It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas with this homemade puto bumbong! It's naturally sweet and naturally purple made with white glutinous rice and purple sweet potato cooked in a regular steamer.
This is not the traditional way of making but it's definitely the easiest recipe! No bamboo steamer needed and no food coloring.
Puto Bumbong
FOMO is real guys! And it's been hitting me well and good. All the food pictures I've been seeing around the social network since the "BER" months started is really taking a toll on my cravings.
I mean, stop posting Lechon pictures already, please! No please don't stop, I love looking at them. I can literally smell them from here hahaha....
Yes, it's that time of the year again where I feel a bit left out from the food scenes in the Philippines. It's the second saddest thing about being far away from home, to be honest.
And so armed with all the tools that I have, I mustered up the courage to try and making Puto Bumbong at home. It took me three tries before coming up with a recipe that yields a delicious result. I can't promise to not change this, but this will do for now.
Puto Bumbong Ingredients–no food coloring
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Using easy to find ingredients, making puto bumbong is now super easy.
- White Glutinous Rice - a familiar ingredient for all our favorite "kakanin" like biko, suman, and bibingkang malagkit. So I would say that it's considered an everyday ingredient for a typical Filipino kitchen. Note that traditional puto bumbong is made with black glutinous rice that is probably not the easiest ingredient to find especially in a non-Asian country.
- Purple Sweet Potato - my favorite natural food color for all my glutinous rice recipes. The natural sweetness it adds is also a bonus. Check out my Ginataang Bilo-Bilo and Sweet Potato Palitaw recipes.
How to make puto bumbong
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Puto Bumbong means rice cake cooked in bamboo (bumbong) that is connected to a special steamer. We won't be needing that for this recipe, just these three things:
- A regular food steamer or even your rice cooker steamer will work for this recipe.
- Foil - this will help mold the rice mixture into a log to mimick the bamboo shape. You will need about 2o pcs cut into 8 inches long and 5 inches wide. Feel free to make it bigger if you want a chunkier puto.
- Blender or Food Processor to blend the rice and the secret natural food color that we will be using. More on this later.
Puto Bumbong Toppings
The classic toppings are coconut sugar, margarine, and grated coconut. If you can't find freshly grated coconut, it's fine. Puto bumbong will still taste great without it.
You can also use brown sugar but I love the softer texture of coconut sugar. It goes so well with the sticky rice.
If you prefer using butter over margarine, I recommend using the salted kind for added flavor. It is what I used in this recipe.
Using grated cheese and condensed milk as toppings have become a trend quite recently. I tried it and let's just say I would still stick to the classics.
And that is it! I hope you enjoy making this with your family. Merry Christmas!
Watch how to make Homemade Puto Bumbong
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More Filipino kakainin recipes you can make at home
- Easy Bibingka
- No-Bake Biko with Latik Sauce
- Puto with Leche Flan
- Special Palitaw
- Bibingka Malagkit
- Maja Blanca
- Leche Flan
- Cassava Cake
- Kutsinta No Lye
Complete Recipe
Homemade Puto Bumbong
Equipment
- 20 pcs foil cut into 8L X 5W
Ingredients
- 2 cups glutinous rice
- 3 cups water (for soaking)
- 1 small purple sweet potato (peeled, slice into chunks)
- 1 cup water (for boiling)
Puto Bumbong Toppings
- coconut palm sugar
- grated coconut (fresh)
- margarine or salted butter (softened)
Instructions
- Rinse glutinous rice, discard the water. Place in a container with a lid. Pour water and soak overnight.
- Place sweet potatoes and water in a pot. Boil until fork-tender. Let it cool. Transfer the potatoes with the liquid in a container with a lid. Place in the fridge and soak overnight.
- Drain glutinous rice in a colander. Discard water. Place in a food processor. Add 4 chunks of sweet potato and 3 tablespoons of the colored water. Turn the food processor on and run 5 to 6 pulses for a coarser texture or more for a finer texture. Add more colored water for a deeper color.
- Grease each piece of foil with butter. Place 2 tablespoons of the mixture. Roll into a log and seal the sides. Repeat for the rest of the mixture.
- Steam for 20 minutes. Unwrap once it has slightly cooled down. Transfer to serving plates. Spread butter top with coconut sugar and grated coconut. Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Notes and Tips:
- If you can’t find freshly grated coconut, it’s fine. Puto bumbong will still taste great without it.
- Coconut sugar can be substituted with brown sugar. Although the texture will be slightly gritty.
- If you prefer using butter over margarine, I recommend using the salted kind for added flavor.
This post contains affiliate links. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, I will make a small percentage of your purchase. This helps keep this website running. Thank you!
Ilissa says
Can I use frozen purple yam if I don’t have purple sweet potato?
Mella says
Yes. It should work.
- Mella