Sayongsong facts for kids
| Alternative names | sayungsong, sayungsung, sarongsong, sarungsung, sarungsong, alisuso |
|---|---|
| Course | Dessert |
| Place of origin | Philippines |
| Region or state | Surigao del Norte, Caraga Region, Eastern Visayas, Central Visayas |
| Serving temperature | warm, room temperature |
| Main ingredients | Glutinous rice, rice, sugar, coconut milk, roasted peanuts, calamansi juice |
| Similar dishes | puto |
Sayongsong is a yummy, traditional Filipino steamed rice cake. It comes from places like Surigao del Norte and the Caraga Region in northeastern Mindanao. You can also find it in the southeastern Visayas islands, like Bohol, Samar, and Leyte. In these areas, it's sometimes called sarungsong or alisuso.
What makes sayongsong special is how it's served. It comes wrapped in cool, cone-shaped banana leaves. Think of it as a cousin to puto, another popular Filipino rice cake. It's a sweet treat that many people enjoy!
Contents
Making Sayongsong: A Sweet Process
Making sayongsong can take a bit of time, but the delicious result is worth it!
What You Need
The main ingredients are two types of rice:
- Equal parts of glutinous rice (which is super sticky rice)
- Regular rice
Traditionally, people use a special deep purple sticky rice called pirurotong. This gives sayongsong a cool blue or purple color! But other sticky rice types work too.
How It's Made
First, the rice mixture soaks in water for about 20 minutes. Then, other yummy ingredients are added.
- If you're in Surigao, you'll add roasted peanuts.
- If you're in the Visayas, you'll add grated young coconut.
All these ingredients are then ground into a smooth paste. This paste is called galapóng.
Next, coconut milk is boiled with sugar for about 10 minutes. This sweet coconut milk is then filtered and mixed with the galapóng paste. The mixture is cooked in a pan and stirred constantly until it gets very thick. Just before it's done, a little bit of calamansi juice (from a small, sour citrus fruit) is added.
The mixture is then left to cool down. Once cool, it's poured into banana leaves that have been shaped into cones and lightly greased. Finally, these cones are steamed for another 20 minutes until the sayongsong is perfectly cooked!
Fun Facts About Sayongsong
Sayongsong is a very soft and chewy treat. Its texture is a bit like kalamay (another sticky rice dessert) and puto.
Variations and Keeping It Fresh
You can change up sayongsong by adding other things. Some people like to add chocolate for a richer taste. Others might add strips of young coconut meat for extra texture.
Sayongsong is best eaten fresh. It usually stays good for about a day. If you want to keep it longer, you can put it in an airtight container and chill it in the fridge. This can make it last for another day.
In Samar, a place where sarungsong is popular, they sometimes cook it in shaved bamboo tubes. When it's time to eat, they just peel open the bamboo!
