Sweet Heritage of Brgy. Ligue: The Kanen Makers of Bayambang

 Sweet Heritage of Brgy. Ligue: The Kanen Makers of Bayambang

In the quiet mornings of Barangay Ligue, before the first tricycle revs its engine and before the market stalls fully wake, the air is already thick with the scent of steamed rice, caramelized coconut, and brown sugar melting into syrup.

Here, in this humble village of Bayambang, Pangasinan, kanen—known elsewhere as kakanin—is not merely food. It is livelihood. It is inheritance. It is pride.

A Craft Passed Down in Steam and Fire

For decades, families in Ligue have quietly perfected the art of making traditional Pangasinense delicacies:

Puto lasong (or lanson) – soft, subtly sweet steamed rice cakes wrapped in banana leaves

Latik – sticky rice squares (biko) glazed with rich coconut caramel

Inlubi – toasted glutinous rice (deremen) delicacy simmered in coconut milk and sugar with coconut strips

Pinais ya suman – ground cassava- or malagkit-based kakanin infused with coconut cream

Tapong/Puton belas – dense rice cake with a distinct earthy sweetness

Kundandit – a ground cassava and/or toasted corn delicacy, delicate yet filling

Tikoy 

Pichi-pichi - sweet cassava balls in various versions

Unday-unday -

Bitso-bitso - 

The list goes on—each recipe slightly different from one household to another, each guarded like a family heirloom.

The Women Behind the Warmth

Take, for instance, **Aling Rosa Mendoza**, 62, who began helping her mother wrap puto lason in banana leaves at the age of nine. Today, her small backyard kitchen produces nearly 800 pieces of puto lason every market day.

“We don’t rush the soaking,” she says, gently lifting the lid of a steaming bilao. “If the rice isn’t prepared right, the texture won’t forgive you.”

Her puto lasong is known for its softness—never crumbly, never too dense. Buyers from neighboring barangays reserve trays in advance, especially during fiestas and town celebrations.

A few houses away is **Mang Lito Garcia**, one of the few male deremen makers in Ligue. Formerly a farmhand, he turned to kakanin-making when unpredictable harvests could no longer sustain his family. His deremen is slow-cooked over wood fire for hours, allowing the coconut milk to thicken naturally.

“Quality first,” he insists. “If you use thin gata, you’ll taste the difference.”

Then there is **Marites Villanueva**, 38, who modernized without compromising tradition. She packages latik and inlubi in neat boxes with labels bearing “Ligue’s Pride.” Through social media resellers and word-of-mouth marketing, her products now reach customers in Dagupan, Urdaneta, and even balikbayans requesting delivery to Manila.

From Backyard Kitchens to Regional Tables

What once began as small-scale backyard production has grown into a micro-industry quietly fueling Barangay Ligue’s economy.

On ordinary days, kanen from Ligue are sold in the Bayambang Public Market, neighboring towns across Pangasinan, including San Carlos City, and special orders for birthdays, weddings, and town fiestas.

During peak seasons—Christmas, Holy Week, fiesta months—the demand doubles, sometimes triples. Some makers report sending bulk orders as far as Tarlac and Metro Manila through bus cargo services.

Despite their growth, the methods remain largely traditional, except for the use of electric machines in place of stone grinders to turn glutinous rice into galapong (rice batter): freshly squeezed coconut milk, banana leaves instead of plastic liners, wood-fired steaming for that distinct aroma.

It is this commitment to authenticity that sets Ligue’s kanen apart. Buyers often remark that the taste “brings them back to childhood.”

More Than Livelihood

For the people of Barangay Ligue, kanen-making is more than income. It has sent children to college. It has repaired roofs after typhoons. It has kept generations rooted in their hometown instead of seeking uncertain work elsewhere.

Challenges remain—rising sugar prices, fluctuating coconut supply, competition from commercialized versions. Yet the makers adapt, pooling resources, sharing tips, even lending ingredients during shortages.

There is no formal cooperative yet, but there is community, mostly comprised of a compound of families related to one another.

A Sweet Future Ahead

As Bayambang continues to grow, so too does recognition of local heritage products. Many believe that with the right support—packaging training, branding assistance, and wider market access—Ligue’s kanen could become one of Pangasinan’s culinary signatures.

But for now, before the sun fully rises, the steam still lifts quietly from aluminum steamers in backyard kitchens of Barangay Ligue.