Tupig: Looks Like Suman But It’s Not Suman

Tupig looks like suman but it’s not suman. This native delicacy is from Pangasinan. If you drive up there, you’ll see a lot of it along the highway. 

Tupig Up Close

If you’ve ever taken a road trip to Pangasinan, you will notice a lot of signages along the highway that says “tupig.”

At a glance, you’ll think it’s the wrong spelling of “tubig”  (water in English) but it’s not. It’s really “tupig.”

When you take a look at what tupig is, you’ll think it’s suman since it’s wrapped in banana leaves.

So what exactly is tupig? For starters, it goes by a couple of names such as kangkanen and intemtem.

It’s different from suman since it’s made out of ground sticky or glutinous rice and strips of coconut meat.

It’s different from suman since it’s made out of ground sticky or glutinous rice and strips of coconut meat.

With suman, there’s no need to grind the glutinous rice grains. Read Related: Suman Latik: A Very Yummy Rice Cake

Another reason why tupig is different from suman is that the former is grilled and the latter is boiled. Hence, tupig has a super yummy smokey flavor.

It’s great for dessert. It’s also very easy to finish the whole bundle in just one sitting. Tupig tastes really good. 😃

Tupig History

The history of tupig can be traced to the early ’60s. Thanks to the abundance of rice, folks started to get creative by combining it with other ingredients.

Eventually, they came up with a sweet treat that they would serve during special occasions. As a matter of fact, kids were given tupig instead of money.

Eventually, they came up with a sweet treat that they would serve during special occasions. As a matter of fact, kids were given tupig instead of money.

The name tupig is a combination of two words which are tupi (to fold) and dippig (to flatten).😁

Each tupig is carefully folded and flattened before grilling.

A Simple Tupig Recipe

In case you can’t find time to drive up to the North you can always make some tupig at home. Here’s a tupig recipe that you can try at home. The good thing about tupig is that the ingredients are very simple. 😀

Below are the tupig ingredients:

• Glutinous rice flour (You can make some at home by simply grinding rice grains in the blender.)
• Brown sugar
• Coconut meat shavings
• Coconut milk
• Salt
• Banana leaves for wrapping

How To Make Tupig

Now, let’s get cooking. Pour in the butter in a pan. Mix it manually or with the use of a mixer.

Gradually add in the glutinous rice flour and mix.

Add in the coconut milk little by little. Then mix until you have a smooth, creamy batter.

Add in the salt and the brown sugar to the batter and mix again.

Finally, add in the coconut meat shavings.

Your batter is all set for wrapping.

Make sure the banana leaves have been cut into pieces and heated up.

Scoop about two tablespoons of the batter and place it on a piece of banana leaf.

Wrap, fold and flatten each tupig. Once you’re done, you can start grilling.

You can use a griddle to make sure each tupig grilled evenly.

Watch the video to see how you can make some yummy tupig at home. 😄

Of course, you can always drive to the North to taste the real thing. 😀

Have you tried cooking tupig or have you tasted the real thing? Feel free to share with us some of your thoughts. We’d love to hear them.