Mandaue City is right next door to Cebu City and on the way to the airport. In fact, my grandparents’ and father’s cemetery plot is half in Mandaue 
and half in Cebu; hmm, I wonder what is where within the plots… At any rate, the City of Mandaue is quite famous for it’s bibingka (rice cakes) and though the vendors are fewer and farther between these days, it is still a common snack and something the city is proud of. Made of ground rice, heated coconut milk, coconut strips, sugar and traditionally tuba (coconut alcohol) though this is sometimes replaced with yeast, I think, this sweetish slightly acidic treat is quite memorable. Very different from the bibingkang galapong, it is nevertheless quite delicious and a taste that is unique…
At PHP40 for three bibingkas, this is a whoppingly good bargain, if you ask me. Each bibingka is good for two persons unless you are really hungry. It appears to be cooked under a lower flame as the cake has risen, but the top and bottom is not charred. In fact, I think the heat on the top of the cake is stronger than the one below the cake. These bibingka were purchased roadside and I am told there are some “secrets” to each vendor’s individual mixtures or recipes but I didn’t get any recipes just yet…maybe next time. If you happen to visit Cebu/Mandaue in the near future, be sure to try this delicacy…
33 Responses
hi! i love this bibingka and always try to buy some whenever i’m in cebu. do you know where i can get this in manila? thanks!
wow.. that sure looks good.. best with a cup of coffee or hot choco… yum…
Yum…. I love bibingka.
Hmmn, really miss bibingka specially the one with the salted eggs.
i love the bibingka there in cebu. when i lived there for a year in 1998, in ayala center, at the gaisano supermarket, there was a stall that sold bibingka. it was soooo good. then on on weekends (only) there was a special bibingka (colored yellow)–even more delicious than the regular bibingka. then they closed shop. dunno where they went and i don’t remember the stall’s name! pastilan. sarap talaga eh.
I am tortured just looking at the pictures. The bibingka must be out of this world with the addition of tuba it brought another dimension. I can picture myself sinking my teeth into it and eating the delicious delicacy. Do you eat them with grated coconut or plain the way you have them in your pictures? It looks the coconut strips is mixed and cooked in and eggs are not commissioned.
MM, I wish you could provide a recipe for the bibingka. I lived in Cebu (a looong time ago) and my housemates and I used to go to Mandaue wet market to buy longganisa, (shortganisa because they were short and chubby), dried danggit, and of course mangoes.
Yum! I love bibingka! Have tried the ones from Mandaue when I visited last year and it was the best. Couldn’t get anything like that around here. :-(
yes i like bibingka as well. Must try the Mandaue version again. i’ve always wondered if other Asian countries had anything similar. or is it unique to the Philippines?
hmm, i remember a TV food show in New York hosted by a couple of relatively well known restaurant critics, and they had a bibingka tasting right on the show. they were raving about it, discussing it in detail, and I thought, cool, Americans are finally learning a bit about pinoy food.
this is making me sick. i love bibingka and to have an authentic one you have to be in the PI!
what I’m also craving for is turon!
when we go to Guam for a break from Japan (it’s America in 3 hours – well almost America) I buy dozens of turon, have them wrap in foil; hand carry the whole pack and freeze when we get home. It’s like having gold in my freezer! I have to ration these little bundles to my kids. Just stick however many you want to eat in the toaster oven and it’s almost as good as freshly made turon.
gonzo: i remember that episode–it’s the one with the guy with the mustache and the lady? the bibingka they had came from cendrillon by amy besa (with a recent post by MM).
art cooper of gq magazine, i’m not sure but i recall them enjoying a “bah bing kah”
I remember my dad coming back from Cebu (where he’s from) bringing home goodies including Mandaue bibingka, Argao brojas and torta – both the tuba and Inglesa types, longganisa (or shortgannisa as Oggi calls them), masareal, bulad (anduhao, bolinao and danggit), dried nocos, and the oh-so-salty tinabal.
Yes, the tuba gives the Mandaue bibingka a distinct flavor.
Mmmmm….I’m enjoying reading this while dreaming of eating bibingka right this minute…
you just made me feel so homesick
kalami gyud ani
lami gyud. this is one of my fave desert. wish i was home.
