Foods become distinct because of its ingredients. It becomes their identity that would make them unique or different from others. Few weeks ago, there has been a debate regarding the Filipino popular dish, Adobo, to set a standard way cooking, to which was contradicted by many Filipinos as each region and even families has a different touch to the beloved dish.
So why am I telling about this?
Recently, we had pancakes for breakfast. But they're not just ordinary pancakes because they were turned into Bibingka. And just like the different ways to cook Adobo, does this apply to with Bibingka?
Bibingka is a Filipino traditional food made of coconut milk, rice flour, grated coconut meat, margarine/butter, cheese, and salted egg. The batter is poured on a banana leaf and cooked in a clay pot, then lathered with margarine on top and sprinkled with grated cheese and coconut meat and sliced salted egg.
It was a long time since we last ate bibingka, so few days ago, my mother experimented on the pancakes and turned them to something similar to bibingka.
She spread butter on the first layer of pancake before putting the second layer. Then she spread butter on the second layer. After that, she topped the pancakes with grated cheese and placed sliced salted eggs on top.
And here you have a pancake bibingka or a faux bibingka or a pancake pretending to be a bibingka!
Of course, nothing beats the original bibingka recipe. The original bibingka has a thicker texture while the pancakes are softer. My mother also didn't add coconut milk and meat so the taste is kind of different than the real one. But with those cheese and salted egg, it somehow feels like you're eating a bibingka!
This is how the real bibingka looks like, by the way!
Not the best photo, but you can always search online for more decent photos of this food.
Bibingka is popular during Christmas season but they are also available all throughout the year. Though only few sell them when it's not holiday season. We're just lucky enough that there's a stall in a nearby city which have been selling this food all throughout the year for many years already. As far as I can remember, the stall has been there since I was little.
If not only for this pandemic, we could've just bought an authentic bibingka. Anyway, at least the pandemic is forcing us to be creative by trying new things.
Have you tried eating bibingka?