is a traditional Filipino steamed sweet

rice cake A rice cake may be any kind of food item made from rice that has been shaped, condensed, or otherwise combined into a single object. A wide variety of rice cakes exist in many different cultures in which rice is eaten. Common variations include ...

distinctively served in cone-shaped

banana leaves The banana leaf is the leaf of the banana plant, which may produce up to 40 leaves in a growing cycle. The leaves have a wide range of applications because they are large, flexible, waterproof and decorative. They are used for cooking, wrappin ...

. It exists in

Surigao del Norte Surigao del Norte ( Surigaonon: ''Probinsya nan Surigao del Norte''; ; Tagalog: ''Hilagang Surigao''), officially the Province of Surigao del Norte, is a province in the Philippines located in the Caraga region of Mindanao. The province was fo ...

and other areas of the Caraga Region of northeastern

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...

, as well as in

Bohol Bohol (), officially the Province of Bohol (; ), is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region, consisting of the island itself and 75 minor surrounding islands. It is home to Bohola ...

and the

Eastern Visayas Eastern Visayas (; ; ; ) is an administrative region in the Philippines, designated as Region VIII. It consists of three main islands: Samar, Leyte, and Biliran. The region has six provinces: Biliran, Leyte, Northern Samar, Samar, Easte ...

(where it is known as or ) and the

Bicol Region The Bicol Region, designated as Region V, is an administrative region of the Philippines. It comprises six Provinces of the Philippines, provinces, four on the Bicol Peninsula (the luzon#Southeastern Luzon, southeastern end of Luzon): Albay, Ca ...

(where it is known as ). In the Tagalog region, a similar cone-shaped rice cake is also called , but unlike the ''sayongsong'' it is not sweetened and is eaten with savory dishes.

Etymology

The name means "

cone In geometry, a cone is a three-dimensional figure that tapers smoothly from a flat base (typically a circle) to a point not contained in the base, called the '' apex'' or '' vertex''. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines ...

", or more accurately "shaped like a snail".

Description

''Sayongsong'' is regarded as a type of '' puto'' or '' suman'' depending on how the contents are cooked. ''Sayongsong'' is can be time-consuming to make. It is made with equal parts of

glutinous rice Domestication syndrome refers to two sets of phenotypic traits that are common to either domesticated plants or domesticated animals. Domesticated animals tend to be smaller and less aggressive than their wild counterparts; they may also hav ...

and regular rice. It traditionally uses ''pirurotong'', a native deep purple glutinous rice, which gives it a striking blue to purple color, but other types of glutinous rice can also be used. The rice mixture is soaked for around 20 minutes. Roasted peanuts (Surigao version) or grated young coconut (Visayas version) are then added and the whole mixture is ground into a smooth paste known as '' galapóng''. Coconut milk sweetened with sugar is boiled separately for around 10 minutes then filtered and mixed with the ''galapóng''. The ''galapóng'' is then cooked in a pan while constantly stirring. When it becomes very thick in consistency, a bit of

calamansi Calamansi (''Citrus'' × ''microcarpa''), also known as calamondin, Philippine lime, or Philippine lemon, is a citrus hybrid cultivated predominantly in the Philippines. It is native to the Philippines, parts of Indonesia (Borneo, Sumatra, and ...

juice is spritzed on the mixture. It is then allowed to cool and then poured into greased banana leaves shaped into a cone. The cones are then steamed for an additional 20 minutes.

Variants

The dish can be modified by adding other ingredients, like chocolate or strips of young coconut meat. The texture of ''sayongsong'' is very soft, reminiscent of both ''

kalamay ''Kalamay'' (also spelled ''calamay'', literally "sugar") is a sticky sweet delicacy that is popular in many regions of the Philippines. It is made of coconut milk, brown sugar, and ground glutinous rice. It can also be flavored with margarine, ...

'' and '' puto''. ''Sayongsong'' has a short shelf life and spoils after around a day, though it can be preserved for another day if chilled and placed in an airtight container. In

Samar Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...

, ''sarungsong'' can also be cooked in shaved bamboo tubes that are then peeled open to eat. In the Tagalog region, especially

Southern Tagalog Southern Tagalog (), designated as Region IV, was an administrative region in the Philippines that comprised the current regions of Calabarzon and Mimaropa, the province of Aurora in Central Luzon, and most of the National Capital Region. ...

, a similar cone-shaped rice cake is also called , but it is not sweet. The rice is also not flavored, though it is usually made more fragrant by the banana leaves or with added

pandan leaves Pandan may refer to: Plants *''Pandanus'', a genus of tropical trees, the screw-pines **''Pandanus amaryllifolius'', a tropical plant used in Southeast Asian cuisine Places Brunei * Kampong Pandan, Brunei Malaysia * Pandan-Tebrau, a location ...

. It usually includes a mixture of rice varieties and is eaten with savory meals, much like

pusô ''Pusô'' or ''tamu'', sometimes known in Philippine English as "hanging rice", is a Filipino cuisine, Filipino rice cake made by boiling rice in a Weaving, woven pouch of Arecaceae, palm leaves. It is most commonly found in octahedron, octah ...

References

{{Filipino food Philippine desserts Philippine rice dishes Foods containing coconut Rice cakes Vegetarian dishes of the Philippines

Etymology

Description

Variants

See also

References