Food Trip: Native Cake in a Bamboo

Back in our humble province, we call it "Tinubong." Forgive me for I could not find the most fitting translation. It's an Ilocano term for putting something inside an elongated object called "tubong" or the bamboo. It's made of ground malagkit (glutinous) rice and other ingredients. It is a native delicacy in the Ilocos Region. It is quite sticky but delectable and matches well with coffee. 
Although it can be bought all year long in certain areas, this delicacy is most well-loved during Christmas season. It is like puto-bumbong and bibingka here in Manila and the Southern Tagalog. It is contained inside the bamboo and grilled in a very meticulous manner of manually turning over the bamboo while wiping it with wet cloth (so that it won't get burned) until it is cooked. If you can see from the photo, the cake is a bit darker under, on the part that touches the bamboo but I tell you, that is the most delicious part. The basic ingredients are glutinous rice, young coconut meat, sugar, cheese, margarine. The producers make use of young bamboo or what we termed as "Bulo" - the thin kind of bamboo wood. The only way to open the tinubong is by slicing the bamboo  lengthwise to reveal the delicious tinubong inside.
Check other Ilocano dishes like Miki, Ensaladang Bagnet, and Igado.
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