Tamales Obando
February 17, 2007
Filed under Food trips & events
A year or so ago, I knew of only two places in Metro Manila where I could find FIlipino delicacies and specialty food from various regions, the products organized according to the region from which they originate. There was Market! Market! and then there was Tiendesitas.
On the one hand, these are not exactly the kind of home-cooked peasanty cooking that one can only get by actually traveling to the different regions of the country. The products sold in these places are more “commercialized” but they still give a glimpse of how varied Filipino food and cooking is.
On the other hand, the concept of bringing together all these regional specialty food spelled convenience for the city dweller who does not have the time nor the inclination to hunt for local goodies when traveling to other parts of the country. It also introduces the non-traveler to food he may not even know existed.
The bottom line is, the setup of the Market! Market! and Tiendesitas food stalls is a great way to get introduced to food from all over the Philippines. For the kids, it is the best way to learn that Jollibee is not the standard by which Filipino food should be judged.
In an age when tamales vendors are becoming an endangered specie, it was such a treat to find tamales at Tiendesitas, for instance. It was the only kind of tamales I knew, the kind that my parents introduced me to and the kind I shared with my late father-in-law when I was pregnant with my first child, Sam. Little did I know that tamales differed from one region to another.
About two weeks ago, my husband was in Batangas on business. He brought home a bagful of tamales, a treat from a client. I was a bit surprised with the Batangas tamales. It was chewy that I thought at first that I didn’t reheat them long enough in the steamer. Rice-based food harden as they get cold and steaming, more often than not, brings them back to their original soft state. Well, it didn’t happen with the Batangas tamales. I thought that, perhaps, it was just a case a badly-cooked tamales.
Then, last week, I went to SM Hypermarket because I had previously discovered a stall there that sells baking chocolate at very reasonable prices. My younger daughter, Alex, and her friends were planning on making chocolate-coated polvoron to sell at the school fair and I was going to buy the chocolate that they could melt and pour over the polvoron.
A few meters from the chocolate stall was an “Obando” stall selling, among other things, tamales (in the photo, above). Right beside the Obando stall was one selling carabao milk products—milk, pastillas, white cheese, mozzarella—but that’s for the next entry. Suffice to say at this point that the area outside the supermarket is fast becoming something like the Market! Market! setup—food stalls selling products from the different regions of the country.
So, about the Obando tamales. Unlike the throw pillow shaped tamales I knew, the Obando tamales is shaped like a pyramid. It is not an affair of carefully arranged ground brown rice over ground white rice. It appeared to be made from ground toasted white rice. It was also pleasantly sweet, a little spicy, moist and very soft. When I bought the tamales at Tiendesitas a while back, I bought two kinds—original and sweetened. I hated the sweetened variety. But, surprisingly, the sweetish Obando tamales, topped with with a strip of hard-boiled egg and toasted shredded coconut, was not offensive to the taste buds. In fact, it was wonderful.
Then, it finally dawned on me—the Batangas tamales was not “bad” because it wasn’t as soft as the others. It was just different and the chewiness was probably a distinct characteristic that set it apart from the tamales of other regions in the country.
It’s the second and last day of the fair at the kids’ school so we expect to have a late night. We’ll probably wake up late tomorrow. Still, I want to squeeze in a few hours to check out what other delicacies there are among the food stalls at SM Hypermarket. ‘Till next time…
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i have never tasted tamales until about 5 years ago. my MIL who is very active in the Hispanic community here in my state (we make fun of her because she’s now more fluent in Spanish than Tagalog), made some from scratch as taught by her Colombian and Mexican friends. they were made with corn flour (masa harina is what they call it) and topped with shredded carnitas (lechon pork) and a homemade sauce made with tomato paste, roasted poblano peppers, and other herbs and spices, and wrapped in corn husk. they were so delicious that i begged her to teach me how to make them. because of this, my preference is for savory tamales like you. if i’d had to eat the sweetish kind, won’t that be just like eating biko or tupig?
Hi Connie. I love the Batangas Suman-Tamales.
As a child I always looked forward to early mornings when my father would come home from his trips to Batangas with anticipation for the calamay, panutsa and tamales that he was sure to bring.
The tamales I remember is made of malagkit rice, wrapped in banana leaves and tied with straw. It always came along with syrup and toasted coconut for toppings.
After years of traveling, and living in several areas, I have tasted several versions of the tamales, and my favorite is still the suman-tamales from Batangas. I’ve never really liked the ones with the fillings.
