the rice on the surface of the strainer; this procedure will produce rice flour with coarse texture.
Procedure:
- Fill the bamboo tubes with the rice flour and steam it for 10 minutes.
- Once cooked, remove the cake from the bamboo tubes by shaking it out or by using knife.
- Place the cake in a wilted Banana leaf.
- Garnish the cake with butter and relish with fresh ground Coconut meat.
- Add a dash of raw (muscovado) or brown sugar.
- Enjoy!
