What made me want to write about suman? Well, we had suman sa lihia for our mid-afternoon snack yesterday. I ditched the thin coconut syrup that they came with and opted for thick coconut jam.
The suman was not newly bought. I asked my husband to buy them a while back because there was a jar of my favorite coconut jam that I wanted to pair with suman. My original intention was to write about the coconut jam but I decided it was just so lame to talk about a product and nothing else. In case you’re curious, this is my favorite coconut jam.
This is not a sponsored post. I just happen to love this product.
But, back to suman… They had been sitting in a plastic container in the fridge for several days. But when we had them for our snack yesterday, they was as moist and as soft as the day they my husband purchased them. So, I figured I’d write about suman, and how to store and reheat them. Never mind the advice of most suman vendors that they shouldn’t be refrigerated because they harden when chilled. They should be refrigerated, really, to keep the rice from fermenting which results in spoilage. The trick is in knowing how to store and reheat them the right way.
Before I get carried away with my suman stories, first, an introduction for readers who are not from the Philippines and may not have encountered suman before.
Suman is a sticky rice cake formed as a round or flattened log. It is wrapped either in wilted banana leaves, coconut fronds or some other leaf before it is cooked. Some are cooked by steaming; others, by boiling. It is a popular snack and every region in the Philippines has one or more versions.
There are, however, suman varieties that defy the very broad definition of steamed or boiled rice cake wrapped in leaves. In the photo above, for example, the unwrapped suman on the plate is made with grated cassava.
Tupig is a rice and coconut cake wrapped in banana leaves and grilled over glowing charcoal. It is ubiquitous in Pangasinan (in Central Luzon) where it is sold in roadside popup stalls or by ambulant vendors.
We discovered tupig years ago when we got caught in a huge traffic jam on our drive home from Baguio. The girls (our daughters Sam and Alex) were hungry and the only thing we had was bottled water. A roadside tupig stall caught our eye, traffic wasn’t moving anyway, so I stepped out and bought a pack. I was so sure that the price was akin to highway robbery, but the girls were hungry, so… The girls finished the tupig so fast that, as the car crawled forward, we bought more from ambulant vendors (more highway robbery). Then, all four of us feasted.
The default way of eating suman
The most common way of eating suman is to eat it with your hand. Unwrap partially and, holding the suman by the still-wrapped portion, dip in sugar, a mixture of freshly grated coconut and sugar, or syrupy coconut jam.
But, if you’re a foreigner and you order suman in a tourist-y restaurant, they are likely to be arranged on a plate, already unwrapped, and either sprinkled with sugar or drizzled with coconut syrup. A fork is provided because it isn’t expected that you know how to eat suman with your hand.
Tips for buying suman in Antipolo
Here at home, the suman variety we enjoy most often is suman sa ibos. It’s very common and we can buy it almost anywhere (we live in Antipolo where suman is marketed as a tourist attraction). But we don’t buy just anywhere. We avoid roadside stalls (especially those along Sumulong Highway) where prices are horrible. Instead, we go to stores where the suman is cooked in-house. My husband’s go-to store is two streets from the Antipolo Cathedral. Parking is a headache (it’s a narrow one-way street) so he buys in bulk. That’s why we learned to store suman in the fridge and reheat them properly. To avoid multiple trips. But more on the storage and reheating later.
Beyond plain sugar
The traditional partner of suman sa ibos is plain sugar. But we’re really playful with our suman sa ibos. Not only do have we experimented what to pair them with, we also like to occasionally alter the smooth and sticky surface texture.
For example, we have tried dipping suman sa ibos in salted caramel, Nutella, sweetened peanut butter and jam. It was just an accident, really. For some reason, my husband decided to spoon Nutella over his suman and declared that the pairing was magnificent. If suman sa ibos was good with Nutella, what else could it go well with? So, we experimented and that led to a photo shoot.
If you want to get even more fancy, try dipping pieces of suman sa ibos in melted dark chocolate. In a fondue pot. This we did after I bought the cutest fondue pot and I was so adamant on using it to show it off in the blog. As it turned out, the dipping and pairing made a better story than the ceramic fondue pot.
Fried suman sa ibos
Before we got smart about storing suman in the fridge, we used to follow the instructions of most vendors. Do not refrigerate becaue they will harden. So, we kept them on the dining table away from any source of heat especially direct sunlight. A day later, they were much drier. Not so delectable. What I did was to unwrap them and fry them until the rice grains turned golden brown, blistered and crisp.
On one occasion, I served fried suman sa ibos on a pool of dulce de leche, drizzled with chocolate syrup and sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar. Cubes of succulent ripe mango went on the side.
On another occasion, I fried the suman in sizzling butter and drizzled honey over them before sprinkling in cocoa powder and cinnamon.
These days, I rarely fry suman sa ibos. That’s after finding out that they can be restored to their original state of softness and moistness days after they were bought.
Storing and reheating suman
The two suman varieties that we know keeps well in the fridge and can be reheated with optimum results are suman sa ibos and suman sa lihia. What we do is keep them, still wrapped, in a container and place them on the bottom rack of the fridge. The most important tips of storing suman in the fridge:
- Use a tightly covered container (we use plastic) because you don’t want the suman to absorb the odor of other food in the fridge.
- Make sure that nothing presses on the cover of the container to avoid getting the suman squished.
- Make sure that no liquid from other stored food seeps into the container.
To reheat, we use the microwave. Steaming is also a great way to reheat suman but it takes longer and the cleanup is more complicated. So, we microwave. The most important tips for reheating suman in the microwave:
- Place the suman (do not unwrap) in a microwave-safe bowl. The size of the bowl depends on the number of suman to be reheated. Ideally, you want them in a single layer.
- Drizzle a teaspoon of room temperature water over each suman then cover the bowl with a plate.
- Reheat in the microwave at the highest temperature. How long depends on the number of suman in the bowl. Ninety (90) seconds per suman is usually enough. But if your suman are larger than average, increase the time to two minutes.
So, are you craving suman now? I am. But it’s after midnight here so I’ll satisfy my craving later at breakfast. Because, yes, we still have suman in the fridge that I can reheat for my first meal.
