The Patupat Festival on its 3rd Season

Written by jing villamil

with accompanying write-up adapted from
"A Pat for our Patupat" by mel jovellanos

What is patupat? Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia have similar coconut-leaf-wrapped native delicacies made from sticky rice and wrapped either in banana or coconut leaves. Indonesians wrap the delicacy in carefully-woven packages using selected young coconut leaves (minus the midribs). They call it almost exactly like patupat, but without the first two letters – tupat. The big difference, however, is that it is cooked in boiling water. When the sticky rice is cooked, it is served with melted panocha or pakasiat.

But it is only in Eastern Pangasinan in the Philippines that patupat is prepared and served in all its gourmet glory!
Ang patupat, bow.

The ubiquitous vendors of Urdaneta City, Manaoag, Binalonan, Villasis and Rosales sell patupat in the bus stations throughout the year. During off-season, however, the quality of patupat suffers because patupat by then is cooked not in boiling sugarcane-juice, but in big pots (not in vats or the taliasi or kawa) using refined red sugar. During the sugarcane season (October to May), patupat as produced and sold in Pangasinan are reportedly the best in the Philippines!

The patupat is entirely different from other native cakes because it is uniquely wrapped. In the preparation of high-quality patupat, there is a need to be careful in making the patupat bag.

The weaving of the patupat bag is, in itself, an art. First, the midribs of the young coconut leaves are removed, then knotted at both ends. The weaves are usually done one overlapping the other, ending with two corners. Later, the knots are removed and then joined to complete the bag.