Don’t you just love those cute little putong puti and teeny-weeny kutsinta? I do! You don’t eat dinuguan without the putong puti, do you? No, we don’t, guys It’s a travesty! Katerno rin sila ng pansit Malabon, pansit palabok, all ‘em kinds of pansit.

Dahil tadtad siya ng energy-giving carbs, it’s the Pinoy equivalent of the American breakfast or snack of champions. Eaten with grated coconut, slices of cheese or itlog na maalat. Yummy!

Marami na akong nakikitang makeshift stalls sa daan na nagtitinda ng puto-kutsinta in paper bags. Syempre, nakabalot muna sa dahon ng saging ‘yung mga puto bago ilagay sa supot, no. To keep them fresh longer. At saka didikit yung puto sa papel hehe

At laging may nakasulat na “Pangasinan” kasama ng puto-kutsinta sa mga tindahan na ‘to. And the words “original”, of course. Yup, Calasiao, Pangasinan is the home of this very Pinoy foodums.

I was in Pangasinan last weekend. Kinulit ko si Boo (my fiance), na dalhin ako sa pinakamalaking pagawaan ng mga cute putos na ito. For the most popular, it would be Bae Osiang’s puto-kutsinta. Bae means lola or grandma.

Wow. Nagulat ako. Is this the house that puto built? On the right is the puto factory

We found two ladies wrapping puto in banana leaves before putting them inside the paper bags

Nagpunta kami sa likod expecting to see an assembly line of puto workers. Dalawa lang pala ang nagtatrabaho hehe The cooked puto are in huge palangganas covered with cloth

Kutsinta in the big batya.

One worker counting and packing the puto in paper bags sans gloves It's ok, I guess. Baka mas malilinis ang mga kamay ng folks from the provinces hehe

Puto is steamed rice flour thus the humongous steamers.

Maraming palayok with some foamy white stuff. Hindi ko naitanong kung ano 'to. Istorbo pa kasi ako sa aleng busy sa page-empake ng mga puto

Hindi ko rin alam kung ano ito. I presume it's the mixer for the flour and lihiya for kutsinta

And I guess these are sacks of flour?

We bought several bags of puto before we left. We were reminded to always check the name on the paper bags to make sure that we're getting Bae Osiang's original yummy puto-kutsinta.

Budget: P 70.00/kilo. One regular size supot is half kilo.

You know you’re a Pinoy if you never get tired of our native kakanin like puto, kutsinta, biko, suman, suman sa lihiya, bibingka, palitaw, sapin-sapin etc. They’re not only traditional meryenda or breakfast food, they’re energy-packed, filling and yummylicious as well.

Hindi nakakaligtas ang mga probinsiya natin sa changes brought about by modernization in the 21st century. Salamat na lang sa Josah ng mga pagkain, good old tried and tested recipes of our lolos and lolas from the provinces remain the same.

The taste and texture of Bae Osiang’s mini rice cakes remind me of the smell of golden palay stalks in the early morning dawn.

I give these little putos what they deserve. Perfect five Ellicious hearts.