If you are a balikbayan or returning Filipino this Christmas season, you don’t have to wake up during the misa de gallo just to taste Puto Bumbong and Bibingka. There is a stall inside the Taste Asia, of SM Mall of Asia or in their branch in Frontera Verde. For 26 pesos per serving, you will get to eat piping hot puto bumbong served on banana leaves.

They cook Puto Bumbong right in front of you.

Ingredients
8 leaves of Pandan - cleaned well
5 Buko (Coconut)not too hard, not too soft- Grated to strips
Water from 5 Buko (approx. 10 cups)
3 small cans of Nestle Cream
1 medium can of Condensed Milk
2 bars of Green Gulaman
1 3/4 Cups Sugar (more if you want it sweeter)
1 cup Kaong (optional)

Preparation

1. Boil buko water from 5 coconuts together with 8 pandan leaves that are individually twisted to break the fibers and expose the juice. Simmer for 20 minutes.
2. Before adding 2 bars of gulaman, make sure you remove the pandan leaves and check if the remaining coconut water is equal to 8 cups - 1 bar of gulaman is good for 4 cups of liquid. If it is not 8 cups, less will mean hard gulaman and more than 8 cups will result in mushy soft gulaman. Ensuring gulaman is well-dissolved stir well. Add sugar while mixing. Do this for 5 minutes.
3. Pour through a strainer into cooling trays. Wait till it cools and hardens, then put in fridge.
4. Meanwhile, mix the grated buko with the 3 cans of cream and 1 can of condensed milk.
5. Add kaong if you prefer.
6. Get gulaman from ref and cut into 1 cm cubes. Mix with buko mixture.
7. Put 2 cups of the buko pandan salad into one lunch box and give to Jojo Basug as a complement.

Ingredients:
2 packages grated cassava
1 can coconut milk
1 bottle macapuno strips
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 can condensed milk

Procedure:
Mix all 5 ingredients and 2/3 of condensed milk.
Bake at 350 degrees 45 min to 1 hour
Spread rest of condensed milk on top, cook for another 5 minutes
(I usually use the whole can of condensed milk and buy another one so I can put more condensed milk at the top to my taste.)