Local culinary icon Glenda Barretto remembers stepping out of the Misa de Gallo on Christmas

Eve and breathing in the aroma of bibingka (fluffy cake made of glutinous galapong rice)

and puto bumbong (made from steamed pirurutong rice variety) from stalls gathered in front of
their parish church in Samar province.

She calls it a “memory that I hold near and dear” from her childhood. After the mass heralding
the birth of Jesus, her parents made it a tradition to purchase bibingka—still steaming-hot while
wrapped in banana leaf—and hurry home with the children.  The family would then consume the
rice cakes with freshly-made hot chocolate in the kitchen.

“It was something we looked forward to,” she said.

Despite the passage of time, Barretto still loves bibingka for its taste and the memories it
triggers. “I love bibingka! I can consume (one) entirely and it is a whole meal by itself,” she said.

Barretto also likes puto bumbong but considers it a dessert after a light meal.

Bibingka and puto bumbong are just two among kakanin offered throughout the country.

Via Mare puto bumbong
Via Mare’s bibingka with Laguna cheese and salted egg

Chef Gene Gonzalez noted in The Little Kakanin Book that the word stems from “kanin” that can
either be used as a noun or as a verb.

“With the prefix ‘ka,’ kakanin describes many kinds of rice recipes meant to be eaten as snacks
and of the many ways of cooking snacks or desserts to celebrate the harvest of the Philippine
islands,” Gonzalez said.

But among all the kakanin, only bibingka and puto bumbong enjoy an enduring connection to the

Filipino holiday season. There is, of course, an interesting back story.

Back in the Spanish colonial period, the friars introduced Simbang Gabi—the nine-day set of
novena masses celebrated at dawn beginning Dec. 16 to usher Christmas.

The masses conclude late on Christmas Eve with the Misa de Gallo or Rooster’s Mass that
supposedly ends at midnight. It is believed that anything prayed for while attending the nine
masses would be granted.

That the nine-day Simbang Gabi masses are held sometime between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. is
supposedly a “compromise” between friars and farmers who needed to tend to their crops before
sunrise.

“With Simbang Gabi season came longer work days for our forefathers—waking up to attend the
masses [meant] waking up before the break of dawn,” Barretto explained.

And to prepare for the work ahead after the mass, the farmers would proceed to the stalls selling
various kakanin in the churchyard for carbo-loading.

“Less of a festivity and more of a functionality, our favorite bibingka and puto bumbong were

rooted in the need for a heavy breakfast [farmers] could easily consume after the [Simbang
Gabi],” she added.

Still, preparing bibingka and puto bumbong is laborious.

To make bibingka, glutinous rice called galapong is soaked overnight either in water or coconut

milk inside a clay jar and sprinkled with yeast. Hours later, the galapong is ground into a thick
paste and mixed with eggs and milk before it is cooked.

Chef Rolando Laudico describes the process of making bibingka: “The rice cake is cooked in a
native clay pot lined with banana leaves, with hot charcoal both on top and bottom as heat
source.

“Some versions, especially those (now) commonly prepared in big cities, are fluffier and taste
more like cake. In rural areas, the bibingka is usually flatter but very rich, almost like a pudding
or custard,” Laudico said.
Traditi
onal bibingkera in Laguna. Photo by Danica Condez
Lagun
a bibingka. Photo by Danica Condez

Inquirer food writer Norma Chikiamco said banana leaves play a significant role in bibingka.
These are not just food wrappers. Enveloping fresh bibingka in banana leaf ensures the inclusion
of the leaf’s subtle aroma into the kakanin.

The Philippine Food, Cooking and Dining Dictionary meanwhile, describes puto bumbong as

“steamed purple rice cake. The name puto bumbong is derived from the bamboo tube
called bumbong kawayan used as the mold in steaming the puto.”

Making puto bumbong begins with soaking the purple-hued pirurutong glutinous rice in water

overnight. A white rice variety called “malagkit” is sometimes added for chewiness.

The following morning, the pirurutong-malagkit mix is pushed into the bamboo tubes, inserted
into metal cylinders or steamers lubricated with cooking oil, butter or margarine.

Puto bumbong being made. Photo by Tricia Guevara

Once cooked, the puto bumbong “is laid on a banana leaf and spread with butter or margarine,
rolled on muscovado sugar and sprinkled with freshly grated coconut,” the food dictionary said.
Like bibingka, puto bumbong is best eaten piping hot.

Casual diners usually regard puto bumbong as second fiddle to bibingka. The Maya Kitchen begs
to disagree, noting its unique qualities.

In the book Sarap Pinoy: Mga Lutuing Pilipino, The Maya Kitchen noted that
unlike bibingka that is baked, puto bumbong is steamed.

It added that pirurutong is such a unique agricultural product, made from a rice variety that
comes in varying shades of purple.  (Other food enthusiasts insist there is a black pirurutong.)

The Maya Kitchen also pointed out that puto bumbong looks more like suman,
another kakanin also noted for its stickiness and porousness, instead of traditional rice cakes.

Puto bumbong. Photo by JP Talapian

Bibingka. Photo by JP Talapian

Barretto noted that the two kakanin were initially downed with salabat or ginger tea by the
Spanish era farmers after the mass.

“The introduction of hot chocolate came much later when the Spaniards adopted the practice,”
she pointed out.

In his book Chef Laudico Flips Out!, the author notes there are “many versions of bibingka.”

True enough, the Philippine Food, Cooking and Dining Dictionary lists about a

dozen bibingka incarnations from different parts of the country: There is bibingka buko from
Davao del Sur; Cebu’s bibingka pinalutaw is made to float in boiling water instead of
steaming; bibingka royal from Ilocos has white sugar and grated cheese; bibingka sa mohon by
the Ilonggo is oven-baked.

Cavite’s bibingka samala looks more like biko because of

whole malagkit or pinipig grains; bibingkang abnoy or bibingkang mabantot from Pateros and
Pasig uses the sulphur-smelling portion of rotten duck eggs for that trademark aroma and is
garnished with lots of pepper.
Bibingka cassava is just one of the more-than-a-dozen incarnations of the original holiday fare,
proof of how extra Pinoys are when it comes to food.

Bibingkang cassava is a popular kakanin topped with custard; bibingkang galapong like what

Barretto serves has salted egg and kesong puti; bibingkang hiponis actually a shrimp fritter.

Bibingkang malagkit wades in sweet coconut milk; bibingkang munggo from Bulacan features

mung beans; bibingkang nasi from Pampanga has to be cooked in a molding pan
while bibingkang pinipig is sprinkled with, what else, fresh pinipig.

“Wherever or however it is prepared, the bibingka is decidedly delectable,” Laudico said.

Bibingka and puto bumbong are not simply entrees on our holiday table. They also tell the story
of Pinoy resilience, faith, and creativity.

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TAGS: bibingka Filipino Food filipino snacks kakanin Pinoy food Puto bumbong simbang gabi