Instead of fasting this Holy Week, I got to feast on bingka. Don't bother asking how many pieces I devoured in just one sitting. So I'll just make a rundown of my previous bingka entries to be "in" this Semana Santa.
Bingka sa Mohon. One of the more famous bingkas in Iloilo so naturally I was compelled to blog about it. For Php50, this uniquely rectangular bingka is both a visual and gastronomical feast since it doesn't only look good but tastes good also as it overflows with coconut strips that I refer to it as bukayo cooked bingka style.
Ah! Nang Palang's. Its really looks very enticing just looking at the buko strips inside out. Yeah just look at it but dont bother eating for it will disappoint you bigtime. The buko was okay but it was the "base" (I dont know what to call it) that sucked. It was across between a mamon made with native ingredients that was half cooked and a cake that went "sapatos". At PhP17 each, just scrape and eat the buko part for it not to be wasted.
Balasan bingka. Most famous of which is RCJ, this town's bingka now has a semi permanent stall in the Jaro Plaza vicinity "defacing" and "bastardizing" that mansion at the corner of Seminario Road and E. Lopez (right across Jaro Evangelical church). But their bingka is good as it is famed; creamy as in mananam. At PhP80/ big and PhP20/8 small pieces, its already a bargain considering you dont have to travel for hours up north.
Here are two generic bingka's from Plaza Molo (above) and sold by a manuglibod here in Sta. Barbara (below). For PhP 20, I got 8 thin and 5 thick bingkas respectively. Not bad indeed. But the thick bingka made in our hometown was the clear winner, no bias here. Though it tasted very commercialized, it was the balance of the taste and ingredients plus it was clean looking, that made me finish 2 whole packs in just one sitting.
I still hope to include those bingkas sold in our plaza just for this Holy Week.