Philippine Food Illustrated

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.

Tamu sold at a Tausug restaurant along Rizal St. in Zamboanga City. The attendant slices it into chunks for the satti.

Pieces of sliced puso served at Dwino's Grill in Ozamiz City in Misamis Occidental province.

See Index of Entries here.

Related posts:

Puso (sweetened rice)

Pastil

Pasong

Kalintubo

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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

one-day-old chick

Freshly fried one day old chicks at the Public Market of Alabang, Muntinlupa City.

one-day-old chick – (wan de owld tsik; Tagalog delicacy) [n.] deep-fried one-day-old chick.

A delicacy in the Philipines that is made with a chick of a fully fertilized chicken egg or the day-old chicken (DOC). The chick could had just been hatched or is about to be hatched on that day. It is another gross-looking Filipino street food but is considered a favorite delicacy by some locals because of its savory taste.

Another tray of still to be fried one day old chicks found in the grocery of Market Market in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City.

If the chick in the egg is still to be hatched, as in between 20 to 21 days of incubation period, the eggs are prematurely cracked open and the chicks are removed from the shells. The chicks are then parboiled to easily remove visible hairs and then fried in deep oil until crisp and reddish or brownish-orange in color.

Fried one-day-old chicks are served either skewered in bamboo sticks or put in a plastic cups and drenched in spiced-up vinegar or sweet brown sauce.

A gruesome story behind one-day-old chicks.

Did you know that the major source of one-day-old chicks delicacy are culled male chicks from the egg farms?

It is a practice for poultry producers that they would favor to grow female chicken for meat as they grow faster. They would routinely and systematically remove the male chicks at the very start of growing the chick in a process known as culling or the harvesting and killing of chicks.

In the industry of growing chickens, chicken farmers would start to cull their chicks out of fear that the cost of poultry production will continue to rise while poultry income would drop due to low farm gate prices or too much overhead expenses.

Poultry farmers would routinely cull male chicks as part of their cost-cutting strategy for poultry production and to increase their return on investment. Male chicks are not grown for meat as they would cost more to feed and house than they would produce income.

Biologically, it is impossible for male chickens to lay eggs as they do not have ovaries where eggs are developed inside the chicken's body. Only female chickens have an ovary and are able to lay eggs. The females could also lay eggs continuously even if there is no male chicken present. Yes, they can spontaneously develop an egg inside their bodies and lay eggs all by themselves. Males have no role in the egg-laying process. The females (hen or pullets) would only need a male (rooster or cockerel) when it comes to fertilizing an egg to produce another batch or next generation of chicks.

Thus, male chicks are deemed worthless in the egg industry and they are mercilessly culled or brutally killed.

Culling usually starts as early as when the undesired chicks are hatched or just a day-old chicks. In big poultry farms, chicks are routinely culled by shredding them alive, though some farmers would electrocute, suffocate in bags, or gas the chicks to death before macerating them. Some would resort to brutal killing by using extremely cruel techniques of shredding chicks alive, burning, crushing, drowning, electrocuting, gassing using CO2 gas, or suffocating them in bags.

In 2021, it was reported that a total of more than 6 billion chicks are killed every year around the world by industrial farmers as they are considered useless by both egg and chicken meat producers.

However, in the Philippines, culled chicks are sold to street food entrepreneurs who would then fry the chicks in oil and sold as a delicacy.

The advancing technology of eliminating male chicks.

Even when in-ovo sexing technology is implemented to help abolish the culling of male chicks, as what the animal welfare activists are lobbying for, Philippine's one-day-old chicks delicacy will not totally disappear in the food map. In-ovo sexing is just a process of determining the sex of a chicken before the egg hatches. Thus, fully developed chicks are still there waiting to be cracked open and fried into a "one-day-old chick" Pinoy food delicacy.

What may likely stop male chicks from fully developing and being allowed to hatch and be culled is the use of "endocrinological gender identification" technology, a kind of test similar to a human pregnancy test. It is done during the 8th to 14th day incubation period when a sample of liquid from each fertilized egg is taken and examined for the presence of a female hormone by looking for a color-changing reaction. The female eggs continue toward hatching, while the male eggs will be removed and used for animal feed for us Filipinos, we can boil these eggs and pass them on as the chicken version of balut penoy.

But endocrinological gender identification is far from becoming a normal practice aside from being a very costly process. There is an issue that complicates this process - that it is uncertain when an embryo becomes a chick to feel pain. Some researchers say chick embryos can begin to experience pain at day 7 of incubation. If true, sexing the eggs 8 to 14 days after incubation would end up trading animal welfare problems even if electricity is used to help anesthetize the eggs.

Unless technology is developed that can control and change the sex of chicks before they even hatch, culling male chicks will not stop. The technique could be the use of hormonal treatments, where the future fertilized egg will permanently produce all-female laying-breed chicks. From then, culling chicks will be eliminated and one-day-old chicks may start to dwindle and disappear in the street food markets.

