Aside from the white sandy beaches , its pretty obvious that Bolinao, Pangasinan has kept its date with history. There are numerous things to do while you are in Bolinao. Visit the Bolinao church, it is an old church situated in main town of Bolinao.Take pictures at the caves and the Cape Bolinao Light house, sunset at the Patar beach . My Bolinao trip was one of the solo backpacking adventures I had in the last couple of months.
When visiting another province, my first agenda actually is to get something to eat. When I passed by the church of Saint James , I heard a stranger called my attention and said “Sir Tikman nyo po ang binungay ko, pampasalubong!” At first I ignored her. And suddenly realized I must try it . I went back and bought one. Honestly, I am not really familiar with the Pangasinan culinary or with Pangasinan cuisine.
This rice cake delicacy is made by steaming a bamboo segment which is filled with coconut milk and sticky rice over fire.
I was able to get the cooking process from one of the vendors and soon try it myself when I get back home. I just found out , that the whole process is really easy. Just get a 10-12 inch piece of bamboo with the node in the middle. Followed by washing the sticky rice, put some rock salt and fill the bamboo with it. Leave some space for the coconut milk and coconut cream . Cover it with a banana leaf. Place the bamboo pieces in an oven . You will know it when its ready to eat when the bamboo turns brown . And to eat it, you need to crack the bamboo into half . I am sure this binungay would taste good with hot chocolate or coffee or just a plain sugar.
I fell in love with Bolinao in Pangasinan. Specially when I was introduced to their traditional cooking.
I learned something from that stranger/vendor I met in Pangasinan. I thanked her for letting me know the secret on how to cook their native delicacy and telling me the best of her hometown.
You will definitely need some cooking skills when you get trapped or stranded in the middle of nowhere. Atleast now you know, I shared with you my basic cooking skills.
But I found out that Binungay is not a dessert . Its more of a rice to go and cooked using a bamboo stalk . Binungay is just the typical suman that I know cooked in Pangasinan style. Probably the bamboo must have added an extraordinary flavor to it. This is truly one of my awesome food experiences for this year.
When you visit Pangasinan , do not forget to buy Binungay for pasalubong.
This is my entry to the Pinoy Travel Bloggers’ Blog Carnival for July 2011 with the theme “Awesome Food Experience While Traveling In The Philippines” hosted by Anton Diaz .
To see the archive of Pinoy Travel Bloggers’ Blog Carnival click the logo.
Share your awesome Food Experience while traveling around the Philippines too. Happy food trip..
