Panag-Inlubi

Reposting one of the hundreds of files that got rudely deleted for no reason. PANAG-INLUBI (Inlubi-Making) (Category: Intangible Cultural Heritage; Culinary Practices) Inlubi-making is the process of making inlubi, a black rice cake made from cooking deremen in gata or coconut cream. Deremen is the term for immature glutinous rice grains that are toasted until they turn black right at the rice field. It is a delicacy originally associated with Undas or All Saints' Day as deremen is harvested and available only towards the end of October and during the month of November. Making authentic inlubi is thus seasonal. Outsiders often say that it is only in Pangasinan where black rice cake is a preferred delicacy. It may seem that eating black rice is not good or it may be associated with darkness, death and even the devil, but the truth is this black rice cake is just like the regular rice cake called biko, except for its color. As a note to outsiders, it is not actually made of black rice per se, as the term indicates, but blackened rice. It is basically glutinous white rice boiled in freshly pressed coconut milk and sugar (sometimes with a sprinkling of anise) -- except that the rice used is made by harvesting malanguer a pagey (young palay of the sticky rice) of a variety specifically planted for deremen (Milagrosa, etc.), and placed in narrow tubes of bolô bamboo, from which Pangasinan was formerly named (Cabolòan, meaning a place of bamboos). The bamboo is burned from one end, letting the palay fall as the bamboo burns and consumes itself (a process called panag-igub). The now toasted palay is then pounded by a heavy wooden bayò (pestle) in a large stone lasong (mortar) until the husks are discarded through winnowing using a bigao (bamboo winnowing basket). The resulting belas (rice) is soft and chewy (makulnet), almost flat and blackened, giving off a toasted, smoky flavor. After the deremen goes over the fire and is stirred to taste, the resulting rice cake -- now glistening from coconut oil and addictively sweet, aromatic, soft, and delicious -- is called inlubi. This tradition is distinctly Pangasinense, unknown and non-existent outside the province, except probably in other areas of the Ilocos region. But nowadays it seems to be available all year round in the public market, with locals eating it as snack even though it is not Undas, but this commercialized version of inlubi wrapped in little plastic bags may not be as authentic. How to cook inlubi: Ingredients 2 cups deremen 2 cups kakang gata* 1 cup 2nd gata* 2 cups washed sugar coconut strips from 2 buco a few pandan leaves young banana leaves Procedure 1. Soak the deremen in water (about 1 - 1 1/2 cups) and set aside. 2. Pour the 2nd gata in a thick pan and heat. When boiling, mix in the sugar and, if preferred, buco or young coconut strips. Bring back to a boil, stirring occasionally. 3. Strain the deremen and pour into the boiling gata, turning down the heat to medium. Stir constantly. 4. When the mixture is starting to dry up, pour in the kakang gata. Keep stirring to evenly distribute the kakang gata and to keep the inlubi from burning. 5. Add the pandan leaves. 6. The inlubi is cooked when the gata has been fully absorbed (about 30-45 minutes of muscle-wrenching stirring). It should be consistently sticky. Remove from fire and pick out the pandan leaves. 7. Pass the banana leaves over fire, then brush lightly with cooking oil. Use this to line a flat-bottomed, shallow plate, oiled side up. (Traditionally, the bigao or bamboo winnowing basket is used.) 8. Transfer the inlubi to the leaf-lined plate, distributing evenly to make it an inch thick. Let cool. Good for about 8 people. The inlubi is best eaten cool. It will keep for about two days, longer if refrigerated. It can be eaten straight from the ref, or if preferred, heat in an oven/toaster on low for about five minutes and let cool prior to serving. *To make gata: Ingredients manually grated (using an igar or manual coconut grater) or machine-ground meat from 2 mature coconuts 4 cups water heated to boiling point Procedure 1. Put the coconut meat in a big pan or basin. Pour 2 cups boiling water and mix thoroughly with a ladle. Let stand for about 5 minutes, or until the mixture is cool enough to the touch. 2. Express the gata by getting fistfuls of the coconut meat and squeezing them thoroughly by hand. Repeat until all the gratings have been pressed. 3. Separate the expressed gata from the meat by straining carefully through a fine sieve. The strained liquid is the kakang gata or 1st gata. 4. Put the ground coconut meat back into the basin and pour the remaining boiled water, preferably reheated to boiling point. When the mixture has cooled, repeat steps 2-3. The 2nd strained liquid is the 2nd gata. Lola Masyang is one of the makers of inlubi in our barangay of Buenlag 2nd. Inlubi-making is also done mostly by the lolas of each family in the barangay. Inlubi-making is one of oldest culinary traditions known in the town of Bayambang, probably since the 1930s or even further back. It was learned from the lolas of the locals. As mentioned, deremen is basically pinipig (young glutinous rice) toasted in its husk and pounded, so that when cooked into inlubi, it smells and tastes not only of the green rice fields during the rainy season, but of the burning rice fields after harvest as well, making it exotic to outsiders. Locals love to share their own version of inlubi with their neighbors, making it a point of socialization and turning the local celebration of Undas unique and more memorable. Yes, there are different versions -- a soupy one in which fresh deremen is steeped in boiling water and coconut milk is called ginaataan ya deremen, while an inlubi topped with latik (coconut reduction) is called latik ya deremen. The culinary practice of inlubi-making is firmly established and growing until now, because it continues to be conveyed from one generation to another by other living practitioners in many parts of the town. However, the rapid advancement in technology poses a threat to this tradition as nowadays most of the children do not want to learn anymore this tedious practice, including deremen-making, because their time is occupied by their usage of different gadgets. NAME OF PROFILER/MAPPER: Cherry S. Alipin, Bayambang National High School, Senior High School ADVISER: Mr. Christopher Q. Gozum DATE PROFILED: September 23, 2018 KEY INFORMANT: Mrs. Gregoria Soriano, one of the well-known inlubi-makers in Buenlag 2nd REFERENCE: bayambangmunicipalnews.blogspot.com Editor: Resty S. Odon Photo: Sharlene Joy G. Gonzales Deremen supplier: Vernaliza M. Ferrer (Brgy. Amanperez)