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| Alternative names | Puto bombong |
|---|---|
| Course | Dessert |
| Place of origin | Philippines |
| Serving temperature | Room temperature, hot |
| Main ingredients | Pirurutongglutinous rice, whiteglutinous rice,muscovado, grated coconut,butter/margarine,sesame seeds |
| Variations | puto |
| Similar dishes | kue putu,putu bambu,puttu |
Puto bumbong is aFilipino purplerice cakesteamed inbamboo tubes. It is traditionally sold during theChristmas season. It is a type ofputo (steamed rice cake).
The name is derived fromTagalogputo (steamed rice cakes) andbumbong orbombong ("bamboo tube"). The names are sometimes mistakenly spelled asputo bungbong orputo bongbong.[1]
Puto bumbóng is made from a uniqueheirloom variety ofglutinous rice calledpirurutong (also calledtapol inVisayan), which is deep purple to near-black in color.[2]Pirurutong is mixed with a larger ratio of white glutinous rice (malagkít ormalagkít sungsong in Tagalog;pilit in Visayan).[3] Regular white rice may also be used instead ofmalagkít, to give the dish a less chewy consistency.[4]
The rice grains are covered completely in water (traditionally mixed with salt) and left to soak overnight. This gives it a slightly acidic,fermented aftertaste. The mixture is then drained and packed densely into bamboo tubes and steamed. The sides of the bamboo tubes are traditionally greased withcoconut oil, but modern techniques usebutter ormargarine. The rice is traditionally cooked as whole grains, but in some recipes, the rice is ground before or after soaking.[5][4][6][7]
The resulting cylindrical rice cake is then served onbanana leaves, slathered with more butter or margarine, seasoned withmuscovado sugar, justbrown sugar,white sugar, gratedcoconut, and sometimessesame seeds. Less common toppings includecondensed milk (as an alternative to sugars), gratedcheese, andleche flan.[3][8]
Puto bumbóng is commonly served as a snack or breakfast dish during the Christmas season. It is usually associated with the nine-day traditionalSimbáng Gabí devotion, where stalls serving snacks includingputo bumbóng are set up outside churches before dawn.[9][5]
Modernputo bumbong may use metal cylinders or regularfood steamers. These versions are commonly shaped into little balls or long narrow tubes (similar tosuman).[9] In some modern versions,pirurutóng is excluded altogether as it can be hard to find, and purplefood coloring or evenpurple yam (ube) flour are used instead. However, these versions may be frowned upon as being inauthentic.[5][4][6][10]
Adaptations of the dish in restaurants include ice-cream flavors, pancakes, cakes, andempanadas.[11]
A variant ofputo bumbóng from the provinces ofBatangas andPampanga isputong sulot, which uses white glutinous rice. Unlikeputo bumbóng, it is available year-round.[12]
InIndonesia there is a very similar dessert known askue putu inIndonesian. It is also cooked in bamboo tubes, but is made with rice flour. It is also commonly green due to the use ofpandan leaves as flavoring.[13]
InIndia (Kerala,Tamil Nadu, andKarnataka) andSri Lanka, a similar dish is known asputtu orpittu, though it is a savory dish rather than a dessert.[14]
Both of these related dishes are very different in that they use regular (non-sticky)rice flour or groundwhite rice, but they are all cooked in bamboo tubes.[13][14]
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