References:

Poultry World, "Philippine farmers cull chicken early to improve local prices," Jul 11, 2012, https://www.poultryworld.net/Broilers/Markets--Trade/2012/7/Philippine-farmers-cull-chicken-early-to-improve-local-prices-WP010623W/

Animal Equality, "STOP THE MASSACRE OF MALE CHICKS," https://animalequality.org/action/ban-chick-culling

Danovich, Tove K., "Why the US egg industry is still killing 300 million chicks a year," Vox, Apr 12, 2021, https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22374193/eggs-chickens-animal-welfare-culling

CNN Philippines, "France to ban mass shredding of live chicks," Sara Spary, Saskya Vandoorne and Fanny Bobille, CNN, Jan 30, 2020, https://cnnphilippines.com/world/2020/1/30/france-bans-chick-shredding.html?fbclid=IwAR29lVpv_FInQ-fEhjc3ZDLHOkk2hX8sEzGAnCMkGKyXUSsOT2t3BH3ynzU

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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

tikoy Gumaca

tikoy Gumaca – /ti-koy gu-má-ka/ Quezon delicacy [n.] tikoy wrapped in anahaw palm.

The tikoy in it is prepared like the conventional tikoy using ground glutinous rice, butter, and ground sugar as the main ingredients.

My wife, Margette, trying the taste of tikoy we bought in Brgy. Buensuceso, Gumaca, Quezon.

What makes Gumaca tikoy unique is that it is wrapped in dried leaves of anahaw palm. The tikoy is stuffed into a tubular cellophane wrapper (or the usual large ice-candy plastic wrapper), and layers of anahaw leaves are then wrapped lengthwise around the filled plastic tube and tied on both ends.

The finished product would look like a long pike of unhusked corn - distinct and appealing packaging.

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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

fisharon

fisharon - /fish sa-rón/ dw Amer. fish + Span. chicharrón [fried pork crackling]) [n.] fish skin cracker

Other local name:

a.k.a. tuna chip or fish skin crackers

It is made with deep-fried skin of matured fish, such as bangus (milkfish), tuna, and tilapia (St. Peter's fish). A Pinoy delicacy.

A recently invented "pulutan" (finger food that accompanies in drinking session).

Tuna chips (fisharon) from Gen. Santos City

The word fisharon is coined after combining the English word "fish" and "chicharon" (from Span. chicharron, meaning fried pork crackling).

Tuna fisharon is also known as Tuna chip in Gen. Santos City.

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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

binutong

binutong - (bi-nù-tong, bi-nu-tóng; Bicolano delicacy) [n.] glutinous rice cooked in coconut cream, sugar, and few salts, then while it is still half-cooked, a scoop of it is placed in a spread of layered banana leaves with more kakang gata.

Binutong from Naga City

The edges of filled banana leaves are gathered together and tied like a pouch and then cooked further in boiling water or thinned coconut milk to complete the cooking.

Binutong is traditionally served with hot chocolate and grilled or fried dried fish.

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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

kabkab

kabkab - /kab-kab/ Leyteño snack [n.] cassava wafer \cassava crisp.

Other local names:

sitsaritsit or saritsit in Digos City, Davao del Sur
kiping in Chavacano [Zamboangueño], Camiguinian, Misamisnon [Misamis oriental] and the rest of northern Mindanao
burikit in Dipolognon (Dipolog City, Zamboanga del sur and nearby towns)
buriki in Oroquieta City, Misamis Occidental
piking in Cuyonon [Palaweño], and Waray (Sulat, Eastern Samar)

It is made with cassava tuber grated finely into pulp. The pulp is then flavored with dash of salt and subtly sweetened with not so much sugar, all blended well to mix. A scoop of the mixture is spread thinly on a banana leaf, forming a disc (about the size of a dinner plate), and then put in a steamer. The steaming hot vapor of boiling water would cook the cassava spread until translucent or paste-like in consistency. Then it is taken out from the steamer and set to dry, either by air drying or sun drying, until it stiffens and holds its flat shape as a raw wafer similar to kiping of Tayabas, Quezon. At this stage, the dried cassava wafer can be stored for months until needed in cooking.

To cook, the wafer is deep-fried in cooking oil. The oil must be very hot, preferably boiling, before the cassava wafer is dipped and fried. While being fried, the wafer would expand and cooking is done when it turns golden (yellowish brown) and very crisp. It is important not to overcook the wafer. When overcooked it becomes dark brown or very dark in hue, an indication that the wafer is burnt and would taste bitter.

When serving kabkab, the crisp cassava wafer is laid on a plate or on a sheet of banana leaf and topped with a spread or swirling streak of sweet latik (coconut milk and sugar syrup).

Kabkab would easily brittle and crumble in every bite. Crunchy when chewed. By the time crumbled pieces melt in the mouth, the goodness of starchy flavor and sweetness of latik will delight your palate.