From the recipe collection
Pinawikan Pusô
Large turtle-shaped Cebuano woven rice pouch cooked with plain rice; the name describes the leaf form and contains no turtle.
- Prep time
- 35–50 min depending on pouch availability
- Cook time
- 55–70 min
- Yield
- Makes 6–8 large packets
Get everything ready
Ingredients
Tick ingredients as you prepare.
Method
- Use a professionally woven pinawikan pouch and inspect the four-strand turtle-like form for gaps.
- Rinse the rice and drain 10 minutes.
- Fill gradually, shaking rice into the large body while keeping all protruding sections free of tightly packed grains.
- Stop below halfway full and secure the woven ends.
- Submerge in a large pot of boiling water; this oversized form needs more water than ordinary pusô.
- Boil 55–70 minutes, turning twice and replacing evaporated water with boiling water.
- Open a tester at the thickest centre and confirm that every grain is fully tender.
- Drain 15–20 minutes before opening. The name refers to the turtle-like shape; no turtle ingredient is used.
