Kulinarya - Suman
Thanks to Sheryl from Crispy Waffle and Divina from Sense & Serendipity the theme for October’s Kulinarya Cooking Club is Suman. This was a really challenging dessert for me to make. I remember watching my grandmother making it but never thought that I would one day make it myself.
I rang my Aunty Dulce and asked her to help me with this months challenge. We decided to make Suman sa Lihiya. So with my Grandmothers recipe in hand, we started the long process of making this delicious dessert.
Suman Sa Lihiya with Latik
1 kilo of Glutinous Rice
1 teaspoon of Lye Water
1 kilo of Banana Leaves
1 teaspoon of Lye Water
1 kilo of Banana Leaves
1 roll o kitchen twine
(You can find the Lye Water and the Banana Leaves at any Filipino Food Store)
The first thing that needs to be done is to prepare the banana leaves. Take the leaves and cut them into approximately 30cmx 30cm pieces. Wash the banana leaves and allow them to drain. Make sure they are still slightly damp. Turn on the stove top and pass the leaves on both sides. They will change colour from a light green to a dark green. This is done so that the leaves are more pliable. It ensures that you can wrap the suman mixture without the leaves falling apart.
1. Wash the glutinous rice a few times to get rid of the grit. Put the rice in a large bowl and add the lye water. Mix well.
2. Take one big spoon of the rice mixture and put it in the middle of the banana leaf. Take both ends of the leaf and bring it up. Fold both ends down and tuck the sides to form a small parcel.
3. Take 2 of the small parcels and put them on top of each other. Get some kitchen twine and wrap it around and tie a small knot on the side to secure.
4. Once all the suman is wrapped, put it all in a deep pot and cover with water. Boil the suman for two hours. After 2 hours take the suman off the heat and drain.
5. Set aside while you make the latik.
Latik Sauce
2 cans of coconut cream
1 to 1½ cups of brown sugar firmly packed
1. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar and the coconut cream together.
2. Stir over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Let the mixture reduce until it is a thick consistency. Make sure to stir the mixture constantly to avoid sticking to the bottom of the saucepan.
To serve – Peel the banana leaves of 2 suman and serve with lots of latik on top.
Kulinarya Cooking Club was started by a group of Filipino foodies living in Sydney, who are passionate about the Filipino culture and its colourful cuisine.
Each month we will showcase a new dish along with their family recipes. By sharing these recipes, we hope you find the same passion and love for Filipino Food as we do.
If you’re interested in joining our Kulinarya Cooking Club, please feel free to drop by our foodblogs and leave a comment – we would love to hear from you!
Say hello to the other members of the Kulinarya Cooking Club!
Olive - http://www.latestrecipes.net/
Caroline - http://whenadobometfeijoada.blogspot.com/
Althea- http://www.busogsarap.com/
Malou - http://www.impromptudiva.com/
Cherrie - http://sweetcherriepie.blogspot.com/
Acdee - http://acdee.blogspot.com/
Valerie - http://www.acanadianfoodie.com/
Sheryl - http://crispywaffle.com/
Divina - http://www.sense-serendipity.com/
Dahlia - http://www.energychef.blogspot.com/
Maribel - http://www.foodgeek.webs.com/
Tressa
Malaka - http://thegrandinternational.com
Erika - http://ivoryhut.com/
Selfie - http://eats.sefiebee.com/
Connie Veneracion frm http://homecookingrocks.com/
Oggi from http://oggi-icandothat.blogspot.com/
Katrina Kostik from http://lardonmyfrench.blogspot.com/
Rochelle Ryan from http://www.whydiss.blogspot.com/ And of course… Trish from Sugarlace and Trissa of Trissalicious!
Your suman is perfect Kath! Thanks for showing us how to make it - tell your Tita I want to learn from her too!
How lovely!!! And the sauce is very sexy.
I love suman...there's something about it's simplicity that I genuinely like, specially when I get the whiff of the banana leaf wrapper smell, it's like a comfy blanket in a cold night=)
Ooh, latik sauce recipe! Now I can make my own suman sa lihia! :)
Oh wow this looks so interesting and totally soemthing i would love! I have never heard of this before but glutinous rice drizzled with coconut cream and sugar... WOW!
hi Kath! :)
wow, your suman looks perfect, I overcooked mine hehe and you wrap your suman like a pro :) I love the latik sauce too, I call it coconut cream caramel sauce ;)
I also found them challenging to make. Yours look great! I'm so glad you tried suman sa lihiya, and that you found making these rewarding. I'm inspired!
I didn't realise that this dessert was hard to make. I'll appreciate it more next time! :)
My lola makes the best suman! She has hundreds of orders every week and all the Filipino stores in the West buy hers to resell!
Hers are the long, thin version... but yours looks just as good!
Oh yum! We have the exact same thing too! It's so cool when I find similarity between Vietnamese and Filipino dishes =) It's such a shame that I don't get to try very much of it with the boy's family =( Wish they loved food more and could cook!
Great recipe. It looks so good.
Looks delicious! I will definitely make this next time, thanks for the step by step pictures of wrapping the suman :)
This sounds yum! I've never had suman before but it sure sounds like something I will enjoy a lot.
There are sweet and savoury Chinese versions of these. The sweet ones, often filled with red bean, had lye water added as well and are served with a sweet syrup.
So beautifully wrapped! Bet it tastes fantastic, too.
Oh dear lord this looks like my kind of dish, and all wrapped up like a delicious present too! Just all types of awesome.
Like your step-by-step tutorial, Kath. Looks so delicious!
Delish! wrapping it in banana leaves makes it so authentic!
I'm scared to cook with lye water. Someone told me they were poisonous?! hahaha I'm just paranoid! Anyway love your suman and even love your latik sauce even more!!!
Wow, I cant remember the last time I had suman with latik! I think i shall experiment this weekend, your suman wrapping skills are so good - I am worried ill make a mess of this!
your version of suman looks yummy
I've never heard of this - it looks fabulous! How lovely to recreate what your grandmother made :) thanks for stopping by my blog and your kind words.
Heidi xo
I'm so impressed you made the Suman sa Lihiya, I'm kinda scared of that lye LOL. It's great that you had your Auntie helping you using your Lola's recipe. It's great that we got to make suman, seems like this most of the group had their first with it. That's why I love KCC & I have you to thank.