angkak

angkak – /ang-kàk/ (Tagalog and Capampangan food coloring and fermentation agent; dw Chin. Hokkien an khak [reddish leaves used in fermentation] < an [red] + khak [shell or husk]) [n.] red yeast rice (sc.name: Monascus purpureus)

I found this angkak rice in the public market of Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija in July 2017.

Angkak is a Mandarin orange food coloring. A Chinese tangerine food coloring obtained from a plant with reddish leaves, or rice treated with species of red mold. 

This angkak rice is priced at PHP320.00 a kilo when I found it in the public market of Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija in July 2017.

Angkak rice is not for cooking into kanin (boiled or steamed rice), but can be added to cooking rice as a food color. 

The Capampangans, Bulaqueños, Novo Ecijanos, and Tagalogs are fond of using angkak in coloring and as a fermentation agent for burong isda (fermented cooked rice with fresh fillet of freshwater fish, i.e. tilapia, bangus, ayungin, etc.), and in bagoong alamang (shrimp paste, a.k.a. balaw-balaw).

Angkak rice

Angkak produces bright pastel pink color, a classic food coloring that is now fast disappearing because of artificial instant food colorings.

All photos of Edgie Polistico are copyrighted. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

See Index of Entries here

If you liked this post, share it.

Let us know your opinion on the subject. Feel free to comment in the comment section, below. It is important for us to know what you think.

Tell us what other topics you would like us to write, share, and discuss.

Continue to follow my blogs. You can also follow and learn more by joining us in our Facebook group. Have more bits and pieces about our kind of food, ingredients, and ways of cooking, dining, and knowing food culture across the 7,641 islands of the Philippines. 

Encouragement and enthusiasm are not enough. I also need moral support, prayers, and anything else that can uplift my spirit and keep my good reasons. Keep them coming. All I know is that I am happy with what I am sharing and giving away. If you are pleased and happy with what I am doing, just smile and please share the happiness. Keep sharing and include to share the PHILIPPINE FOOD ILLUSTRATED. I feel energized when my blog becomes one of the reasons why you are happy and smiling. 

Edgie Polistico

For more about Filipino food, see  this Philippine Food, Cooking, and Dining Dictionary. It is OPEN and FREE.

suman maruecos

suman maruecos – /sú-man ma-ru-we-kos/ (Tagalog and Bulaqueño snack) [n.] purple rice stick.

A sweet and sticky rice snack delicacy made with ground glutinous purple rice, sugar, and coconut cream.  The rice mix is wrapped in banana leaf and rolled into a log and topped or sprinkled with latik (the aromatic brown curd of boiled coconut cream) and then steamed to cook.

Its consistency is quite similar to tikoy or a thickened calamay.

Can be taken and eaten as is or with hot coffee, hot or cold chocolate drinks, or ice-cold cola drinks, and other palamig (cold refreshments).     

Suman maruecos of a booth that sells native Bulaqueño snacks and delicacies in Market-Market, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City.

To make suman maruecos, 2 cups of purple glutinous rice is washed, drained, then soaked in water enough to cover and for at least 4 hours. Afterward, the water is decanted and the soaked rice is ground into galapong (rice batter).

Another 1 cup of rice flour (ground ordinary rice, not malagkit) is added and blended well in the glutinous galapong to minimize the stickiness of would-be suman maruecos. Then 1/2 cup of coconut cream and 1/3 cup of sugar are added and mixed well for every cup of galapong produced.

The mixture is then cooked in a pot on low heat and stirred continuously until the mixture thickens into a paste. The pot is then removed from heat and set to cool.

When cool, 2 spoonfuls of thick rice paste is laid and spread on a banana leaf wrapper and rolled into a log (size similar to a jumbo sausage), and sprinkled with latik (those aromatic brown curds of boiled coconut cream, as in when making coconut oil).

The banana leaf wrapper is then rolled and pulled to wrap the suman maruecos. Both ends of the banana wrapper are folded to seal the contents. Several pieces of suman maruecos are piled in a steamer and cooked for about 30 minutes. 

When cooked, the consistency of suman maruecos would look like tikoy (Chinese sticky rice cake) or a thick calamay (sweetened sticky rice paste).

If purple glutinous rice is not available, white glutinous rice can be used as a substitute added with mashed ube to give the suman its purple color.

Check this simple recipe for suman maruecos

All photos by Edgie Polistico in this blog are copyrighted. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

See Index of Entries here 

If you liked this post, share it.

Let us know your opinion on the subject. Feel free to comment in the comment section, below. It is important for us to know what you think.

Tell us what other topics you would like us to write, share, and discuss. 

For more about Filipino food, see  this Philippine Food, Cooking, and Dining Dictionary. It is OPEN and FREE.

Continue to follow my blogs. You can also follow and learn more by joining us in our Facebook group. Have more bits and pieces about our kind of food, ingredients, and ways of cooking, dining, and knowing food culture across the 7,641 islands of the Philippines.

Encouragement and enthusiasm are not enough. I also need moral support, prayers, and anything else that can uplift my spirit and keep my good reasons. Keep them coming. All I know is that I am happy with what I am sharing and giving away. If you are pleased and happy with what I am doing, just smile and please share the happiness. Keep sharing and include to share the PHILIPPINE FOOD ILLUSTRATED. I feel energized when my blog becomes one of the reasons why you are happy and smiling. 

Edgie Polistico