It’s been two and a half years since I first made and wrote about bibingka on this blog. Let’s just say I can fully understand why it is one of those native delicacies that one purchases from an expert rather than whips up in the backyard on a regular basis… However, now that I am on a semi-diet, meaning trying to control caloric intake, I get these bizarre food cravings for things I should NOT eat right now. So I used as an excuse the birthday lunch of a crew member today to take out the old bibingka “stove” with the rusting top broiler attachment…
The recipe for the easy store bought rice flour bibingka galapong is here, and you can adjust ingredients to taste if you decide to brave it. I suspect it would turn out reasonably well in an oven as well, just broil at the last minute or two to burnish the top of the rice cake. Just pour the batter into some prepared and buttered banana leaves over coals…
Put the top heating element over the batter and twiddle your thumbs for a few minutes. Check after say 5 minutes to see how it’s doing…
You will quickly figure out if you have too many coals going, too little, etc. based on the first disaster of a bibingka. As with pancakes, the first rice cake ALWAYS gets screwed up. As soon as you are able to calibrate the heat and everything gets nice and hot (including the pottery baking vessel)… it gets much easier.
Readers sometimes ask how I end up doing so many posts and things always seem to turn out nice. STOP RIGHT THERE. I often have complete disasters in the kitchen, I just don’t write about a lot of them. :) Over the past year, I have baked pan de sals nearly a dozen times, and I still don’t have a recipe I am happy with and would publish. Forget about a plain white puto, I have given up on that for now. An ube puto I have in the archives, but a plain white puto is WICKEDLY hard to get right. And finally, while I have seen a master make the thinnest of lumpia wrappers, I have attempted this again and again at home to no avail. So you see, it isn’t all hunky dory in the Marketman kitchen. And the more I look at my list of pinoy food nemeses, the more I realize it is the supposedly simplest recipes with the fewest ingredients that are the most difficult to master… As for the bibingka, the first one here looks like a three alarm fire disaster, but it still tasted pretty darn good. We made 8 bibingkas today, and I ate a two inch wedge. My craving is gone, the crew are happy (birthday lunch included pancit palabok, insasal na manok, lechon) and fattened up, while I had to settle for a large green salad topped with the meat (no skin) of two pieces of chicken inasal… :)
54 Responses
i used to have major hankerings for bibingkang galapong until i discovered “bibingkinitan” at SM. they’re tiny and good when hot. the extras i freeze and microwave, and they’re good as freshly-baked.
MM, the snow white puto is just wickedly hard to make. i tried more than 5 times but bwala, my clan just gave me that awful look of yes we like it. hahahaha. but this bibigka you just showed is just perfect (judging from what i see). my best bibinka experience (the cheap one) is the one at SM makati food court basement. its just good MM. but the excellent ones are in Via Mare Alabang. maybe its time you trust my taste. hehehehe. bye MM
i just buy a box of bibingka mix and the
bibingkas turn out perfect from the
oven. they are so good for merienda…
I want bibingka with a salted egg on top with lots of grated coconut !!!! Yum !!!
I love bibingka, namiss ko tuloy ang bibingka sa tapat ng simbahan sa Poblacion Arayat tuwing fiesta…at sa Market Market, yummy! thanks for the post MM.
thelma, i also depend on the mix, but add some glutinous rice flour etc..i add the fixins on top and it tastes just as good..made some this weekend.
Oh Lordy! miss ko na bingka sa mandaue. everytime na uuwi ako sa cebu, isa ‘to sa hinahanap-hanap ko. this is killing me softly….arrgh!!!
your bibingka pic looks like it got punched in the face hehe. is it just the lighting or does the cooked bibingka batter in the last pic look browner and not as white as the bibingkas am used to. in any case, cheers to you for making the effort to make the classics. it goes a long way to remembering/enriching our food culture.
why can’t dieting include lechon, cake and regular coke? sighs.
Wow! It’s no longer Christmas but I can still sense its fragrance thru your bibingka! This is my favorite along with salted egg and coconut shredding. This one and putobung-bong are among the Filipino delicacies I dream to make on my own.