Hi! i miss those bibingkas! was in Cebu recently but didn’t get to eat any – sigh! tinuud gyud, lami ang bibingka Mandaue!
I first got a taste of (and loved) these bibingkas in North Cotabato. Loved it to bits I had to beg my in-laws to please take it away from my sight for the sake of my expanding waist line. :) My husband said he used to cook it when he was a child and I’ll try to get him to cook a batch. Will email an update when we do. :)
hmmmmm…. i love bibingka….. do you have a bibingka recipe???
sally, yes, there are two bibingka recipes in the archives, type bibingka into search function and keep scrolling down until you find them…one is with FLOUR and another with ground rice…
Can you email me the recipe for this Bibingka,please! Thanks, Baby
Mmmmm, i missed the bibingka in Mandaue, cant find it here in Manila. Do you have recipe on this? Cant wait to try at home. Bibingka of Mandaue is one of the best bibingka I’ve ever taste, bibingka of Manila is totally different from the bibingka of Mandaue and some other places. Hopefully, anyone could get a recipe please post it here. Share to us! lami jud! Thanks!
asa dapit sa mandaue ta maka palit ug bibingka?
i like mandaue’s bibingka very much and i always buy it whenever i get the chance to. is there a way of knowing its origin and the first man who made it? my daughter has this assignment in one of her subjects in school. help please! thanks
Pastilan jhud you guys about to kill me, reading and thinking of bibingka and the picture above its killing me. Was at work yesterday and someone ask me where I’m from, I said and told him that I’m Pilipina raise and born in Mandaue. The first word that came out from his mouth was (bibingka) and from that point on I was thinking of bibingka driving all the home dreaming. It would be nice to just push a button and tada!!!! “Im in Manadaue eating bibingka”. Oh! bulad suka na maanghang.
Gail! my mom cooks bibingka I used to help her cook when I was a little girl and I never ask her why she stop luto sa bibingka. Im calling her later and her for a recipe. Thanks to All!
Hello Mandaue Bibingka, i just want to ask where could I find the main store of mandaue bibingka?
I want to know where it is located. I’m from studio 23 top pick and I want to feature the store in our Top Pick season 2 Christmas episode. Plss contact me in my email whoever knows the exact location, and contact informations.
Thanks a lot!. WELLA
There are several kinds of bibingka’s in Cebu.
But what is not very well known is Landa’s Adult Bibingka and Landa’s Baby Bibingka. The recipe and quality control is secret. Hopefully it will come out in the next few months.
Another is bibingka is the “kalag-kalag” bibingka made in the mountains of Butong, Argao, Cebu. “You can throw this against the wall and the bibingka will not crack,” my late father used to comment.
Then there is Catmon’s Roadside Bibingka. They used to be available only on Thursdays in Catmondaan. But now (2008) you can buy day along the road in Catmondaan, Catmon, Cebu.
There are several kinds of bibingka’s in Cebu.
But what is not very well known is Landa’s Adult Bibingka and Landa’s Baby Bibingka. The recipe and quality control is secret. Hopefully it will come out in the next few months.
Another bibingka is the “kalag-kalag” bibingka made in the mountains of Butong, Argao, Cebu. “You can throw this against the wall and the bibingka will not crack,” my late father used to comment.
Then there is Catmon’s Roadside Bibingka. They used to be available only on Thursdays in Catmondaan. But now (2008) you can buy day along the road in Catmondaan, Catmon, Cebu.
I miss this bingka. I used to love this so much that I would buy from vendors hawking in the pantalan. Too bad, this is not available in Manila.
I’ve lived in Mandaue for 22 years ago, I loved the bibingka mandaue compared to other bibinga specialty around, I wish to get the recipe for my kids to enjoy our mandaue’s bibingka’s pride
Im craving for bibingka could someone post a recipe for this!!!!.
I used to remember long time ago when i was still in cebu my father used to work in mandaue and every afternoon after he got off from work he always brings bibingka.Its so yummy!!!!
I would like to know if somebody can provide me with the mandaue bibingka recipe?
Thank you