Lasang Pinoy 7 theme this month is ALMUSAL… breakfast. Now on its 7th edition hosted by fabulous Joey of 80 Breakfasts.
Did I have a hard time thinking what to prepare? No of course not… I thought of one of my favourites, a breakfast that will take me back to my childhood. My carefree life growing up in a small town of Cebu.
Puto (puto maya in Tagalog) paired with a slice of sweet Cebuano mango and hot chocolate. For the benefit of non Filipino readers, it’s glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk (pretty much like the Thai sticky rice pudding).
Yummy?
See, when I was growing up my mother gave us a chance to taste cereals, oat meals and since we did not own a fridge we had those powdered milk IF I remember well it was either Anchor, Birch Tree or Nido brands.
Milo the chocolate drink was a treat.
We didn’t just have fried rice, dried fish, occasional sausage (another treat) or sometimes freshly caught fish… we lived near the sea and the wives of the local fishermen would walk towards our place early morning, with booming voices… PRESCO ISDA NANG… fresh fish!!!
We even had bread everynow and then with cheese. Processed cheese of course…..
That bread dunked in hot cocoa is heaven.
The bread am talking about is called FRANCISCO. I searched high and low for a recipe but alas no one has one.
I even emailed and text my family in Cebu, still nothing.
I called every Cebuano I know here in Athens… still no recipe.
So what we had for weekends in Cebu? I always wake up last in our household that even my mother would pour cold water on my feet or face just to shake me from my deep slumber. But when she says it would be my turn to buy the puto, believe me, I would get up on time.
I know this meant we would have ripe mango for breakfast too.
We have 2 ladies who sold puto, Nang Josie (2 streets down) who ran a “putuhan” in the morning and a hairdressing salon for the rest of the day
The other lady who was a lot older and who during my mother’s youth was already selling the best puto in town was Nang Bating.
The saying early bird gets the worm is so applicable to these two putuhan. They disappear so fast, so you had buy early morning. There were times I would run or borrow my cousin’s bike just to make it to their little putuhan.
Then dash back home to enjoy the warm puto with my mother’s fresh hot chocolate/sikwate. No breakfast in Cebu is complete without the hot sikwate.
Sikwate is made from tableya, blocks of cocoa powder, made from cacao beans.
To re create this kind of breakfast, I rang up and visited every Cebuano I know here in Athens. I needed a confirmation that our puto has luy a/ ginger.
I am not mistaken indeed as I still have that scent of ginger when Manang Josie nor Manang Bating would their clay pots (huge one that is like a double boiler with wooden fire blazing).
So one friend gave me her basic recipe which I adapted and tweaked to suit my taste.
Cook the rice with coconut milk and sugar.
Don’t forget to add ginger, skinned and sliced.
As soon it cooks transfer to banana leaves and steam for 15 mins.
I shaped the banana leaves into a cone.
Here is what I did.
1)I cut the amount of coconut milk
2) It is so creamy and lessened the sugar just a little bit
3) Instead of cooking the rice with the coconut milk, I cooked the rice into the rice cooker with half the water needed.
4) Then I prepared the coconut milk, adding a bit of ginger then boil it gently.
As soon the rice is half cook, I transfered them to the coconut and mix well
Then scooped them to the banana leaves.( I steamed the banana leaves a bit)
Basically I put them into the steamer to finish the cooking and then to keep them warm.
When I opened the banana leaves, oh my I was transported to my hometown.
Then I took the photos, sent them to my sister in UK, then she said, “can we have that when we come?”
So I did not have the ambiance I was alone.. I shooed Swiss Cheese away.
He could not understand anyway why I would pour hot chocolate over the sticky rice and scoop ripe mangoes and add them to the concoction
I needed to be alone to savour it and with closed eyes.. I was a little kid again.
I will be cooking this puto again when my sister arrives in few weeks, at 2am, yes we will have a Filipino breakfast and I would transport her back to her childhood too.
57 Comments
I didn’t know that puto goes with “mangga.”
That cocoa drink in your pic tempts me indirectly to make another mug of Caotina drink (my third for the day, if ever).
