a Filipino favorite

The Philippines is known to create various symbolic desserts. Puto, a Filipino favorite, is one of the most popular treats. It is a delicious fluffy treat that is loved by many. This topic was inspired by my old Hispanic high school friends. I remembered when my friends and I were talking about different Filipino dishes & desserts and when I mentioned puto, they all looked at me like I was crazy. Apparently in their language it’s a bad word. So ever since then, everyone has been asking if it really is true -- that puto means rice cake in Tagalog…
Aside from tasting any typical dessert, puto is one treat that will totally make your mouth water. However, what many don’t know, is it’s history, the ingredients it consists of, and the different types of puto’s there are.

Puto is a cultural Filipino dessert that consists of symbolic meaning. Puto is usually sold during a cold night around street corners in the Philippines. Whenever you saw people selling them around street corners it meant the Christmas was coming just around the corner. In the old days, it was especially sold at night so that people can bring it home after “simbang gabi,” (advent dawn mass). Nowadays, they start to sell them around September and even year round in specific places.

However, what you probably want to know is, how do you cook it? Everyone uses different ingredients to make their puto as perfect as it could be. Many years ago, “White rice, water, sugar, baking powder, and salt,” were the main ingredients used to make this scrumptious dessert. They would first soak white rice for several hours, then crush it until it resembled batter and finally mixing the rice batter with sugar, baking powder and salt. Afterwards, it would be poured into muffin molds and steamed for about 30-45 minutes. On the other hand, my neighbor Amparo Hernandez uses, “milk, egg, flour, baking powder, sugar, bisquick and flower, butter & cheese,” for her special puto. Her own way makes it more easier and efficient; up to date.

In addition, people tend to have their own unique way of making their puto stand out from others. There are various types of this special dessert. Puto usually comes in different shapes, sizes, and even colors. Some examples of puto Maricar provides us with are, “ (Puto Mamon, Puto Caramba (Deep fried puto made from flour, shrimp, pinipig.), Puto Pao, Puto Binian, or Puto Bumbong (A purple-colored Filipino dessert made of sweet rice cooked in hollow bamboo tubes that are placed on a special steamer-cooker).”

So as you can see, puto goes way back and has transformed and made into numerous types of names and styles people refer to them as. After hearing that puto was actually a famous Filipino dessert, they’ve always told a lot of their Filipino friends to bring some puto whenever we had little class parties or just for fun as something to share during lunch. And as a matter of fact they enjoyed it. So, I hope you guys enjoy this delicious treat and try it out for yourselves. =]