Thanks for sharing & Happy New Year MM! =)
Ay! It’s been 2 years and already since I started this habit of checking your site a few times everyday. You’re quite addicting MM. Your bibingka post welcomed me in your blog. I was searching for bibingka recipe, and I was directed to your site. By the way, there’s a humble turo-turo style restaurant in front of Capitol Medical Center in Panay Ave QC that sells really good old fashioned bibingka at 60pesos only.
Goodness but that made my mouth water.
Thelma – where can you buy a bibingka mix sa U.S.? I’m from San Diego and hopefully we have them here, too. Do you cook them in banana leaves too or just plain baking dish?
Natie – how much of a glutinous rice flour do you add? When you talk about fixins, are these the salted eggs, cheese or do you put anything else?
I love bibingka and I need all the help I can get to make some. I haven’t tried making one yet.
Thanks for the info…
the longing for bibingka – last year I asked husband who was in the Philippines for a visit to bring back some bibingka (put in freezer and pack in checked in luggage pabalik) – i recall they made good bibingka at the saturday market in ayala alabang, he also brought back some gigantic ones from ferino’s. sad to note ferino’s wasnt any good at all. might try the mix instead.
netoy, i add about 1/2 cup and throw in less than a tsp of baking soda. the toppings are shredded cheese and sliced salted eggs. i’m sure your filipino store would have the mix. just follow the instructions on the box. just keep a close eye since it cooks fast, with the oven temp set high (as per instruction on box).
natie, i also add shredded cheese and salted eggs in the bibingka. the butter and freshly grated coconut really makes it so good… and don’t forget the hot tea!!!
netoy, i bought my boxes of bibingka mix from the seafood market in san diego. my
sister lives not too far from the seafood market so i go crazy shopping there whenever
i visit her. i take my time and check all the goodies they have in the store.i also enjoy going to lunch at conching’s restaurant. the owners are from
panmpanga…
netoy, you can also make espasol from the bibingka mix. i tried and they turned
out good, too!!!
oh, netoy, don’t forget the banana leaves pala. it got great flavor to
the bibingka. the frozen banana leaves can also be bought at the
seafood market….
Hi, I have also been using the White King bibingka mix that you get from the Asian stores. However, instead of using water, I use canned coconut milk. Then I top it with slices of mozzarella cheese and homemade itlog na maalat then I grill it. Lining the pie pan with banana leaves seemed to help make it taste and smell authentic (I don´t have a covered coal grill only a gas weber). Once done, I spread butter and sprinkle lots of muscovado sugar!
MM, to prevent the bibingka from getting black on top as seen in your picture, you should cover it with a round piece of banana leaf halfway during cooking to prevent burning. This was a trick taught by a bibingka maker.
While you’re on a Pinoy roll, MM, do try the BIKO CEBUANO recipe from Christine Pelaez in the MARTINI & APRONS COOKBOOK, page 405. At the Sinulog Family Day at our daughters’ school last weekend, Chris brought her biko which everyone couldn’t get enough of.
I made ube puto (my sister’s recipe) and cuchinta and ordered budbud cabog, budbod pilit and bibingka from the market and cassava rolls (almost like a cassava masi stuffed with a peanut/brown sugar combo) from Liloan to serve alongside the biko. That recipe for cuchinta in your archives is perfect! Thanks for it, bettyq!
Maybe you need to make your batter lighter and your bibingka thinner. Heat the cooking clay pot well before pouring in the batter into the banana leaf. Halfway through the cooking place the sliced salted egg pieces on top and the carabao cheese just before taking it off the flame. You are almost there, just takes practice, like everything else. I have to admit it’s well worth buying it from the experts who make it every day.
kalami oi! i missed eating this one when i was home *sigh*
hi mm! have not tasted a nice bibingka yet. i always end up eating puto bumbong nalang. will have to try this :) thanks!
The experts? I seem to be eating a lot of bad bibingkas nowadays, including the revered ones. Too eggy. So I’ve tried my hand at making some, too. Was able to bake a stupendously delicious bibingka using cake flour and coconut milk, but the crumb was parchingly dry. :-(
How about writing more about your “complete disasters in the kitchen” just like those bloopers on TV shows. Maybe I won’t feel so bad about my own kitchen booboos. Just for fun.
