I’ve eaten tons of suman in my lifetime. Suman from gelatinous rice. Suman from cassava and other root crops. Green, yellow, while and all shades of color. Sweet, very sweet, bland, and all shades of taste. Just ordinary food, not gourmet.
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- Suman sa Lihiya
This morning is different — I had my first taste of Suman sa Lihiya. This type of suman comes bundled in twos, bundled together with a white tie. It’s still wrapped in banana leaf. This gave me a thought — a suman is not a suman if not wrapped in banana leaf. Then I remember that some types of suman are wrapped in coconut leaf. I’m sure there are other variations. And I’m sure somebody knows that and would tell us through the comment section below.
I asked why it’s called Suman sa Lihiya. Is it the place of origin? Is it from a name of an ingredient? The only answer I got was that lihiya refers to some lye. Exactly what that means, somebody please tell us. I also heard that Suman sa Lihiya originated from Nueva Ecija.
What’s distinctive about Suman sa Lihiya, in my opinion, is the different consistency of the gelatinous or sticky rice (English Patis talks about the recipe; ingredients and and how to cook it). While it’s soft and sticky, just like any suman should be, there’s a hint of crispiness with each grain of rice.
The closest I could imagine is fried suman (when suman is about to get spoiled, we usually fry it and eat it; no waste).
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- Suman Lihiya with grated Coconut and Sugar
Anyway, Suman sa Lihiya is bland. Not sweet compared to other suman or kakanin. This is bland because it’s supposed to be eaten with something on the side. That morning the side ingredients were grated coconut sprinkled over the suman, with plain white sugar to boot. Tastes great.
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This post made me crave for suman sa lihiya. *yummy*
In Batangas, suman sa lihiya is also called suman magkayakap, suman mag-asawa or suman makapatanong.
Since it is bland, as compared to other types of suman, it is served with coco jam (cooked coconut milk with sangkaka or panutsa) or with grated cocnut with sugar (the latter is common in Manila, according to my mom).
P.S. I like this blog.
Renin, thanks for sharing that information (although we’re still looking for someone who could say what “lihiya” means).
And thanks for the kind words. We shall visit your site from time to time and see if there’s something we could pick up re Philippine travel.
I love this!!!