Showing posts with label rice. Show all posts

December 22, 2010

pasong (rice in banana leaf)

Pasong from a food stall in Cotabato City.

pasong - /pá-song/ (Maguindanaon rice meal) [n.] conic rice. Steamed rice wrapped in banana leaf folded into a conic shape.

Plain ordinary rice is steamed into kanin. A ladle scoop of steamed rice is wrapped in banana leaf and folded into a conic shape. Before wrapping, the banana leaf wrapper can be made pliant by wilting. It is done by passing the leaf over the flame or hot ember.

This is how the Maguindanaos of Mindanao sold their cooked rice or packed them as baon (food brought along to work or travel).

The packaging is very environmentally friendly as it uses a banana leaf as a wrapper and not the non-biodegradable and health-hazard sheets of plastic cellophane or styrofoam. Not, unless you use a plastic bag to hold the pasong when buying it.

Related posts:

Pastil

Puso (sweetened rice)

puso (plain

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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

pastil

pastil – /pas-tíl/ (Maguindanaon packed meal) [n.] rice topped with sautéed shredded meat.

Similar dishes:

also spelled as pastel in Maguindanaon
patel or pater in Maranao
paster in Iranun

It is closely similar to the Tagalog binalot sa dahon except for the way how it is wrapped in banana leaf.

A scoop (about a cup) of steamed or boiled plain rice is placed on the center of a spread of banana leaf and topped with shreds or flakes of sautéed meat or fish called kagikit.

The cut of banana leaf is wilted first in fire or ember to soften and make it a pliant wrapper.

The scoop of cooked rice is then molded by folding the banana leaf. Before finally wrapping the rice, it is topped with kagikit (sautéed shredded meat) usually that of shredded meat of braised fish or chicken. Then the leaf is finally rolled around the topped rice. It is sealed by folding both ends similar to that of suman (Tagalog rice stick), only that the pastil is wider and flatter in shape than that of suman.

The special version of pastil has more meat, plus a hard-boiled chicken egg (shelled and cut into halves) as toppings, and the rice is mixed with a little amount of glutinous rice that would bind well the molded meal.

Pastil is considered the budget combo meal of our Muslim brothers in Mindanao.

In Manila, it is sold and readily available in the ubiquitous Halal restaurants and eateries near the Golden Mosque in the Quiapo district and in Maharlika Village in Taguig City.

Pastil is usually served and eaten by pouring some soy sauce right before eating and paired with hard-boiled chicken egg. It can also be eaten on the go by holding a piece of pastil and peeling it just like when you open a banana and eat it while standing, walking, or on a ride.

A Maguindanaon food stall vendor skillfully prepares pastil.

A mold of rice is topped with kagikit of sautéed shredded chicken meat from Cotabato City

A mold of rice is topped with kagikit of shredded fish adobo. This one is from Quiapo, Manila.

This mound of pastil is sold at a Halal eatery at the Welcome Rotunda in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat. Boiled eggs complement with the packed meal.

Mounds of pastil is a common sight at the many foodstands along Sinsuat Ave ext. cor Quezon Ave. in Cotabato City.

In Metro Manila, you can have pastil from the ubiquitous food stalls and eateries near the Golden Mosque in Quiapo, Manila. I bought a bag of my first pastil experience from this place.

In Metro Manila, you can also buy pastil in Maharlika Market and in talipapa and eateries nearby the Blue Mosque in the Maharlika Village in Taguig City.

You can eat pastil with bare hands, but make sure to wash your hands before eating to conform with the Muslim law on hygiene in dining Halal food. Here, I'm eating pastil with a pair of spoon and fork at home.

December 18, 2010

tagaktak

tagaktak – /ta-gák-tak/ Cebuano snack [n.] rice fritter

a.k.a. tinagaktak in Cebuano
amik in Davao del Sur
lukot-lukot in Chavacano [Zamboangueño]
tinagtag in Maguindanaon
tiyatug or tiyanug in Maranao
ja in Ta’u-sug

A net-like rice fritter, made with sticky rice batter, blended with fresh coconut milk, beaten chicken egg, and sugar. The color and size of the strands look like intertwined fried pancit bihon. Fine and crisp. If desired to make it even crispier, there are those who would add kamote flour (sweet potato flour) to the batter.