My favorite cheap bibingka is from this corner stall at the corner of Kamagong & Dao Sts. near Sacred Heart Church. At 40 or 45 pesos per piece, the taste is unbelievably good! c”,)
I love bibingka especially the one with salted egg. In Nueva Ecija where I came from, there was Ate Ana who used to sell bibingka in the afternoon — the smell of newly cooked bibingka with margarine and grated coconut meat on top *heaven*
I like my bibingka with kesong puti and salted eggs!There’s one stall near our parish church(open only during the -Ber months!) which I think has the best bibingka in town–real galapong and cooked just right–moist and soft on the insides with almost crusty caramelized sugar blending with the melted star margarine on top!Yum!!! I usually forego the grated coconut meat.And I can devour 1 big bibingka in one sitting! :)
I like Wado’s bibingka and puto bumbong in Tiendesitas. I might drop by some time soon. Your post is making me crave bibingka too, MM! :)
Wow, looks yummy.
MM, thanks for sharing the bibingka recipe. you need to put the banana leaves on top of the bibingka to prevent it from burning and also put less charcoal on top.. congrats on the successful bibingka.
Many commenters mentions the boxed version of bibingka. I’ve seen puto, kuchinta, arroz caldo and champurado in the groceries too. Any of these actually any good? Maybe MM, you can do a “desperate measures” entry comparing these last ditch resources.
i’ve tried making it using personal pizza sized pans from Chicago Metallic lined with banana leaves topped with salted eggs and queso fresco from the latino markets (in lieu of kesong puti)
reminds me of this roadside stall in San Mateo, Rizal which has these bibingkas I adore … better if I’m asleep when we pass by there otherwise there’s an overwhelming desire to stop and eat! I used to like Ferino’s but for some reason, it doesn’t quite hit the spot for me anymore.
I admire your restraint though MM – restricting yourself to a 2-inch wedge yet satisfying your craving! I’m not sure anything less than 1 bibingka will do it for me :-)
that was very brave of you to make bibingka and get to eat only a 2″ wedge. Congratulations. This might help https://ostrich.com.ph/nutritionalinformation.htm
Sarap!
There is a store in Tayuman, Manila, along LRT, that offers bibingka cooked on coal din but looks like white puto that tastes like bibingka..
There is also a street side store in Maceda, Manila that sells puto bumbong with cheese.. Traditional cooking is used except that they use wood stove instead of coal.
must try talaga…
with this post, i miss the original Ferino’s Bibingka Special with kesong puti and salted egg toppings, their shop being just 2 blocks away from where i used to live…
“Readers sometimes ask how I end up doing so many posts and things always seem to turn out nice. STOP RIGHT THERE. I often have complete disasters in the kitchen, I just don’t write about a lot of them” — MM, even with disasters you still manage to fill up this blog with great posts everyday! unbelievable! How do you manage your time?!?! I need that skill!
Lucky crew!
I’m glad for the suggested alternatives like DeliaCA’s. Will have to try this. Reading posts like this makes me very, very homesick for Philippine cooking.
That’s how exactly how they make bibingka in my hometown.
thelma/natie – thanks for the tips.
and to everyone else as i have picked a few pointers here and there from reading all of your comments, e.g., use of coconut milk instead of water and using the mexican cheese as a topping substitute.. will probably experiment this week-end. it’s raining here and san diego and this will be a perfect merienda (if it turns out good hahaha!).
netoy, do you know if there’s a place in san diego
where you can order a whole lechon? our
23rd wedding anniversary is coming up and
we have a little party at home. the lechon
will be added in our filipino menu…
Excellent bibingka can be made using the boxed mixes. I use an omelet maker, which cooks the top and bottom at the same time. The toppings of white cheese (made from sheep’s milk) and salted egg are added half way so they dont sink out of sight. The Thai grocery sometimes sells frozen grated coconut from Thailand. The recipe requires adding water to the mix, but I use milk and add extra melted butter to the mix.
Bibinka is always requested by the family whenever there is a celebration.
