Based in Manila, Philippines, Dessert Comes First is a chronicle of the food-obsessed food writer, Lori Baltazar. This website is all about desserts, restaurants, coffee, and the pleasures of homebaking. Read more about me What’s Your Favorite “Cheap” Eat?
(DiscOVIries Week 3)
Mon, October12th of 2009
12:14 pm
In this case, a “cheap” eat would mean something below P50.
I have to put the word “cheap” in quotes because of the negative connotations attached to it. Someone I talk to suggests “value-for-money” but the term strikes me as long-winded. Anyway, I’m focusing on “cheap-er” food this week, and for me, that’s anything below P50 and edible.
My cheap eat is suman, a steamed rice cake of which there are several variations. My favorite is the suman sa lihiya, so called because the uncooked rice grains are soaked in lye which acts as a preservative and tenderizer. The lye is then (supposedly!) washed off and the rice grains are formed into their distinctive cylinder shape and wrapped in banana leaves. Whether they be boiled or steamed, the lye and, I would imagine, the banana leaves as well, contribute a greenish-yellow tinge (see photo) to the now cooked suman.
My favorite way to eat suman is with a spoonful of white sugar that I dip the suman into. Sometimes, if I come across a jar of coconut jam in the market, that’s good too. Locally known as latik, coconut jam is made from coconut cream (first press) and brown or muscovado sugar. It’s sweet and sticky enough to leave a trail from mouth to hand. Frankly, I prefer it this way instead of with the more traditional suman at mangga (suman and mango).
Price of a suman: just P5.
So this week, share a photo of Your Favorite “Cheap” Eat (anything below P50). Please include the PRICE of your snack. This photo can be taken with any camera or camera phone. What matters is that you open an OVI account. If you’ve already got one, then this should be easy for you.
- Create an OVI account and activate your OVI email address.
- Upload a photo into my OVI share folder (Yes, you can really drop a photo into my folder!) Just in case you’re prompted for a password to my folder, it’s “food”.
- For every photo you enter (yup, send multiple photos if you like!), please include your name, your OVI email address (name@ovi.com) and a short description about your photo.
Contest Mechanics:
1. This week’s contest is open from Oct. 12-18, 2009.
2. Get your photo(s) in for this week’s theme by Sunday, Oct. 18, at 11:59 PM.
3. The prize for this week is P2,000.00 worth of Ayala Electronic Gift Check (as good as cash!)
4. You need to be a resident of the Philippines.
Announcement of the winner of DiscOVIries by Nokia Week 2 will be tomorrow, Tuesday, Oct. 13.
There’s a grand prize to be given at the end of the 8 weeks: a brand new NOKIA phone!
Kudos to OVI by Nokia for making this contest possible.
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Hi Lori! My son Gareth was upset when we didn’t win in week 1′s contest. He is always checking out the entries with me. He was really affected because i let him helped in cooking the cream of squash soup…in our house we call it “Garethstrone” soup. So I guess we will have to join every week till we get it.:)
[Reply]
Comment by lani — October 12, 2009 @ 1:17 pm
“Inexpensive” rather than “cheap” perhaps?
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Comment by Robbi — October 12, 2009 @ 3:27 pm
but isn’t that a suman sa ibos, lori? suman sa lihia is usually a lot fatter and flatter, and is wrapped in banana leaves, and comes in pairs.
[Reply]
Ching Reply:
October 13th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
I agree with Millet, I think she’s right. The wrappings don’t look like banana leaves. I usually eat the suman dunked in a cup of hot chocolate thickened with peanut butter.
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Kuko Reply:
October 19th, 2009 at 4:56 am
Yep: The top photo is no suman sa lihia.
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Comment by millet — October 13, 2009 @ 8:12 am
suman sa lihiya is also my most favorite kind of suman! it’s usually green and is eaten with grated coconut and sugar. the one in the picture is indeed called suman sa ibos.
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Comment by madaboutfood — October 13, 2009 @ 3:21 pm
try to quicky fry the suman in the picture for a bit of crunch on the outside. then have it with hot tsokolate. mmmmhmmmm
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Comment by sigh — October 14, 2009 @ 1:32 am
This suman is popular in Antipolo and is great served with really soft Bandong’s Coconut Jam! My mom would fry this in a bit of Anchor Butter for extra crunch, character, and calories!
Ahh, memories
[Reply]
Comment by hungry dog — October 14, 2009 @ 11:02 am
Hi Lori. I think it should be mentioned that photo entries should be participants’ original work or should be taken by the contestants themselves? Thanks.
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Comment by lani — October 14, 2009 @ 5:45 pm
Hi Lori. It’s me again. Were you able to find the mochi balls? I bought again this afternoon at Landmark Trinoma and found out that it is at the imported chocolates section. There is also another variant Mochi Almond choco, it has almonds beneath the chocolate coating. I can’t include it though in the contest because it costs 54.90, nonetheless affordable pa din.
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Comment by Lani — October 16, 2009 @ 9:55 pm
I love suman too! My fave is the flavored suman (mango, ube or coco mas) from Tita Lynn’s.. P25 per piece!
Another “cheap” eat would be hot pandesal with condensed milk paired with coffee, or the kakanin slices sold in the palengke..
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Comment by u8mypinkcookies — October 17, 2009 @ 1:37 pm
Lori, if you’ve not had suman sa lihiya before (not the one above, the fat green ones) try it at Abe’s! It’s the best!! It’s the main reason I go back there (and that is saying a lot)
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Comment by renee — October 17, 2009 @ 2:49 pm
LOL lately it’s congee at Germaine’s in Makati! Sometimes it’d cost me P60, but I don’t care!
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Comment by abbee — October 18, 2009 @ 11:28 pm