Tagaktak is produced using a coconut shell with small perforations that serve as a strainer. The coco shell is tied with string and hung directly over a pan with deep oil heated on medium fire. The prepared rice batter is poured into the coco shell, allowing it to pass through down the small holes like a water sprinkler. The batter would come out continuously as thin strings falling directly into the pan and are immediately fried upon contact with the boiling oil. While the batter is dripping, the strainer is swayed alternately in crisscrossing and circular motion to create a net-like pattern of rice fritter.

Tagaktak being sold on sidewalk stalls across the entrance gate of Basilica Minore del Sto Niño de Cebu (a.k.a. Sto Niño Church) in Cebu City.

The rice fritter is then folded in half and folded further into a triangle, making it to like a folded flag. Turned over to fry the other side until golden brown and crisp. Tagaktak is then taken out right away from the pan when the right color is attained. Otherwise, it would turn darker, indicating that tagaktak is already burnt. Excess oil is drained before tagaktak is served on a banana leaf or plate, or put in a plastic cellophane bag.

The name tagaktak is from the Cebuano word tagak, which means “to drop” or "to fall" The derivative word tagaktak means “continuous falling or dropping” referring to the rice batter falling out from the strainer. If coconut shell is not available, tagaktak makers would use empty milk can as a replacement. The bottom of the can is perforated by hammering a 2-inch nail through it. A long handle can be attached to the shell or can so as to avoid the cook from getting hurt from the spattering hot oil and steam when cooking tagaktak.

This rice fritter is similar to the tiyanug of Maranao, the ja of Tausug, or the tinagtag of Maguindanaon, only that they are pliable and often shaped into tubes. Tagaktak is traditionally triangular, very crisp, and would easily brittle.

These pieces of tagaktak are manufactured in Mandaue City and sold on sidewalk stalls near the Nuestra Señora Virgen de Regla church in Poblacion, Lapulapu City, Mactan island, Cebu.

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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 about.

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

ampao

ampaw – /ám-paw/ [n.] puffed rice \pop-rice.

(also spelled as ampaw)

Home-made ampao is made of bahaw rice that is sun-dried and then fried to puff.

Special or commercialized ampao is processed using long-tubular steel with a cover designed like that of a pressurized cooker, installed with a safety device that would prevent the lid from catapulting as soon as it is opened under high pressure. The rice grain and a small amount of cooking oil are put into this cooker, covered tightly, and cooked under heated pressure on a stove. After several minutes of heating and shaking, the lid of the pressurized cooker is loosened at once and the rice would pop aloud as soon as the pressure is released. The sudden release of pressure makes the rice grain pop and become puffy as it enlarges the size of each grain in a snap.

The popped rice is then blended with melted sugar or caramel. The sugar-coated puffed rice is either shaped into ampao balls (the size of a tennis ball) in different colors using food coloring or molded into big rectangular shapes and sliced into blocks or bite-size bars.

In Carcar, Cebu, and in Western Samar, a slice of rectangular ampao is topped with a whole piece of roasted peanut. Unlike the ampaw mentioned above, the ampao Carcar is made of cooked rice that is then dried and fried crisp

A bite of ampao nga may mani from Western Samar.

A similar ampaw na may mani from Carcar, Cebu and it is called ampao Carcar.

Ampao Carcar bought in Cebu City

Unwrapping pinyato (ampao with minced peanut) from Western Samar

A man peddling ampao balls along EDSA in Munoz, Quezon City; An old lady selling ampao balls at the foot of a footbridge along Commonwealth Avenue in Batasan, Quezon City.

Ampao balls sold along the sidewalk under the viaduct in Alabang, Muntinlupa City; Ampao balls sold at Plaza Miranda in Quiapo, Manila by a grandma and her grandson.

