Filipino cuisine Filipino cuisine ( fil, lutong Pilipino/pagkaing Pilipino) is composed of the cuisines of more than a hundred distinct ethnolinguistic groups found throughout the Philippine archipelago. A majority of mainstream Filipino dishes that compose Fi ...

, moron (also spelled morón or muron, the stress is placed on the last syllable) is a

rice cake A rice cake may be any kind of food item made from rice that has been shaped, condensed, or otherwise combined into a single object. A wide variety of rice cakes exist in many different cultures in which rice is eaten and are particularly preval ...

similar to suman. It is a native delicacy of the

Waray people The Waray people (or the Waray-Waray people) are a subgroup of the larger ethnolinguistic group Bisaya people, who constitute the largest Filipino ethnolinguistic group in the country. Their primary language is the Waray language (also called ...

in the Eastern Visayas region of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, particularly in the area around Tacloban City in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has be ...

and in Eastern Samar province. Other parts of the Philippines have their versions of it, however. In fact, the moron was adopted as one of Mambajao,

Camiguin Camiguin, officially the Province of Camiguin ( ceb, Probinsya sa Camiguin; tl, Lalawigan ng Camiguin; Kamigin: ''Probinsya ta Kamigin''), is an island province in the Philippines located in the Bohol Sea, about off the northern coast of Mi ...

's locally produced products. Since it is a variety of suman, the moron is cooked with glutinous rice, coconut milk and sugar. The main difference is that moron is gyrated with chocolate ''tablea'' (tablets) or mixed with cocoa powder while a regular suman is not. It also has a hint of vanilla and is usually partnered with coffee or ''sikwate'' (a native Philippine chocolate drink). With chocolate as its distinct ingredient, it is also called chocolate moron or chocolate suman.

Preparation

The common ingredients of moron consist of glutinous rice (locally known in Tagalog as ''malagkit'' and in the Eastern Visayas region as ''pilit''), ordinary rice, coconut milk, sugar,

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

or cocoa powder and melted butter. In preparation for cooking the ''malagkit'' and the ordinary rice, both rice types must be soaked together overnight and then ground the following day. The ground rice is then soaked in coconut milk until it is soft, after which sugar and chocolate powder are added. The mixture is cooked over low fire while repeatedly stirred. When the consistency is thick, the cooked mixture is set aside for it to cool. After the mixture cools, banana leaves are prepared and cut to be used as wrappers. The recommended amount is two tablespoons of the mixture per

banana leaf The banana leaf is the leaf of the banana plant, which may produce up to 40 leaves in a growing cycle. The leaves have a wide range of applications because they are large, flexible, waterproof and decorative. They are used for cooking, wrappin ...

. The moron is then brushed with butter. After wrapping, both ends of the banana leaf are tied with string. Lastly, the moron are steamed for about half an hour. After the moron is cooled, it can now be served.

Consumption

Moron is usually sold in bundles of four pieces that are individually wrapped in a banana leaf. Tourists from Leyte usually buy moron as a ''

pasalubong ''Pasalubong'' (Tagalog, " omethingfor when you welcome me") is the Filipino tradition of travellers bringing gifts from their destination to people back home. ''Pasalubong'' can be any gift or souvenir brought for family or friends after bei ...

'' or gift for their relatives and friends. In the places where moron originated, it is usually served at festivals, birthday parties, and funeral wakes. Visitors from those parties usually takes home some of the moron. The food is also a medium of exchange for goodwill in Tacloban and the nearby municipalities of

Palo Palo may refer to: Places * Palo, Argentina, a village in Argentina * Palo, Estonia, village in Meremäe Parish, Võru County, Estonia * Palo, Huesca, municipality in the province of Huesca, Spain * Palo, Iowa, United States, a town located wit ...

, Tanauan, Tolosa, Dulag, Mayorga and Abuyog. Philippine government agencies usually promote and support locally produced goods such as the moron. The Department of Science and Technology of the Philippines advocated the longer

shelf life Shelf life is the length of time that a commodity may be stored without becoming unfit for use, consumption, or sale. In other words, it might refer to whether a commodity should no longer be on a pantry shelf (unfit for use), or no longer on a ...

of food products including the moron to help producers of those kind of food products while the Department of Trade and Industry of the Philippines conducted trade fairs to develop and promote products, which included the moron. The Department of Labor and Employment of the Philippines meanwhile made a project in Mambujao, Camiguin for the production of moron.

References

{{Filipino food Philippine rice dishes Foods containing coconut Philippine desserts Glutinous rice dishes Steamed foods Rice cakes

Preparation

Consumption

See also

References