Filipino Christmas Foods

13 days to go for Christmas but the here in the Philippines it starts when the calendar hits the -BER months. And I would like to share with you the foods that usually comes out only when it's Christmas int he Philippines.

This is Puto Bumbong. It is traditionally made from a special variety of sticky or glutinous rice (called pirurutong) which has a distinctively purple color. Puto Bumbong is commonly eaten during Christmas in the Philippines. It is served topped with butter or margarine and shredded coconut mixed with brown sugar. Enjoy this recipe from us at Filipino Chow.

Ingredients

2 cups of white glutinous rice
1 cup of purple glutinous rice (pirurutong)
1 cup of brown sugar (muscovado)
1 cup grated fresh coconut
butter or margarine
2 cups of water
bamboo tubes for molds (bumbong)

Instructions

Put the two types of glutinous rice in a large bowl.
Rinse the rice with cold water, then drain the water.
Now fill the bowl up with clean water.
Soak the rice in the water overnight.
The next day, drain the water, but leave some water with the rice (about 2 tablespoons worth of water).
Pour the soaked rice in a large blender.
Process the rice with the blender until it has the consistency of pancake batter.
Pour the mixture on a large piece of cheese cloth or muslin.
Wrap the mixture with the cloth then securely tie the ends.
Put the muslin in colander over a bowl or pot.
Now place a heavy object on top of that so the pressure will force water out of the mixture.
Once the mixture has stopped dripping, remove it from the muslin.
Now that the rice has dried, rub it against the screen of a strainer to produce coarse grained rice flour.
Then take a bamboo tube and fill it with just enough glutinous rice so that it is nearly full, but not completely full.
Put the bamboo tubes into a steamer.
Steam the bamboo tubes for about 10 minutes.
When you see steam coming out of the bamboo tubes, that means it is done.
Carefully remove the cooked glutinous rice from the bamboo tubes with a knife or clean stick then transfer it to a serving plate or banana leaves if available.
Spread margarine onto the puto bumbong.
Sprinkle them with mascuvado sugar and grated coconut before serving.
Serve while they are still warm.

Here's how the coarse grain rice flour looks.

And the steamer that is specially designed only for cooking Puto Bumbong looks like this.

The Bamboo Tubes are wrapped with clean cloth so you won't get burned when you hold the tubes once the Puto Bumbong is ready for plating.

This is Bibingka. This is a type of rice cake from the Philippines that traditionally eaten during the Christmas season. It is made with rice flour, coconut milk, margarine, sugar and shredded coconut. Enjoy this recipe from us at Filipino Chow.

Ingredients

1 cup of rice flour
3 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons of baking powder
pinch of salt
3 tablespoons of margarine, melted
1 cup of light brown sugar
1 cup of coconut milk
1⁄4 cup of fresh milk
1-2 pieces of salted duck egg, sliced
grated edam cheese for topping
grated coconut for topping
banana leaf or parchment paper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 F.
In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients together (this includes the rice flour, baking powder, white sugar and salt).
Mix the ingredients together until they are well blended then set them aside.
In a separate bowl, combine the melted margarine, fresh milk and coconut milk then mix well.
Now add the beaten eggs then mix well, preferably using a hand mixer at low speed, until this mixture has a smooth texture.
Slowly add your dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredients while continuously stirring.
Continue to stir until you have a smooth batter without any lumps.
Set this mixture aside.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Prepare moulds such as ramekins or a baking pan lined with banana leaf or parchment paper.
Pour the batter into your baking dish.
Bake this in the oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, remove it from oven then place salted egg slices and cheese on top of the cake(s).
Then put it back in the oven and bake for 20 more minutes or until it turns a golden brown color.
Remove it from oven then brush it with margarine and sprinkle it with sugar followed by grated coconut.
Serve while hot and Enjoy!

Here is the traditional way of cooking Bibingka without using an oven.

Hope you like it.

Recipe from: http://www.filipinochow.com
Pictires from: Google