Last year I went to Ibaan to attend a town fiesta and I bought 4 dozens of the local butche and 5 dozens of suman-tamales. The tindera said that it was good pasalubong. and when I said it was for the family only, I swear the tindera thought I was going nuts. I guess I should have mentioned that by family I also meant extended family. :- ) She then asked if I was leaving immediately and when I said I was staying for the night, she suggested I place an order for the next day instead so the tamales I would bring with me would be newly cooked and hence wouldn’t spoil immediately ( since we don’t refrigerate our tamales).
And just as promised, fresh from the steamer tamales were waiting fro me the following morning. I ate tamales for breakfast for the next three days.
Hi, Connie. Did you always like tamales? I have this observation that as we mature, we begin to open ourselves to Filipino delicacies our parents used to like. Whereas in our childhood and teens, we only went for foods and snacks that were ‘in’, we realize later in life how delicious and truly enjoyable our native kakanins and meryendas are. This is so true for me, as I now check out specialties of each province and appreciate how blessed we are for having thousands of islands bursting with flavors and textures that we can celebrate throughout the year.
purplegirl, there is good sweet tamales (like this Obando variety) and there is the bad kind hahaha. The Obando tamales is not like kalamay. Ang hirap i-describe eh hehehe basta iba sya.
Jen, suman-tamales? Okay, I’ll ask hubby to look for that on the next Batangas trip.
Carol, yes, I’ve been eating tamales for as long as I can remember. Just as I have been eating guinataang halo-halo, puto and kutsinta from Polo, Bulacan and pastillas from San Miguel Bulacan and buko pie from Los Baños… LOL My lola, who lived next door… well, her idea of pasalubong for my brother and I were biko, maja blanca… we didn’t really grow up on “commercialized” snacks.
How wonderful to learn of diversity across cultures. This is the tamales I know. From Wikipedia:
“A tamale or tamal (from Nahuatl tamalli) is a traditional Latin American food consisting of steam-cooked corn meal dough with or without a filling. Tamales can be filled with meats, cheese (post-colonial), and sliced chiles or any preparation according to taste. The tamal is generally wrapped in a corn husk before cooking.”
I love the above type of tamale, and my favorite is with pork. I am so intrigued that there is a completely different kind of tamale in the Philippines!
hello coney,
thank you for doing a feature on one of the delicacy from my town. I grew up in the quaint little town of obando, just like my parents. there are more nice ‘kakanins’ from my hometown—you should try the akay-akay, others refer to it as the tibok-tibok. It is way different from the tibok-tibok of kabalen. Also try the pinipig with a baked custard topping. You should also try the seafoods—oysters, sugpo and alimango ( maybe the hubby and the kids, since you are allergic to these stuff). Try also the atcharang dampalit or the seaweed salad—very delish with seafoods!
Obando, during low tide season, is a nice place to visit. Try going there during the town fiesta—mid may especially for those seeking to have a partner for life and a baby or babies.
a lot of different kinds, pinayhekmi. what an adventure indeed. i’m nuts about tamales too.
hi malou, i saw an episode in Living Asia Channel about the tibok-tibok of Pampanga… so Obando has a different version? Wow. Pinipig with baked custard topping sounds irresistible.
Can anyone send me recipes of tamales from the Philippines?
I am especially looking for Batangas style tamales.
I am compiling a list of recipes.
I will send a copy to anyone
contributing recipes or information.
Thanks, Steve
Hola! I am a Filipina currently living in Peru and constantly checking at Pinoy.net for my authentic Pinoy comfort food. Allelujah and kudos for this website. Congratulations and keep it up! On the other hand, I have discovered and currently enjoying immensely one of the best and most extensive cuisines of the world- Peruvian. I have come across a lot of versions of tamales from Malaysia and Singapore having lived in the latter recently for 3 year. Their tamales (I forgot the Chinese name), is wrapped like a pyramid, similar to Obando’s - made of glutinous rice but with more variety of meats AND spices -dellllicious!!! Here in Latin America, their tamales is a staple food all over, which is CORN based and is just divine! It’s much lighter, not too heavy on the stomach. So far, I have tasted the Peruvian (again, a variety of regional versions!), Ecuadorian and the Chilean - also slightly different. The salty tamales is almost a full meal by itself with meats and fillers like green or chick peas, olives and queso fresco (standard). In Peru, there’s also a variety of flavors - pork or chicken or both and there is a sweet version which is heavenly and my favorite one - with cinnamon and “manjar” - caramel! Both versions are commonly eaten as a typical “Andean” breakfast or as “entrada”/appetizer for the salty one with its Salsa Criolla-julienned onions in lime juice. I have yet to try the Mexican and the Central American version! Saludos!