How to Make the Best Cassava Suman Recipe

All people love to eat sweet food like desserts. It helps them to reduce their stress whenever they get pressure. It is their sweet escape. 

It could be Chocolate, milk, vanilla, or any sweet dish, including rice cake recipes as a dessert that could give you what you want and what you need. 

Having a dish that could help you cook a sweet dessert that would satisfy your cravings is necessary. So, here are the insights on how to make the Cassava Suman in the town!

We want you to explore Filipino dishes, so we offer you all the variations, ideas, and other methods to cook these rice dessert recipes, and of course, how could you make it special. 

Thus, reading about the dish is not enough. Hence, get ready your notes and pen to list down all the ingredients, ideas, ways to cook, and tips to make this amazing dish extraordinary. 

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What is Cassava Suman

Cassava Suman is another traditional Filipino rice cake cuisine: grated Cassava, sugar, coconut milk, and other flavorings and then wrapped in banana leaves. 

Cassava Suman is a type of moist cake usually and commonly served during special occasions like a fiesta, birthday parties, weddings, baptismal and other gatherings. But, it could also eat it as a snack or dessert after a meal. 

On the other hand, Suman is a classic "kakanin" or rice cake originally made from the Philippines. This dish's main ingredient is the glutinous rice cooked in "kakang gata" or coconut milk, then often wrapped in gata, banana, or buri palm leaves then steamed. The dish is usually and commonly served with sugar or laden with latik. 

This Suman is another type of delicacy that originates in the Philippines. It is a variation of the traditional Suman recipes, leveling it up to another amazing dish. Instead of glutinous rice, they use grated Cassava as the main ingredient in this wonderful dish. 

This dish has various names depending upon where you are living in the region in the Philippines. Usually, in Tagalog, they call it "Sumang Kamoteng kahoy." But for those who live in the Bicol region, they commonly named it "Suman Balinghoy," while in Samar, they call it "Kurukod," and in Bisaya, they usually call it "Bud-Bud Balanghoy." 

Overall, this featured dish would surely help you explore this Filipino dessert dish and love the culture, tradition, and cooking style of Filipinos. 

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Ways to Cook Cassava Suman Recipes

You may use many cooking techniques in making different dishes, but here are the three common cooking techniques that you could use in cooking the featured dish. So, let us discover and try these ways of cooking. 

Steamed

Steaming is a way of cooking that uses steam. This type of cooking usually used a food steamer as their kitchen appliance to cook food easily. It is the most healthy technique for cooking food today. 

This way of cooking is the traditional technique of cooking this dish. After mixing all the ingredients and wrapping it in banana leaves, you have to place it in a steamer with boiled water below, then cook it for about 30 to 35 minutes of cooking time. 

Pressure Cooker

Another method of cooking this Suman is in a pressure cooker. 

Pressure cooking is a way of cooking food today using a sealed vessel or a pressure cooker with high steam pressure employing a water-based cooking liquid. The high pressure reduces boiling and allows the cooking temperature to go around above 212 degrees Fahrenheit. 

You could cook the dish far more quickly than steaming it for 30 to 35 mins in this method. The process of mixing the ingredients for the dish is the same. The only difference is the way of cooking the dish. 

In this method, the wrapper with banana leaves comes out cleaner than cooking it another way. 

Instant pot

Aside from the first two techniques of cooking the featured dish, there is also instant pot cooking. 

It is very similar to the pressure cooking method. The main difference between the two is that you have to use a pressure cooker in pressure cooking and make sure that you have an average cooking temperature of 212 degrees Fahrenheit. 

In Instant pot cooking, you have to use the multi-cooker appliance, which allows you to easily set how long you want your featured dish to cook. It doesn't require putting a lot of water in the pot. 

Just like the pressure cooking method, the wrapper comes out cleaner, and the process of mixing all the ingredients before cooking is the same. 

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Other Delicious Variants and Recipes

Here are five variations of the featured menu that would help you when you try making this dish. 

Cassava Suman With cheese

This variant is no different from the classic and traditional Sumang kamoteng kahoy dish. All the ingredients, mixing the ingredients, and even cooking it is no different at all. The only thing that this variant ahead is the additional cheese ingredient. 

You could either grate it at the top of the featured dish or place it inside the Suman to make it as a filling. Either way would make this recipe an extraordinary dish to serve with your loved ones. 

With Chocolate

Are you a chocolate lover? Do you want to level up your favorite Suman na Cassava? Well, if that's the case, then this version would kick your taste buds! 

This version, just like the first one with cheese, could do the same. You could either grate the Chocolate if you want to use a bar of Chocolate. You could also make it as a filling. Moreover, you could make a chocolate syrup instead then pour it out that could serve as the sauce of the featured dish. 

With coconut

Aside from the first two variants of the featured dish, here is another one in which those grated coconut meat lovers would love this dish repeatedly. 

