I first learned how to cook suman from Prof. Matilde Guzman Food Preparation class. I love the combination of mongo and coconut-flavored sweet sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves. Here is the recipe. Ingredients 1 cup malagkit (glutinous rice) 1 cup mongo 1-1/4 cups sugar 3/4 cups coco milk coco cream from 1 grated coconut Ingredients 1. Soak, grind, and drain...

I am not an expert when it comes to making kakanin. I rely a lot of my knowledge from my Food Preparation class back in college. The most basic of which is How to Extract Coconut Cream. However, there are packs of coconut cream that I’ve tested out for maja blanca. Sapin-sapin is a number one request from most of my readers and it took me quite a while to test...

Kutsinta will forever have special place in my heart. It was the first product that inspired my mom’s Sally’s Bake Shop in 1966. She had seen mothers buying kutsinta after a movie. An idea soon hit her. Why not make my own kutsinta? Here is a kutsinta recipe similar to mom’s. Ingredients 1 1/4 cups rice flour (substitute with all-purpose...

What do you associate puto with? When pork was still part of my diet, I associated puto with diniguan. I dunk the puto on the thick sauce, then eat it together with the pork pieces. Another puto memory is pairing it with hot chocolate drink. Puto is a great pairing food with many of our Filipino dishes. Puto is very easy to make. You can even use all-purpose flour...

Preparing Suman sa Ibus is so easy. It’s the wrapping of the rice mixture which takes so much time. Yet it is all worth it. How I love the mild flavor of the suman. The delightful combination with ripe yellow mangoes and hot tsokolate is heavenly. Ingredients 4 cups sticky rice or malagkit 3 cups thick coconut cream (here’s how to prepare Thick Coconut...

Just looking at the photos makes me want to eat more kilawin or kinilaw na isda. Once can use either tuna or lapu-lapu fillets to make this dish. I always associate the Kinilaw with a beach outing. Preparing dishes with vinegar ensures there is little chance of food spoilage. The fish is “cooked” using vinegar as the meat turnes opaque in color. ...

My memories of Suman Luya dates back to Christmas Eve and my mother. She would cook the sticky rice in a big kawali in the dirty kitchen. Suman Luya is extremely smooth tasting with the right amount of sweetness. It’s perfect for hot chocolate drink during the noche buena. The taste in itself reminds me of Christmas in Cebu. Here is the recipe of Suman Luya...

Even if you’re located in the US, you can still make Cassava Cake. Just buy the ingredients at the Filipino Store. This cassava cake recipe is from my sister in San Francisco. It’s been tested and eaten with gusto by her family. Ingredients: 2 packages grated cassava 1 can coconut milk 1 bottle macapuno strips 2 eggs 2 tsp vanilla 1 can condensed...

My friend from the USA sent me this recipe on how she makes cassava cake. When I saw that she used frozen cassava, I was surprised. It’s been awhile since I’ve gone to a Filipino grocery in the states. I am sure a lot of Filipinos can still come up with our native delicacies as long as the Filipino stores carry these ingredients. So here is her...

There is nothing like freshly baked puto right out of your steamer I always thought puto has to be made always with rice flour. The best texture and taste is using rice flour but I am sure some of my readers overseas appreciate a puto recipe without using rice flour but instead just the plain all-purpose flour. However, you can use rice flour if you can grind...