Dessert for the Holy Week

CEBU, Philippines — The Christian world observes Palm Sunday tomorrow, the beginning of the Holy Week.

By now Cathlics may already be preparing for the traditional fasting – or at least slowing down on food

– during the week. While the Catholic Church encourage fasting only on certain days,

many people prefer to refrain from eating meat or eating much for the whole week straight.

People in the Visayas have an ingenious way of complying with the religious stipulation of abstinence from meats and still enjoy their meals. They go for fruits and other crops. No, they don’t eat these raw – they make it into a delicious sweet soup dish that makes a filling snack or meal all by itself. It’s called “Binignit.”

Binignit is a sweet stew of choice fruits and tubers cooked in coconut milk. It is closely similar to “Ginataang Halo-halo” of the Tagalog regions, except that the latter uses glutinous rice balls or “bilo-bilo” as part of the ingredient. The unique ingredient of “Binignit” is the “landang,” small jelly balls made from palm flour.

Cooking “Binignit” does not require special culinary talent. Even a grade-schooler can do it, so long as all the ingredients are ready. The taste of the resulting dish depends on the variety of the ingredients; but even at its simplest the “Binignit” would still be delicious when done right.

“Binignit” is a Holy Week staple among the Visayans. It does not look like a sumptuous meal, and yet it is filling enough to take the place of a full meal. With the “Binignit,” it’s easy to fool oneself about having skipped meals.

The “landang” is an interesting ingredient in the “Binignit.” It is made from flour extracted from the trunk of the buri palm tree. Extracting the flour is, of itself, a very tedious process. While “landang” has no particular taste of its own, it gives the “Binignit” a nice texture.

One nice thing about the “Binignit,” it can be enjoyed either hot or cold. Therefore, there’s no problem with leftovers as this can just be put aside in the fridge and enjoyed again when desired. The interplay of the different textures of ingredients in the mouth is really something to be relished.

Here’s a typical “Binignit” recipe:

“Binignit”

Ingredients:

2 pcs medium-size camote, cubed

2 pcs medium-size ubi, cubed

2 pcs ripe saba or cardaba banana, cubed

2 pcs medium-size gabi, cubed

1½ cups brown sugar

4 cups coconut milk

3 cups water

1cup sliced ripe jackfruit

1½ cups landang

Procedure:

1. Boil water in a cooking pot.

2. Add camote, ube, gabi, banana, jackfruit, and landang. Cover the pot. Continue to cook in medium heat for 10 minutes or until all the ingredients are soft.

3. Pour in coconut milk. Stir and allow to boil (may take another 10 minutes).

4. Add brown sugar.

5. Transfer to serving bowls. Share and enjoy!

Note: Multicolor “sago” (available pre-cooked in packs) may be made part of the ingredients, for visual appeal. More brown sugar and more water may be added in the pot if a sweeter and soupier “Binignit” is preferred.