A Little History
Pinoys have always been rice-eaters dating back to centuries ago long before the Spanish colonizers came to our shores. Early settlers from Taiwan migrated here and built the Banaue
Rice Terraces in Ifugao Province, Cordillera Region. With impressive engineering plan, it was believed to be built with our ancestors' bare hands. Our Hagdan-hagdang Palayan is proof that rice had since been a major part of our daily commodities. To this day, it continues to supply our country with rice and other agricultural crops. UNESCO has named it the 8th Wonders of the World.
Have you heard about the “UNLIMITED RICE” promo being offered at our food chains lately? Our food business sector has been very clever in coming up with creative ideas bringing rice at the center of their neck to neck competition for sales. Now, these business establishments really work hard doing their assignment because they figured out a way to address the constant demand for rice, a demand that is ingrained in every Filipino’s system.
We Can't Live On Bread Alone
I personally know of some people who would throw tantrums if
they don’t get to eat rice at least once a day and worst, making them weak and unfit
to work. Others would regard it as a form of punishment if you
serve them with bread instead of rice. So, if the Parisians say that they get
depressed without having bread for a day, we Filipinos have our own stand about such claim: that we cannot live on bread alone but by every scoop of rice which
we consume 3X a day. And because rice is very flexible, we pair it with different kinds of dishes that we can think of. Rice and adobo, rice and bistek, rice and sinigang, rice and toyo (soy sauce), and these are just our starters!
The list goes on along with our cunning neologisms for easy recall of rice with ulam combinations. Tapsilog for tapa-sinangag-itlog; longsilog for longganisa-sinangag-itlog; bangsilog for bangus-sinangag-itlog; chicksilog for chicken-sinangag-itlog. Please take note, however, that the rice part - the sinangag - is always stuck in between two ulam combinations. Our love for rice, really, must be one indicator that we are a unique nation, it is our shared identity as Filipinos. It is our elixir in its purest form and solid state! Imagine our diet without the rice being served at the table. Our
tablescape must look gloomy and cold.
Have You Ever Snacked on Tutong?
Rice comes in many different varieties. We have the very
common milagrosa, pinaula, sinandomeng, dinorado, wagwag, kamuros, among
others. We also have the malagkit or sticky rice, which is perfect for cooking
kakanin like the old-time favorite biko or sinanglay. How about our childhood comfort food like arroz caldo and champorado that kept our bellies warm during the rainy days? And what about the reddish brown rice which supermarkets now label as organic rice? Back in the 1970’s, (perhaps earlier, forgive me, I'm a Martial Law baby,) eating brown rice was a commonplace in an ordinary Filipino home. I remember we used to sprinkle it with brown sugar topping. It was more chewy as compared to the soft white rice that we now have at the market. More masticating was needed in order to benefit from its flavor. It was also gut-heavy. Then there was the famous tutong, the left-over rice which was either mildly burned or charred to the bottom. Family members would come rushing to their batalan or tungko in order to bag the much coveted tutong. Anoint it with soy sauce and used cooking oil from lunch, or better yet, with molten pork fat that was stashed for snacking purposes.
A simple sinaing na kanin would be normally washed 2- 3 times with clean water and then cooked in an
open fire, usually in wood-fuelled tungko, or kalan with uling. Fresh pandan
leaves would be added to the pot of rice to complete the whole experience of stimulating the sense of smell and the sense of taste. Ahh, the fragrant smell of pandan leaves in boiling rice at the batalan would send signal to
family members that it’s almost meal time.