Ampao balls from a sidewalk stall in Bicutan, Taguig

Related posts:

Buti-buti

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If you liked this post and our site, 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 about.

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

December 17, 2010

puso (plain rice)

puso – /pu-sô, pusò / Cebuano and Boholano staple [n.] palm-wrapped rice. Rice cooked in the heart-shaped or diamond-shaped woven coconut palm.

This puso is unsweetened and unflavored, starchy and bland, often taken as a pair to sud-an (main dish called viand by Filipinos, any dish paired with rice, bread, or other starch food) served and eaten similar to kan-on (steamed rice).

Other local names:

patupat in Capampangan
bugnoy in Ilonggo [Hiligaynon]
tamu in Tausug

The rice is cooked in a heart-shaped or diamond-shaped pouch of a woven coconut palm. The palm used in weaving the packaging pouch is the young and newly sprouting leaves of coconut, preferably those that are still whitish-yellow in color. It's the same kind of coconut palm used on Palm Sunday by the devotees of the Philippine Catholic churches.

The hanging puso at the Fishport in Danao City, Cebu

The tukog (midrib) is removed and the long strip of palm’s blade is skillfully woven into a diamond-shaped packaging, about the size of an adult human's fist, then half-filled with rice grains.

Weaving a ball of palm requires instruction from a skilled weaver and must be practiced well to perfect the shape, size, and tightness of woven strips.

Through a narrow opening between the overlaying strips, the palm ball is half-filled with bugas humay (hulled rice grains). It is important to keep some space inside to give the rice space to expand inside when cooked. To cook, the filled palm balls are placed in a cooking pot and then filled with water equivalent to the total measurement of all the rice grains used.

Cooking is simply done by boiling until all the water is absorbed. The absorption would cause the grains to expand and fill all the space inside the woven palm ball. When the rice is tender, puso is already cooked.

Puso at the Taboan in Inopacan, Leyte

To serve, puso is sliced into halves and the mold of cooked rice is taken out and eaten either by picking it by hand or cut it further into chunks and scooping the lumps with a spoon.

A basket of puso at the Public Market in Iligan City, North Cotabato

In eateries and barbecue stands in Visayas, puso is sold either hanging or laid on the counter of food stalls.

Visayan folks fondly called it pusô because they likened its shape to the red banana flower bud called by the same name as púsò in Cebuano, Boholano, and Waray.

Puso being sold at the Taboan (trading marketplace) in the Reclamation Area in Inopacan, Leyte

This Cebuano puso is unsweetened and unflavored, starchy and bland, often taken as paired with sud-an (ulam in Tagalog) like the usual steamed rice. It's unlike the Hiligaynon puso of Panay, Capiz which is sweetened with lots of latik sa nipa (nipa palm syrup). But both are called puso after the "pusò sa saging" ("púsò ng saging" in Tagalog) in reference to their shape and not because the banana flower bud is hanging. It was a mistake that puso rice is named after the "heart" known in Tagalog as puso. Notice the accent used in Cebuano and Hiligaynon (pusò/pósò) compared to Tagalog (púsò). In Visayas, a banana flower bud is commonly called pusò or pósò. While a “heart” in Cebuano and Ilonggo/Hiligaynon is called kasíng-kásing, not puso. Hiligaynons often used "tagiposóon" to refer to one's heart. Tagiposóon is derived from pósò (banana flower bud). Thus, tagiposoon would mean "the poso-like" organs of humans and animals.

Most writers, particularly those who are not from Visayas or Mindanao, would call puso "hanging rice" in their write-ups or articles when writing in English. But the truth is, puso is more often displayed and sold as being laid on the table or counter. When dining, puso is not also served hanging or to dangle on the table, but on the plate or tray. It so happened, that those being hung on display are most noticeable than those laid on the counter or table. "Hanging rice" is quite a misnomer for puso. It would better be called puso as "palm-wrapped rice," being rice cooked in woven coconut leaf.