Cassava Suman with Macapuno is a type of Filipino rice cake made with grated cassava/tapioca with coconut cream and sweet young coconut wrapped in banana leaf and steamed.
When I see rice cakes it reminds me of my late grandmother as there was no afternoon that she missed making them, Cassava Suman with Macapuno was one of these. It was a regular merienda when I was young and I certainly learned a lot of kakanin from her. During those times I was her kitchen hand, she was the one who always ask me to grate the coconuts using a manual grater and I was also the one responsible for mixing the tough and sticky stuff like ube or calamay which sometimes takes 30 minutes or more of nonstop mixing on a hot stove. I did learn a lot during those days and that was one of my influences on my cooking passion today.
One of the kakanins she used to make was this Cassava Suman, basically grated cassava mixed with sugar and coconut milk then wrapped in banana leaf then steamed. Unlike the usual glutinous rice suman this rice cake does not need any sweetener as it is sweet by default as it already contains sugar when it is cooked. Sometimes macapuno is added to give a different texture to the dish which make this even more special and today we will be preparing it with that and here is how I made it.
Cassava Suman with Macapuno is a type of Filipino rice cake made with grated cassava/tapioca with coconut cream and sweet young coconut wrapped in banana leaf and steamed.
In a bowl combine all ingredients together apart from the banana leaves, mix it well.
Prepare the banana leaves and cut it into 30 x 15 cm pieces, lay them down in a flat surface and place 2 tablespoons of the mixture on each leaf on the longest side. Roll the banana leaf like a spring roll then fold both ends. Length of each suman would be around 12 cm.
Prepare a steamer, then place all the suman on the steamer, steam for 30 minutes or until the suman is firm.
These are a lot like our tamales in appearance and process, but the flavors are quite different. I love the flavors in these.
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Thank you for this recipe!
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