So much for your diet…. Anyway you at least found an excuse (Birthday lunch) so that you can taste and savor the food that most Filipinos loved….. the bibingka.
Bibingka has been intriguing me to make it a business venture… for mass production, but then again you have to be an expert in bibingka making to excel.
For what it’s worth, bibingka is really top of the line food in the Philippines.
I remember there was a Ferinö’s bibingkahan near the old IS in Makati, don’t know if still there, but the bibingkero would ask us if “may itlog” and he would break 2-3 eggs in a mug, beat them silly, then whip it in with his ready made batter, the toppings would come later when half-done, that’s why they are beautifully pressed on top of the chewy bibingka. Hay, yummy!
bibingka with melted chocolate … yummmmyyyy
Btw, I got the idea of using coconutmilk from MarketManila’s old post on bibingka. In his bibingka galapong, coconut milk was one of the main ingredients.
The challenge now is to make bibingka galapong from scratch. For one reason or another I could not make bibingka successfully using MMs galapong recipe (using commercial rice flour). Are there different types of rice flour? I’ve tried making it with glutinous rice flour and the regular rice flour that you get at asian stores. The bibingka came out soft but it had an unpleasant puto-seco/powdery texture when you eat it.
I agree its the simple recipe that we can’t seem to master, that is why I requested pan de sal in your recipe request thread because I too can’t seem to make right this very simple Filipino bread. I hope you can publish one soon that you are happy with that pan de sal lovers can also try. Thanks MM!
thelma – try tita’s kitchenette in national city. they sell lechon every week-end and you know that its lechon time because you can see this long line of people extending all the way outside of the eatery.
i don’t know whether the new owner of what-used-to-be the vien dong store in linda vista road in kearny mesa still sell it (now called Thuan Phat 858-505-0168 – googled the new name and number for you!) but they used to sell whole lechon that’s flavored with spices all the way through the meat.. (the one that we ordered before was very good but not for paksiw na lechon for left-overs because the spices used affect the taste).
anyway, good luck and happy anniversary!! don’t you just wish that we have zubuchon here?
just ate bibingka at bibingka cafe in MOA last night. we’ve been eating bibingka 3 days in a row now since my Dutch uncle fancies it. the first one that we ate doesn’t taste good.. we got it from via mare in landmark (should have gone to another branch).. the next one was from ferino’s in greenhills… we’ve been spared of eating bibingka today since he opted to devour a bottle of kalamay from san miguel, bulacan… might look for a bibingkinitan branch tomorrow
i’ve heard about the yummy tasting bibingka in Tayuman but i’m not sure if he can brave downtown Manila’s traffic
MM you should try the Goan Bebinca…https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bebinca its layers and layers of delight !!!!
I just made bibingka using the White King Bibingka mix and altered it following the comments of DeliaCa, and it was great. I used the 4″ ensaymada moulds and lined them with banana leaves, and put them on a baking sheet. I poured the batter half way through the moulds. In making the batter i just followed the instructions from the box but did replace the water with canned coconut milk. I was able to make 20 ensaymada sized bibingka good enough for snacking for a couple of days for a family of 4. I also took a hint from Sister’s instruction by baking them to 400degrees for 5-6minutes until you see that the bibingka is halfway baked, then added sliced salted egg pieces on top and this time increased the temp to broil or 500deg., broiled it for another 3-4minutes to get the burnished brown topping. Now here is the trick, if after the baking process, test one and if the bottom of the bibingka is still not quite cooked, remove it from the mould and with the banana lining still intact, bake at 400deg upside down on the baking sheet for another 3minutes, when done, brush it with margarine and top with freshly grated coconut…Result is perfect bibingka.
Speaking of bibingka, I chanced upon trying these red-rice and flavored bibingkas at the weekend Salcedo Market. Sweet goodness! The owner of Fiesta Bites was kind enough to give tiny helpings as samples. :D
After tasting the ‘bibingka’ at Manila Megamall, I liked it so much, that I still crave for it. I have never liked anything like that in Malaysia and I wonder if can you pls forward to me the receipe as I am now back in Malaysia and I don’t know when I will go back there. A thousand thank you in advance.