Jayred… puto and mangga together is cloud nine…
If I come to motherland I will bring you Phil mangoes from here ha.
caotina na naman bad girl.. I told the Swiss cheese about your addiction to caotina he said HAS SHE BECOME SWISS? haha
hey sha!
exactly the recipe i was looking for!i only have the yellow puto recipe [a la goldilocks]akala ko ako lang nag-b-breakfast ng puto and mangga! kc i was chatting with iska and when i said, puto might be my entry, she asked ‘do you eat puto for breakfast?’ my mom’s fave white puto and sweet manggoes…now it’s samia’s fave too!
great ‘early’ entry, sha! now what will i post…tsk tsk..tsk..
CES think not all filipino eat puto with mangga.
In Cebu its the actual combo…
Good for Samia… its so easy I was so suprised!!!!
Sha, i am not used to the puto/mango combination, but they are both good pinoy deli. Crazy, but i agree that every region in the Philippines has something to share to co-pinoys. It is good to know.
Hmmm, my goodnes it looks so delicious. May tira ka pa diyan?
I’ve never eaten this for breakfast before. It looks so good! It’s more like dessert!
Masarap talaga ang puta lalo na pag kasama ang dinuguan.
I mean PUTO* – typo! OMG.
In fairness, all your foodie-picturesque are amazinngggggg! Canon with a long-mouth lens?
not everyone eat this way Relly…. But for us Cebuano what is puto without the mango…. But in my aunts area further south I cant remember eating this one down there early morning.. baka geographical talaga.
Beng… gusto ba ni G to? Sarap ka.. tinaboy ko ang Swiss so I can devour….nothing left I made half the recipe only
THANK YOU FOR THIS FORMAT
GERALD … yes in some places this is dessert where I grew up this is BREAKFAST
PUTA & dinuguan yan ko na tikman….
NOT DIGITAL canon with macro big lens… I have Canon 5 not digital this is taken from a very old a bit cranky FUJI which is over 5 years old…
Think food pictures are meant to be edible really…
We eat puto with mangga, too, in Pangasinan, and yes, for breakfast, with tsokolate (much like the Cebuano sikwate), too! But, here goes the name game again, your puto in Cebu (and maybe in the general Visayas-Mindanao area?)is called suman in Luzon. I’ve had suman and mangga in Teresa, Rizal and Antipolo, too.
sha,thats just the way we eat our puto,too! and it sure does bring happy memories. i remember we always have that when we go to my lola’s house in dumaguete during summer vacation. im going to try that here in GA. the bread i know of is “frances” not francisco. do you think thats one and the same?
OMG! Puto and I also miss mangoes as well. We only have the Israel variety here
Sha,
Sha Janette is right being cebuana too i remember “frances” not francisco, and your puto& sikwate reminds me not only breakfast but the Mesa di Gallo right after 4 am mass in December. I think same recipe for budbud only the shape and a litlle variation in the cooking.
Nice memories though. Perhaps i can ask my cousins in Virginia for the frances recipe they have a very huge Cebuano community there.
yum yum yum… can’t wait to eat this
A combination of puto/suman and mangga for breakfast was first introduce to me way back in ’96 in Cagayan de Oro at first I was hesitant to try it just that I don’t like the combination of it then later on – I started to like it until I get used to it!
I’ll be posting mine soon. Thanks for sharing Sha!
Take care…
Tin
This looks so delicious Sha… and the photos look amazing! The banana leaves made it so authentic!
I’m curious though, i didn’t realised that there are different types of puto… i only remembered the ones that are soft and fluffy – i’ve never had one that is glutinous rice. I will try this soon Sha… thanks for sharing x
Puto. Wow! I love puto. I like puto with cheese and puto with egg.
Have a good time with your sister.
shalimar inday,mingaw hinuon ko ug sikwate ug puto ay! pastilan nimo uy,maayo ka luniton sa bugan :p
KAI name game nga in tagalog its called PUTO MAYA, our puto once rolled, wrapped in banana and steamed becomes BUDBUD which is SUMAN UP IN THE NORTH!
KAI got an email from a friend yes budbud is suman
.
Jan… lami gyud!!! think its frances, doreen emailed me as well…its sliced in the middle. Sure you can do this in GA. Am glad you had the chance to get back to your work in GA…
CHAS check the asian store… in Oslo I found mangoes.. maybe Bergen sells the same just ask around ask Savi…
MAYET pan de frances.. doreen just emailed too.. budbud is rolled then bundled….please for pan de frances recipe.. I will fly to Italia and bring you all these.
