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Suman is a Filipino dish of sticky rice wrapped in banana or coconut leaves. The suman on the plate in the photo,which I took this morning, is called suman sa lihia, so called because it is flavored with lihia or lye water. I'm a sucker for suman and I just love eating it at breakfast. Whenever I go out of town I make sure I buy suman in the market. There are actually numerous varieties of suman with each region having its own version of the dish. My mother also has her own version,suman with latik . She usally makes suman during
mahal na araw or holy week. She would extract oil from the Latik which becomes an instant langis for pilay.hehe!!!
Suman Sa Lihia Ingredients:
2 ½ cups malagkit rice
2 teaspoons lihia (lye)
Sauce:
3 cups coconut milk
½ cup galapong
½ cup coconut milk
1 ½ cups brown sugar or panocha
Budbud:
2 cups coconut sapal
1 cup sugar
>> Wash malagkit rice three times. Soak in water for 20 minutes then drain. Add lihia (lye) and stir to blend. Wrap in 2 square pieces of wilted banana leaves. Tie in pairs. In a big pot,put some banana leaves at the bottom. Arrange the suman over it then top with more banana leaves. Weigh down the suman then add enough water to cover. Cook for 45 minutes to an hour.
>> Prepare Sauce: Put 3 cups coconut milk in a saucepan then boil for 10 minutes while stirring continuously. Dissolve galapong in remaining milk. Add to the boiling coconut milk. Add sugar or panocha and cook until thick.
>> Prepare Budbud: Put sapal and sugar in a skillet over medium heat. Cook until brown while stirring constantly.
>> To serve, top each suman with some sauce and sprinkle with budbud.
HOW TO WRAP SUMAN SA LIHIA
1. Cut 2 squares of banana leaf, one larger then the other.
2. Put a tablespoon of malagkit rice on the small banana leaf.
3. Overlap the edges at the center.
4. Fold the bigger banana leaf over to enclose the mixture.
5. Roll the banana leaf up to the pointed ends.
6. Fold the two ends underneath.
7. Using a piece of string, tie the suman in pairs.
