easy as pie? not really. the time-consuming part, at least with the ilongo version, is in the preparation of rice flour. rice is soaked in water overnight. it is then pounded on a wooden mortar (“lusong”) and pestle (i can’t recall how this thing is called in the vernacular). now comes the laborious part. the ground rice is placed in a bilao. the later is slightly tilted (pointed end facing down)
and moved sidewise like a vibrating screen with the rapid flicking of the hands (it’s an acquired skill). coarse flour ends up in the lower end of the bilao and returned to the mortar for more pounding with more soaked rice. the finer grind is transferred to a container for the use intended. the process is repeated for as many times there is still soaked rice (the “lusong” can accommodate probably just a liter in volume). can take the whole afternoon if one is preparing kumbo for a crowd.

using a stone grinder as tagalogs do in making galapong probably would shorten the process but the grind would not be as fine.