What do we have for Easter Sunday?

April 18, 2022

Mom is in her best mode today. I heard her from the kitchen humming while stirring the caramelized sugar in the pan. She is making biko. It is made of black glutinous rice mixed with caramelized sugar.

It has been a long time since she made biko. Maybe the last one was last year, on the church's anniversary. There were times wherein she would religiously stick to her schedule of making biko every Saturday.

Mom learned the recipe from her mom. Two of her siblings also know the recipe but she is the one who got the taste like her mom. On every occasion, may it be a birthday, church anniversary, Christmas, or graduation, Biko is present. It has been a tradition in the family wherein there should be something sweet and sticky served on the table.

Nearing Christmas eve, people would ask her to prepare suman to be served during the simbang- gabi. We are not Catholics yet we stay awake late at night preparing for their snacks. There are times when people would place their orders weeks before their birthday.

If she feels great, she would cook it every week and sell it to the neighbouring barangay which is just a walking- distance of our home. It is a compliment to my mom whenever her customers would tell her to always stick to her schedule and not be absent from selling suman. She would then come home, smiling because her suman is sold out. After all, that is what she wants. To make money and not run out of coins. Plus, she gets to do what she loves.

If we are around, she gets our help. We would help her wrap them. Wrapping is a tedious job. It needs patience and an extra amount of patience.

Today is one of the days wherein she has extra time and energy to make suman. There is no special occasion at home and no one has placed their order. She just missed selling or we just don't have enough money. Which is which?

We help and assist her in making suman but none of us got the skill. We know the process but we haven't really tried to make it on our own. I find it hard and confusing to remember how many cups of coconut milk would I mix with how many scoops of sugar. This whole ratio thing is discouraging me. Or maybe I'm not just giving my best. I need to try harder.

Anyway, here's how to make suman.

You will need the following:

2kls. white

1kl. Tapol

8 pcs. coconut

7 cups of water

Procedure:

1. You have to cook the black glutinous rice just the way you cook the normal rice.

In a separate pan, put 3 cups of coconut milk and a half kilo of sugar or more. Add anis. (An additive) Stir well until it becomes sticky. Then, you have to mix the cooked black glutinous rice. Set aside.

Soaked the 2kls. of white glutinous rice.

In a separate pan, heat the pan and boil the 5 cups of coconut milk then add one and a half tablespoons of salt and a half cup of ginger. Wait, until it boils. Then, add the soaked 2kls. of white glutinous rice. Mix it and cover it with banana leaves.

After a few minutes, placed the cooked white and black glutinous rice in separate containers.

Now, you can start to wrap them with banana leaves.

Thanks for reading friends! Until the next read!