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Budbud Kabog sa Borbon

It has been raining the whole week that Mama and I decided to cook some Budbud Kabog or in English, Millet and Sweet Coconut Milk Rolls.  I remember that last year, I scouted the internet for a Budbud Kabog recipe and I landed at Marketman’s website Marketmanila.com.

Marketman mentioned that he tried making Budbud Kabog 2-3 times before he got the perfect recipe. His recipe was quite famous online and in fact, he was asked by Philippine Airlines (PAL) to write an article about it and was featured on the airlines’ Mabuhay Magazine.

Let’s get the basic ingredients:

Millet, Coconut Milk and Sugar

Banana Leaves for Wrapping

 Let’s get cooking using Marketman’s basic recipe and please note that this recipe below is from his website and that I may have noted something on the side with regards to the changes I made (not too many!).

1)      Take 1/2 kilo or 500 grams of fresh kabog or millet and rinse it in 2-3 changes of fresh water. Drain it and set aside.

2)      Next squeeze about 6 to 6.5 cups of coconut milk from about 3 grated coconuts. (Note: I got 6 cups of diluted coconut milk from 2 cans of coconut milk).

3)      Place 6 cups of coconut milk (reserve the 1/2 up) in a wok/pan and put it over high heat until it boils and reduces slightly.

4)      Add the 500 grams of millet and stir constantly until the millet starts to absorb the coconut milk.

5)      Lower the heat to medium low and use some elbow grease…it will be roughly 30-35 minutes of cooking and stirring and you must ensure that the bottom does not burn or crust. You will notice that the volume of millet will increase (possibly seeming to grow 1 to 1.5 times the original volume) as it absorbs the milk.

6)      If the millet is particularly dry, you may find it necessary to add the additional half cup of milk but try not to lest you end up with semi-mush. Only experience and doing this recipe 2-3 times will truly give you the confidence to cook based on consistency.

7)      About 20 minutes into the cooking, add about 1 and 1/4 cup of sugar.

8)  When the millet is oozing oil and it is quite solid and frankly, edible when tasted, it is ready. This is roughly reached at 30-35 minutes of cooking.

9)      Turn off the heat.

How to prepare the banana leaves. This step wasn’t mentioned by Marketman, maybe because this is common sense to us who are familiar with wrapping suman or budbud but for the benefit of those who haven’t tried wrapping rolls with banana leaves, I am listing the steps for them.

10)   In the meantime, heat up the banana leaves to make them pliable.

11)   Cut the leaves about 6 inches wide and make strings/ties from thin strips of banana leaves. Make sure that the 6-inch strips have no holes on them.

12)   Wrap the millet mixture in banana leaves as you would suman/budbud by placing it in the middle, then rolling it with the palm of your hand. Not too tight, not too loose.

13)   Bunch two millet rolls together and tie ends with the thinner strips of banana leaves.

14)   Steam this for roughly 80-90 minutes and allow it to cool.

Now, let’s eat! Our first attempt at making Budbud Kabog turned out great! In fact, my first bite of the Budbud Kabog reminded me of my childhood days in Borbon. I even asked my mother if we ever cooked something like this when I was growing up because I am pretty sure the taste and the smell, somewhat reminded me of my grandmother (Nanay) cooking something similar in the kitchen.  She said that we cooked this delicacy from time to time but not as often as Budbud Pilit, Bibingka or Biko. More likely she said, that I may have been reminded of the times when I accompanied my grandmother to visit some of our relatives in Lugo, where this is mostly sold at.

Yes, if you travel to Bogo or Bantayan, this Budbud Kabog is quite an attraction on the way. If you ride a public bus, it might make a quick stop at the “Simangan” in Lugo.  Literally, “Simangan” refers to the “junction” which in Lugo happens to be the junction where most of the people from the northwest towns like Tuburan/Tabuelan, Cebu get off.  if you are afraid to get off the bus, do not worry because as soon as the bus slows down a bit, quite a few of the vendors would get in the bus with their little baskets filled with goodies and usually, they have budbud kabog. They usually stay in the bus for a few meters and disembark when done with their business. One of our TAGA-BORBON officers, Babes, took a picture of the Simangan sa Lugo on one of her trips home, so click on the Simangan picture to see more pictures of Barangay Lugo.

Enjoy!

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