4 WAYS TO EAT IBOS

4 WAYS TO EAT IBOS

Did you miss the ibos or suman sa ibos? The ibos is made of glutinous rice, coconut milk and wrapped in palm or coconut leaves. Palm or coconut  is the counterpart of banana leaves in other suman recipes. The challenge in preparing  ibos is not in the cooking process  but in the wrapping. Wrapping the ibos is an art form. You will need to twist and swirl  the palm or coconut  leaves   to make individual containers. This needs to be locked properly to hold its form. The mixture of glutinous rice, coconut milk, and salt is scooped to each container. These are boiled for several minutes before serving. Ibos or suman sa ibos are eaten as snacks or ‘merienda’.

Of course for many people who are busy,  the fastest way to have this kakanin is to buy in your reliable vendor. In Bacolod City, the famous restaurant offering various kakanin is the Quan Delicacies. All you need to do is to buy it in the morning at any Quan outlets to ensure that you can get this kakanin.  If you want to order a larger quantity if you have an event, for instance, it would be better to place your order a day or two  beforehand.

There are many ways to eat or serve the ibos. I would love to experiment  most of the time on how to eat this famous kakanin. Here are our favorite 4 ways we serve and eat ibos at home.

1. With ripe mangoes. Ibos is best eaten with ripe mangoes. The simple flavor of the sticky rice is a superb contrast to the sweet succulence of mango chunks. The natural fragrance of the steamed leaves that encased the sticky log and the tropical fruity scent of the golden yellow mango slice makes a perfect combination.

2. With sugar. The simplest way to serve Ibos is with granulated white or brown sugar.You can also eat with a much healthier    muscovado sugar.

3. With ice cream.  If want to serve your ibos with a little fun you can try a scoop of your favourite  ice cream over the ibos drizzle it with the same flavour of syrup. At home, kids love  chocolate, so we use vanilla flavored ice cream drizzled with chocolate syrup. Perfect!

4. With fruit jam. In the Philippines where tropical fruits are abundant, a jam can also be used to sweetened the ibos. We just tried it with strawberry jam with large chunks of strawberry from Baguio, and it was simply amazing.

For me, “taste” is relative and we can always experiment on how we wanted to eat our merienda.

So, what are you waiting for, visit any Quan Outlets now to order your Ibos. You can also tell us  on how did you serve it to your family.

VISIT ANY QUAN OUTLETS NOW:

• MC Metroplex, Northdrive – Tel. (034)4339987 or 7090677
• La Salle Avenue – Tel. (034)4346379 or 7085055
• Lopues Araneta – Tel. (034)4356559
• Gaisano Araneta – Tel. (034) 7078440
• Lopues East – Tel. (034) 7089095
• Robinsons Supermarket – Tel. (034)4761518
• MANILA BRANCH:
• 1797 Dian St. Palanan, Makati – Tel. (02)8335843