This variation uses the same cooking method, making the featured dish and all the ingredients. Instead of serving it with cheese and Chocolate, you could use grated coconut to sprinkle at the top of the dish or on the side. 

With condensed milk

On the other hand, this variation with condensed milk is another amazing version of the dish. You could pour out at the top of the featured dish that serves as its sauce to make it sweeter for those who have sweet teeth.

The ingredients, process of mixing the ingredients, and even cooking are all the same. The only difference is the sauce of the featured dish is the condensed milk.  

With Bukayo

Bukayo is another Pinoy sweet dish served as a dessert or garnished in other dishes, traditionally a sweetened coconut strip in a circular shape. It is a combination of shredded bits of gelatinous, young coconut in water and caramelized sugarcane muscovado sugar. 

This variant is very common in many areas in the Philippines. They used it as a filling in the featured dish, which gave an additional flavor and taste. 

The ingredients, process of making, and the ways to cook it are all the same. The difference of this dish from the other version is the Bukayo used as the filling in the featured dish. 

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Trivia about Cassava Suman Recipes

Did you know that Cassava is an ingredient widely grown in the world's tropical and subtropical regions? Yes, that's true! 

In the United States of America and Europe, countries commonly called it Manioc or Yuca. But in the Philippines, they called it Kamoteng kahoy. 

It is a staple food crop commonly used in varieties of culinary applications like noodles, chips, bread, cakes, and alcoholic beverages. It is also a starchy tuberous root that contains cyanogenic glucosides. This crop should not eat raw or undercooked because it has potential toxicity that could be a hazard for your health.

There are also two types of Cassava: the bitter and sweet one. The bitter Cassava requires large-scale processing and uses this type in making starches and flours. On the other hand, the sweet type is safe to eat and to use in cooking. This type is usually and commonly sold as frozen or fresh in the market. 

Tips

Since the featured dish is a dessert type of food, you might think it is very easy to make it. But, the featured dish is a kakanin dish. Let us help you in making the dish better and tastier. So, we would give you some notes and tips on how to make Suman properly. 

• First thing first, make sure that all the ingredients you need when you cook it is ready. 
• Wash all the ingredients, especially the wrapper that you are going to use. 
• Then, move to mix the ingredients very well. 
• Welt the banana leaves before using it in wrapping the dish. 
• If you like more texture, you could add grated coconut or other ingredients like Chocolate, cheese, Bukayo, or condensed milk to the mixture. 
• If you are about to wrap your Suman dish, ensure that you secure both the top and bottom parts. 

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Troubleshooting when cooking these recipes

Making the featured dish without vast knowledge is difficult. Error is very common. Thus, we want to help you to find a solution if and only if you make an error creating the featured dish. Here are some troubleshooting ideas for this amazing dish. 

• If you want the wrapper to look nicer and beautiful instead of welting it in a stove, try using an iron to welt it. 
• If you accidentally buy frozen Cassava, you could thaw the Cassava and squeeze out all the liquid using a cheesecloth. 

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Best Serve With

Any dish without dessert is plain and boring. As we featured our menu in this article, we would provide you with a few possible cuisines that would complement the featured dish very well. 

• Coke/Sprite- is a type of beverage usually and commonly served with dessert recipes like the featured dish to make its taste stand out.  
• Coffee - is the perfect morning beverage served with Suman cassava, which complements very well with it. 
• Hot Chocolate- is another beverage that is very suitable for the featured dish since it has a sweet-bitter taste flavor. 
• Pork and Chicken Guisantes- naturally served with the Suman recipes. It has salt and savory taste, which makes the dessert featured recipes stand out.
• Pork Afritada- Just like Guisantes, it is salt, and bold, savory taste enhances the featured dish's sweetness and creaminess. 
• Ginataang Mackerel- is a dish perfectly served with the featured dessert dish, which complements with its taste. 
• Chicken Sisig- is a dish perfect with the dessert dish featured in the article because of its spicy, salt, and savory flavor. 
• Pancit Guisado- is a dish usually served on many occasions with the Suman dish we featured in the article. It is good for it. 
• Pancit Palabok- Just like Pancit Guisado, another dish that compliments very well with the desserts is the pancit palabok. 
• Pancit sotanghon- is a traditional dish paired up with rice cake recipes featured in the article. 

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Conclusion

Hopefully, after reading this article, you manage your expectation in preparing, cooking, and making the featured dish. If you are a rice cake lover, this dish is suitable for exploring more and diving into different varieties, flavors, and tastes. 

Cooking is a journey. You could experiment and enjoy it at the same time. If you are a beginner and a stranger in Filipino cuisines but determined to try cooking and making it, Don't worry! We would help you by giving you all the insights about the dish that you want to try. 

So, what are you waiting for now? Let's start creating the featured dish and level it up to another incredible dish that everybody would love when you serve it.

For more delicious recipe, visit Eat Like Pinoy!

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