The Best Rice Delicacies Of Ilocos

Ilocanos love food. Long time ago people in Ilocandia have already been cooking good food. Good foods include the rice delicacies that embodied the culture and the tradition of every Ilocano. This is part of our lives. Our history can be traced to what rice delicacy we serve in the table.

Why delicacies are made from rice?

As most you have known, Filipino’s main meal in the table is rice. From rice there come many variants that include the normal rice which is being cooked three times a day for the meal of every table of the Filipino. But aside from the meal rice there are also other kind that includes the brown rice and black rice which is commonly grow in the mountainous part of the region.

Then there comes the glutinous rice which got two variants: white glutinous rice and the black glutinous which have a local name ‘ballatinaw’. The common white glutinous is just called ‘diket’.

From this glutinous rice come different rice delicacies prepared and cooked for special occasions like festivals and fiesta, birthday parties, New Year and Christmas Day.

What are the most rice delicacies of Ilocanos?

1.      Patupat. Perhaps the most popular rice delicacy food in the region. The white glutinous rice is cooked with coconut milk and then wrap with banana leaves and made into triangular shape. Every town have their own style of cooking of patupat but all are the same in shape and the wrapping of the use of banana leaves.

2.       Tupig

Another favorite delicacy in the region. Tupig is also wrapped in banana leaves but there are few difference between patupat. The rice is made into flour and added with water and then put in the coconut leaves in elongated form. There are different ways to cook tupig. Some ways include grilling it over the fire until it is cook while some regions just putting it in the pan and boiling it in the water for several minutes.

3.       Puto

Puto is not made from glutinous but from normal rice. But it has no wrap because it is just formed and then cooked in steam or bake. Sometimes, it is added with some flavor like cheese or honey. But puto is not just an Ilocano delicacy but can be found all over the country.

4.       Calamay

The main ingredients include the pulverized glutinous rice, brown sugar, coconut milk and then cooked into sticky delicacy. The cooking takes a lot of time because you need to make it sticky which come the name calamay. Usually the color is brown to dark brown because of the brown sugar or the sugar cane molasses.

5.       Binagkal/Impinas

Usually the glutinous rice is cooked in big pan with coconut milk. Unlike the calamay, binagkal is a whole rice grain. When cook, it is put flat in the table and cut into square.

There are more rice delicacies in the region aside from these. Every region has their own unique, different tastes, form and aroma. Because as I have said, this is our tradition and customary.