Puto Bumbong


There is a traditional Christmas recipe from the Philippines. It is a purple-colored dessert cooked in standing bamboo or metal tubes attached to a steam-producing tin can or cylinder mounted on a small saucepan of boiling water or steam.

Recipe for 20 Puto Bumbong:

  • 5kg of glutinous rice

  • 1 cup of long grain rice

  • 1 table spoon of lilac food coloring

  • 1 kg of freshly grated matured coconut

  • Margarine

  • Sugar

Mix the glutinous rice, long grain rice with the food colouring. Soak in water for four hours. Slowly grind using a stone grinder or manual grinder. Be sure not to add too much water while grinding, this will delay drying of the milled ingredients. Too much water will cause the mixture to be sticky. Put your milled ingredients into a muslin cloth. Tie each corners of the cloth and let it drip. for a while. When the mixture is almost dried, press it using a heavy object to remove excess water. Let stand overnight.

Remove the milled ingredients from the cloth. Place it into a muslin cloth. Mix and crush the milled ingredients using your hand until the finest particles pass through the cotton and fall into a container. Collect the particles.

Boil water using the steamer. Cover it with a custom-made-cover with nozzles big enough to fit bamboo tubes or metal cylinders. Cover the nozzles with a kitchen cloth.

Grease the cylinders with some margarine then fill the cylinders half way with the milled ingredients. Cover the other end of the cylinder with a kitchen cloth. Fit the opposite end into the nozzle. Steam will come out of the cylinder when cooking. Before removing your Puto Bumbong from the cylinder, turn it over to ensure proper cooking.

To remove your Puto bumbong from the cylinder, hold it in a vertical position and gently tap it out over a plate.

Sprinkle some sugar and grated coconut on the top of the puto bumbong to finish your dessert. It is traditionally served with a hot with ginger tea.


Vegetarian, vegan, lactose free, suitable for pregnant women.


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