SUMAN MALAGKIT

 Suman is a Filipino snack (or merienda) that’s made of glutinous rice and coconut milk, wrapped in banana leaves and steamed to sticky perfection. Eat it with mangoes in the summer or dip it in tsokolate in the winter. Delicious!

(To learn how to make tsokolate or Filipino hot chocolate, check this out. Tsokolate is simple and straightforward but its intense chocolate flavour will win you over. Puto or Filipino steamed rice cakes also go well with tsokolate. Bibingkang malagkit is a beloved Filipino rice snack too. So good!)

Ingredients

▢3 cups glutinous rice

▢2-14 oz cans coconut milk

▢¼ cup granulated sugar

▢1 tsp salt

▢banana leaves for wrapping

▢water for soaking the rice

Instructions

In a large bowl, soak 3 cups glutinous rice in water for at least 2 hours. Make sure all of the rice is fully submerged.

Drain and transfer the rice to a pot with 2 cans of coconut milk, ¼ cup granulated sugar and 1 tsp salt. Bring this to a boil then lower heat to a simmer. Stir often to prevent your rice from burning at the bottom. Cook until the rice has absorbed almost all of the liquid, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove the pot from heat and let it sit for another 10-15 minutes to allow the rice to cool.

In the meantime, you can get your banana leaves ready. We usually buy banana leaves frozen so once they are thawed, wash them thoroughly, dry them and cut them into rectangular shapes of equal sizes (I make mine roughly 7×8 inches).

Put 2-3 heaping tablespoons of rice in each banana leaf and roll tightly. Seal by folding the edges. Tie with a banana leaf “string” to keep the banana leaf in place (see the post for step-by-step photos).

Place your suman in a steamer and steam for about an hour to allow the rice to fully cook. Remove from steamer and allow to cool and dry slightly before unwrapping.

Enjoy with tsokolate, mango, sugar or on its own!

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