Three local delicacies I found in Sagada

I’m always on the lookout for local delicacies whenever I travel and try it. While on this trip to Sagada to witness the panag-apoy, we chanced upon two vendors selling this delicious treats as we were coming back from a visit in Echo Valley for the hanging coffins. I’m sure there are still other local delicacies but this will suffice for now.

Linapet

Rectangular in form, linapet is made from ground malagkit (sticky rice) with bits of ground peanut bits in the center. It’s then wrapped in banana leaves and steamed. I’m not sure if its only found in Sagada but it was the first time I have seen and tasted this one.

It’s semi sweet and has a nutty flavor, if you’re eating the parts with peanuts but the taste is almost similar to budbud balanghoy, a kind of stcky rice cake made from ground cassava and which is present in Cebu. It’s a filling five peso snack.

suman

Suman is the general term for rice cakes in elongated, tubular forms that are then wrapped in banana leaves and steamed. In this case, their suman is cone like, similar in form to Surigao City’s sayongsong. But instead of ground malagkit, its whole sticky rice.

I love the taste of this one. It’s semi sweet and filling. It reminds me of the puto I grew up with while in Cebu but without the gingery taste. We liked it so much that we bought a few the next day to a trek to Bomod-ok Falls.

Binatog

Binatog is a popular corn dessert that I first encountered in Baguio. Corn kernels steamed into plump and puffy white starches that are scooped into plastic cups. It’s then topped with sugar, bits of grated coconut meat and drizzled with evaporated milk.

It’s another delicious treat that’s filling, a play of textures, the smoothness of the corn kernels and the irregularity of the grated coconut that is semi sweet and creamy. It’s a carbo power snack!