Comments on: Puto Balanghoy / Steamed Cassava Cake with Coconut

By: silvia

silvia — Fri, 12 Aug 2016 09:13:38 +0000

as a child, one of the things i looked forward to during lazy summer afternoons was the arrival of the kakanin vendor who made the rounds of our neighborhood. pag walang pera si nanay, the lady would pass unmolested. but if my mother had cash to spare, my sisters and i got to pick one item of kakanin each for our merienda. our suki’s wondrous wares included lanson, two pieces rolled up in banana leaves but without the bukayo. i realize now that given their shape, those twin lanson might have been cooked in milk tins as millet said. another native treat i like is bicho-bicho but not the dough bicho-bicho–i forget what we called that in our place–that is sold in manila; haven’t tried its equivalent (or so i’ve been told) here, carioca.

By: EbbaBlue

EbbaBlue — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 22:30:28 +0000

Hey BettyQ and ConnieC, how are you guys.

MM, didnt think of anything about those last photos, till you said something. Hahhaha.
Will tell my house assistant to try this technique.
As for me, I’ll use the steamer basket that came with the rice cooker. Its a small size, so I think it will work. I got fresh banana leaves from my trees, and the Mexican grocery nearby sells fresh coconut and balinghoy.

By: ConnieC

ConnieC — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 21:39:05 +0000

Hi bettyQ! We miss you:)

By: Footloose

Footloose — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 18:45:55 +0000

Hey Betty Q, we’ve been wondering about you although deep in our hearts we know that you’re just busy tending to your veggies when not into the woods mycoprospecting. I’m turning to Khew’s and your wise and learned counsel in anticipation of the harvest as summer ends.

By: betty q.

betty q. — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 15:22:27 +0000

Footloose…if you are up for another tip…in this heat, one can find me barbecuing outside instead of cranking up the stove or oven. I grill all the veggies I am harvesting such as zucchini coming out of my ears (ball zucchini in green, light green and yellow are the best for they are denser), carrots, sweet red peppers, onions and even tomatoes, seasoned with minced garlic, Montreal steak spice and splash of olive oil. For tomatoes, I smoke them lightly just to give it a smoky undertone ( makes excellent smoked tomato vinaigrette!), corn. At any rate, using those grilled vegetables will elevate your quiches and ratatouille up a notch!

But for ratatouille…I always have on hand Mrs. Marcella Hazan’s tomato sauce which I make in batches and freeze. I have a bumper crop of tomatoes again and started making her sauce and freezing them. However, when I make her sauce, I reduce it to almost half if I am to use it for pasta and sinigang! For ratatouille, I reduce what I need even further so the flavours are concentrated and not as watery. Then I add the herbs and grilled cut up vegetables.

Ok…back to gardening!

By: Skye

Skye — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 10:08:37 +0000

@Cumin, that’s it! Luyang :-)

By: maricel hipol

maricel hipol — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 09:55:24 +0000

I remember buying it from street vendors in V. Rama, Cebu some 30 years back.
It was a good snack at 3 pcs for 1 peso. Yum!

By: Libay

Libay — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 06:52:33 +0000

We call this puto lanson here in Iloilo.

By: Toping

Toping — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 06:40:37 +0000

MM, these cakes are still sold around here (Maasin, Southern Leyte). Me, I prefer my cassava simply steamed, with coconut cream poured over them at the last stage of cooking, then a sprinkling of brown sugar–goes very well with shrimp paste sauteed to death (itos is the term, I think) with lots of spices and tomatoes (and a bit of sugar). BTW, have you tried tostado? THey’re squares of sticky rice topped with a crispy layer of latik–my personal favorite among local kakanin.

By: Marj

Marj — Wed, 10 Aug 2016 16:27:42 +0000

This kakanin is one of the reasons why I never liked cassava cakes – who can say no to hand grated and hand squeezed cassava, steamed and topped with homemade bukayo? ^_^ My fondest memory was cleaning out and tapping holes on the bottom of Century tuna cans whenever were making these