sawa

A harvest of not-so-matured sawa pods being sold in the public market of Super in Cotabato City during one of my brief stay in the city in November 2010.

 

sawa – /sá-wà/ Maguindanaon edible water plant/fruit) 1. [n.] sacred lotus (sc.name: Nelumbo nucifera, Gaertn.) \oriental lotus 2. [n.] lotus pod and its seeds \lotus seed.

Other local common names:

• beno or baino in Tagalog-Lagueño [Laguna Lake].
• pagusi in Surigaonon  [Mainit Lake] of Surigao del Norte and in Cebuano-Agusanon (Agusan del Norte).
• sukaw in Ilocano [Paoay Lake].
• kulatot in Pangasinense.
• lingaling in Ibanag (Cagayan Province).

 

A fruit of indigenous sacred lotus that grows in the ponds, marshes, swamps, and lakes of Maguindanao and adjacent towns and provinces. The fruit has seeds with nutty kernels that are eaten raw as a snack. Lotus plants are very much abundant in the Tamontaka river, Rio Grande Mindanao river, Matampay river, and the vast swampy areas of Liguasan marsh and Libungan marsh of Maguindanao and Cotabato regions in the southwestern part of mainland Mindanao. 

This lotus plant is native of Asia, particularly of Indochina (Mainland Southeast Asia) and adjacent other countries of South East Asia. Probably of  prehistoric introduction to the Philippines.

The young pod of the fruit has a thick casing resembling that of a halved cacao fruit or a cornucopia of protruding yellow-green seeds. Simply, figure it out as a showerhead.

Two elderly Maguindanaon women in Cotabato City picking bunch of not-so-matured sawa pods for their grandkids.

The ovaloid young lotus seeds need to be pulled out, its shell cracked open like a peanut and its nutty, tender white kernel is taken out and eaten raw. It tastes like that of a boiled young peanuts.

The Maguindanaons would often give this to their kids and toddlers as nourishment

Are lotus and water lily the same?

 

Let it be known, and to set it clear, that lotus and water lily are two different kinds of aquatic plants. Yes, they are not the same. The  Maguindanaon sawa is a kind of lutos and not a water lily. 

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

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