Hello Everyone! I’d like to start the last post for the year by wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas! I hope everyone had a splendid eve celebrating, feasting, and continuing tradition with family and loved ones. What are some of your Christmas traditions? I’d love to know in the comments below! We had a simple and quiet Noche Buena at home, and of course watched some Christmas classics such as the Home Alone series. We’re not a family who gives gifts during the season of Christmas because we treat each other throughout the year – be in paying for the entire meal when we eat out as a family, or paying for the tickets and snacks when we go to the cinema together; gifts that allow us to spend time together as a family rather than materialistic things.

That aside, I mentioned in my last post that Christmas or Simbang Gabi would not be complete without this famous breakfast kakanin that is sold alongside Bibingka just outside the church. But, as all the other kakanins out there, you don’t have to wait until the Christmas season to roll around as you can find Puto Bumbong every day of the year at your local market, various street stalls, and in many restaurants and cafés nationwide.

Puto Bumbong is a type of Filipino steamed rice cake that is traditionally made from a special variety of heirloom sticky (glutinous) rice known as pirurutong which has a distinct purple colour to it. Food colouring is not necessary for this. It is soaked in salted water and then dried overnight. It is then ground in a grinder made of solid stone before it is stuffed into a bamboo tube known as bumbong ng kawayan. It is then steamed until steam rises out of the bamboo tubes, placed onto a pre-cut banana leaf, and topped with margarine (or butter), grated coconut, and muscovado sugar to enhance its flavours.

And so for my last breakfast recipe of the year, I will share two ways in how you can make Puto Bumbong at home, with and without the bamboo tubes – depending if you have bamboo tubes readily available or not to be able to tackle this recipe. Before we dive in, be sure to check out the original recipe that I followed over on Panlasang Pinoy.

PREP TIME 2 DAYS* | COOKING TIME 20 MINS | SERVES 6

*Be sure to allot yourself 2 days before you plan on tackling this recipe, as the rice needs to soak.

INGREDIENTS

For the puto bumbong

• 6 cups water at room temperature, for soaking the rice
• 1 & 1/3 cup sticky purple rice
• 1 & 1/3 cup white glutinous rice
• 2/3 cup long grain purple rice

For the toppings

• Freshly grated coconut
• Muscovado sugar
• Softened butter or margarine

• Banana leaves
• Bamboo tubes

METHOD

1. Combine all the different types of rice in a large mixing bowl together with the room temperature water. Set aside and leave to soak for at least 2 days.
2. Drain and place the soaked rice in a large food processor. Pulse and grind until the rice becomes very fine (takes about 8 to 10 minutes to achieve this consistency). If you only have a small food processor handy, then work the rice in batches.

Cooking with Bamboo Tubes

1. Fill each bumbong (bamboo tube) with the powdered rice mixture, making sure not to compress the rice to allow the steam to pass easily.
2. Prepare the steamer with enough water for steaming. Once the water has been brought to a boil, arrange each bamboo tube on the steamer. Cook until steam starts coming out of the tubes, about 8 to 10 minutes.
3. Remove the tubes from the steamer, and carefully remove the puto bumbong from the tube and place over a piece of banana leaf.
4. Spread with butter or margarine (I chose to leave this out of my serving) and top with freshly grated coconut and muscovado sugar. Serve, share, and enjoy with a hot cuppa!

Cooking without Bamboo Tubes

1. Add about 2 cups of water to the powered rice mixture and mix together to form a dough. You may need less or more water, depending, so it’s best to add the water in gradually. Knead until smooth.
2. Pinch off about 2 tablespoons of the dough and, using your hands, make a ball and then roll into a log, about 4 to 5 inches in length. Alternatively you can place the dough into a piping bag and using piping tip #807, pipe the dough onto a heat-proof plate greased with a bit of butter or margarine.
3. Place the plate into a prepared steamer with a muslin-covered lid to prevent any droplets of water dripping onto the puto bumbong mixture. Steam for about 8 – 10 minutes.
4. Remove from the steamer and place onto a banana leaf. Top with your preferred toppings and enjoy!

A lot has happened this year, both in my personal and work life, which resulted in me having to put my attention to Amcarmen’s Kitchen on hold for a couple of months collectively. That being said, I’m going to try my best not to take as many breaks as possible for the upcoming year ahead, *fingers crossed*

I usually take the first month of the beginning of the year off to properly plan for the upcoming year ahead and to get a head start on experimenting in the kitchen for recipes to share with you guys. But since I haven’t been working since August of this year (still continuing to look for a job as I write this), I’ve had time to plan ahead and I’m excited to share with you what I have in store for the upcoming year! You’ll just have to wait until next week to find out the theme for the year ahead – which technically is in another week I just realised!

So for now, I would like to wish all my family, friends, and followers a Happy & Prosperous New Year! May the New Year bring you happiness, health, wealth, and peace!

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx