BIBINGKA

I recently discovered a small booth in SM hypermart that sells bibingka, a sweet rice cake and one of my favorite Filipino delicacies. I tried buying one a few weeks back just to see if it's yummy (various ingredients and way of cooking affect taste) and it was. So now, I frequent that booth whenever the boys and I are at the mall. It's usually quite difficult buying native delicacies here in Manila. You either have to go to the mall, or find a specialty store that sells them. In Zamboanga, they usually sell these (and more) in nearby stores so merienda (afternoon or mid-day snack) is always available to us there.

More on bibingka from pinoycook.net:

Bibingka, above, is a rice cake similar to the Western pancake in appearance. In taste, texture and way of cooking, however, they are very much different from each other. Bibingka is made from galapong, baked in a special clay pot, lined with a piece of banana leaf, with live coals on top and underneath. (Galapong is glutinous rice soaked in water then ground with the water to form either a batter or a dough, depending on what the cooked dish is supposed to be.) It is topped with slices of kesong puti (white cheese) and itlog na maalat (salted duck eggs). The newly-cooked bibingka is spread with butter and sometimes sprinkled with sugar then served with niyog (grated coconut). (The bibingka I buy at SM is served this way. Yummy! =D)