native foods

There are all sorts of snack and beverage vendors just outside the gates of the main temples/wats in Cambodia. I didn’t know much about Cambodian food overall and was wary of the hygiene issues with respect to street and market food in general, but since reading Robyn’s (Eating Asia) post on “risky food”, and my increasingly adventurous streak (though nowhere near as adventurous as Robyn’s), I figured I would just go ahead and try whatever suited my fancy, within reasonable boundaries. After all, this wasn’t really a food trip, it was mainly a sightseeing holiday… So after a couple of hours touring wats, feeling more than a little parched and hungry, I decided to check out these semi-ripe mangoes, served as they might in Manila, less the bagoong or shrimp paste…

TUPIG

Whenever you are on your way down to Manila from Baguio, you will definitely pass bysuman vendors in Urdaneta, Pangasinan. Their suman is called Tupig, made from sugar, coconut and malagkit (gelatinous rice) then wrapped in banana leaves. The banana wrapped suman is cooked over a charcoal grill. A set of tupig, with 4 pieces to a bundle cost 100 pesos.

PUTO BUMBONG

PUTO BUMBONG. A very popular Christmas treat among our Tagalog brothers! Mind you, I love eating this purple treat during the Yuletide season! One has the choice to dip it in brown sugar or freshly grated coconut.