Bibingkang Mandaue - A native treat from Mandaue

Mandaue city- home of the bibingkang Mandaue (Filipino version of rice cake), is famous for its native delicacy. After about a century, the famous bibingka of Mandaue still remains as the delicacy that Mandauehanons can truly call their own and they can really be proud of.

During the Spanish colonial era, natives in Mandaue started to cook their own version of rice cakes for special occasions like fiestas in plazas and during Christmas season outside the churches after the Misa de Gallo (traditional night mass). The sweet, delicious rice cake was called “bibingka”, which came from a Chinese word “bi” or unripe grain. The natives’ own version of bibingka has become so popular; the rice cake was then called bibingkang Mandaue.

Eventually, the bibingkang Mandaue has become a sweet treat for those who have already tasted it. Since then, bibingka has been a popular roadside food for people in Mandaue and even tourists coming to the city. It is sold by vendors who are usually located beside highways or streets where people can actually just buy a freshly cooked bibingka whenever they wanted.

For many years, bibingka has been part and parcel of the culture of Mandaue. Bibingka gave the Mandauehanons a source of income. They cook and sell the rice cake their city has been proud of. And because Mandaue have been proud of their bibingkang Mandaue, just recently, May 5, 2011 the people in Mandaue gathered and were united to cook the biggest bibingka they could ever produce with a measurement of one hundred eighty two square meters in area and a diameter of fifty feet and thickness of three inches. It was an attempt to put their bibingka into the Guinness Book world of records. It is amazing to think that through the bibingka, the people in Mandaue were brought to unite into a successful event.

So what makes bibingkang Mandaue so special?

Of the many versions of bibingka in Cebu, bibingkang Mandaue had always been famous among others because this type uses manually pounded rice instead of the commercially ground rice and it contains tuba (coconut wine) which is used as a substitute of yeast. Most of the bibingka cooked in other places use rice flour or baking powder as ingredients of bibingka, which are not the traditional ingredients for bibingka. And they use yeast in order to increase the size of the rice cake, unlike in Mandaue, the vendors use tuba which adds a slightly acidic taste to the bibingka.

The bibingkang Mandaue is a soft and spongy flat cake made of basic ingredients. It is a Filipino kakanin and is one of the top ten best kakanin in Philippines. The traditional bibingka which is usually offered in Mandaue is made with pounded rice, coconut milk, white or brown sugar and the native tuba. The pounded rice used in bibingka is usually pounded manually but some vendors already use commercially ground rice for bibingka. The native tuba, on the other hand, is one of the ingredients that really make bibingkang Mandaue special because it gives a slightly acidic after taste and the Mandauehanons were the first to use tuba for bibingka. Nowadays, the tuba is often replaced with yeast to increase the size of the rice cake.

Aside from the ingredients used for the bibingka, traditional bibingkang Mandaue also uses round pieces of banana leaves which are used to wrap or line the bottom part of the bibingka. The pieces of banana leaves add to the unique toasted aroma to the bibingka especially when it is freshly cooked. And in the process of cooking bibingka, clay pots with burning charcoals on top and under the clay pot is used. This is a very unique way of cooking a kakanin (rice cake) because the kakanin is being cooked in both top and bottom parts to really make the bibingka cook well. With the basic ingredients and tools, a very special cake is then made.

So indeed bibingkang Mandaue is just made with basic ingredients, but how to cook this heavenly treat?

There are different styles on how to cook bibingka and it is very interesting to know how bibingkang Mandaue is cooked. Because of that, I went into Mandaue; searched some bibingka vendors and I tried to observe how to cook the famous bibingkang Mandaue. Along the streets of Ibabao, Mandaue city I found Mang Victor Baynosa. Mang Victor was in the process of making the bibingka when I approached him and asked him to demonstrate to me how to make the rice cake.

First thing he did was to prepare the bibingka mixture that will be cooked. He prepared the ingredients which were a kilo of pounded rice, three-fourths kilo of sugar, and one and a half kilo of coconut shreds and three small packs of yeast. Next, he placed the coconut shreds into a basin with two cups of water. He squeezed the coconut shreds until the coconut milk was extracted from it and placed into a separate container. The coconut milk extracted from the coconut shreds will be used for the bibingka mixture. 



After extracting the coconut milk, it was placed in a pan and heated into a low flame. While the coconut milk is being heated, sugar was added into the pan. After the coconut milk and sugar was mixed, it was cooled for ten minutes. After that, Mang Victor added the pounded rice into the mixture. He mixed the mixture and added 3 small packs of yeast into the bibingka mix. He placed the bibingka mixture into another container and covered it. Mang Victor said that the mixture should be stored for two hours before it is cooked. He also shared that he doesn’t use tuba anymore to increase the size of the bibingka because it is not usually available in the market.

After the mixture has been prepared, Mang Victor started to cook the bibingka. He placed a round piece of banana leaf over preheated burning coals on a clay pot. He then quickly added a cup of bibingka mixture into the clay pot, taking care not to spill the mixture in the container itself. He also quickly added coconut strips into the clay pot. He said that coconut strips add texture to the bibingka once it is eaten. Then, the clay pot was covered with more preheated coals. The bibingka was cooked under a lower flame as the cake is being cooked. It is to make sure that the top and bottom part of the rice cake is not charred. But Mang Victor said that the heat on top of the clay pot is stronger than the one below the clay pot. Mang Victor checked the bibingka from time to time to make sure that the bibingka would be cooked just right. Then, gradually the bibingka was cooked and was gotten out of the clay pot and was placed in a on the table covered with banana leaves.

Mang Victor Baynosa’s way of cooking bibingka was just like the traditional way of cooking bibingka and it tasted so good. Nothing tastes like a freshly cooked bibingka. Though Mang Victor’s bibingka don’t have toppings in it but still it tastes sweet and delicious as it is. Though there are some vendors who would put margarine, sprinkle some sugar and grated coconut on top of the bibingka to add more sweetness and texture to the rice cake.

Because of this undeniably sweet treat; bibingka has always been present in many special occasions in Mandaue. During fiestas in Mandaue, bibingka has always been part of the menu of many homes. During Mantawi festival, bibingkang Mandaue is always shared to everyone who wants to taste the sweet rice cake. According to my friend, nothing completes her celebration of Mantawi festival without eating her favorite bibingka.

Also, bibingkang Mandaue is popular during Christmas season which can be found outside the churches after the traditional night mass or Misa de Gallo. People would usually buy bibingka sold outside the churches during the Christmas season since there is no alternative to a freshly hot bibingka cooked over burning coals and eating it to get people warm from the cold air of December.

 

Indeed, bibingka Mandaue is a succulent delicious treat only found in Mandaue. It will always be one of the foods that Mandauehanons will be proud of. If one visits to Mandaue, no one could ever miss to enjoy the sweet taste of Mandaue’s version of bibingka. One could not leave the place without tasting Mandaue’s bibingka. 














facts and figures: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/
personal interview: Mr. Victor Baynosa october 12, 2011