TARHATA sure at 2am after we can go the market together….no need to sleep!
TIN in Mindanao too they eat this way… thing is when i first was getting into exotic food like Thai I was in a resto and this was the dessert… with slices of manggo!
Shall wait for your post!
MAE… The one you know is the steamed rice flour which is puto in Tagalog.. talap mae.
I just had a yummy Jersey fudge!
Al sis will be here in 3 weeks pa but we look forward been a long time we have been together here in Athens.. that puto you had in mind is what MAE been saying that one paired with cheese!
I better do that soon.
day cheH…pls hungitan lang na ko si seb ug puto ayaw ko kusnita.
Grabe, Sa tingin pa lang sa mga photos dito feel ko parang bumibigat na naman ako.
EVA its not my puto ano… its the food and beer of Czech….
Sarrraaappp!! Kung di lang mapapanis yan sa mail mag-o-order ako sa yo. Hehehe! Great post, Sha.
OH ANOTHER REAL CEBUANO TREAT!!!!
Puto [sticky rice], sikwate [local batted chocolate from real cocoa] and mangga [mango] I terribly miss from Cebu! My family, from time to time splurge on these every weekend breakfast, especially on Sundays.
Filipino Cuisine is diverse and I am very proud of the Cebuano Cuisine which I am aware not many Filipinos especially from the north know -lol. Man, I sometimes go through a cuisine rebellion because I hate the meat-fats-greasy food the Philippines is known for. I mean in the Visayas, it’s not like that.
And oh, CAFÉ LAGUNA in Cebu serves these as afternoon snacks. There are also other restaurants in Cebu that serves these but Café Laguna is quite famous.
Wow…fabulous pics of a really delicious meal! ‘Day Sha, your photos and story brings me back to the good ol’ days in Cebu, when the world was younger and we were more carefree.
Speaking of the good ol’ days, gubot na pud ang Pilipinas karon da. I hope ok ra imong pamilya and mga paryente, my dear. And I hope ma-kalma ra ang ka-gubot soon.
What a great entry Sha! I have actually seen this served with mango in some places here…it’s a great foil I think
Yummy food and great pics as usual Sha! Thanks for joining Lasang Pinoy 7 
Sha, what a great love affair you have with food! When I went to Naga recently I devoured the puto,francis and sikwate every single morning. As you said it brought back so many childhood memories… and yes Nang Bating cooked the best puto. I will ask around for the recipe of Francis. Well done!
I must have not paid much attention to food when I was back there because I don’t remember eating this at although I can imagine it tasting… orgasmic! I love ripe mango in anything for dessert. Your puto/mangga is creating a havoc here haha. I would really try to make this one…but darn it would be too difficult to find banana leaves around here.
hi,
in iloilo, a breakfast mix of well-ripened guimaras mangoes and ibos dipped in the tsokalate never fails to energize the morning.
ibos is likewise glutinous rice steamed in coconut milk and wrapped in palm fronds.
There is a vietnames version which we get at the oriental store but then again nothing beats the hometown original fave.
BTW hope you don’t mind if i link your site to mine.
salamat
Sha, we don’t eat suman with mangga in S. Leyte but I tasted something like this in Dumaguete and it was surely yummy
(P.S. you must be so busy in your kitchen with these posts)
not too busy with this my mouth was haha
hi sha! never tried mango w/ puto but i can imagine the taste cos i eat mangoes with rice!
I remember when I was a child, my papa bought hot square puto from an old woman (forgot her name) in Malabon. You had to buy early or else ni banana leaves wala ka nang maaabutan. We put Anchor butter on top of the hot puto, at sabay lafang, grabe sa sarap.
puto maya — or in our household “lazy suman”. where the heck did you get the lovely mangoes? yum. pengeng sikwate.
i can’t touch the food but i sure can imagine the smell ! i love the pictures, it brings so many wonderful memories. i have a box of mangga from the pilipino store, so i will attempt to make the puto, i’ll try to do my best without the banana leaves.
2 Trackbacks
[...] Oh better stop blogging. Switzerland vs Sweden for the gold on women’s curling! I have been busy with my food blog due to some monthly events in the foodie blog sphere. [...]
[...] success surprised you: There are a few but I just love how the readers interacted to this post. Sticky Rice Pudding , A Filipino Breakfast. February [...]