“TUPIG IN CURRIMAO, ILOCOS NORTE: A SOURCE

OF PRIDE IN THE NORTH”

OLIVER BRYAN C. GOPEZ

TERM PAPER

COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE, FOOD AND SUSTAINABLE

MARCH 2011
 “Tupig in Currimao, Ilocos Norte: A Sorce of Pride in the North”

Oliver Bryan C. Gopez

Cristina Gay G. Sadumiano

Chapter I

HISTORY OF TUPIG

In the late 60’s, tupig is became commercially available in the market with several variations

in preparation, taste and quality.

No other place in the Philippines can perhaps lay claim to being a haven of cultural heritage,

than the twin provinces of Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur whose vestiges of their rich history continue

to stand proudly to this day.

Provinces, La Union, Abra, and portions of the Mountain Province. It already had a thriving

precolonial civilization and traded with the Chinese and Japanese who imported fine jars, silk and

crockery. Over the years, the sprawling province was partitioned and its boundaries were redefined,

leaving it with the present day Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur. 

The tupig which hails from Norte (Pangasinan, Cagayan region, Ilocandia) is

another kakanin that eventually grewas time goes by. It’s not as yummy as the puto bumbong but it

has that peculiar authentic taste. Besides, a lot of people earn their living selling these rice cakes

made from glutinous rice and grated coconut. Since I was usually assigned to go up North during

the election campaign period, almost every stop from Nueva Ecija to Cagayan or Baguio will have

the inescapable tupig  vendor offering a bunch of these rice cakes. The way it’s cooked – over live

coals – also contribute to the distinct taste.

Tupig is widely popular in Pangasinan, Cagayan and in the Ilocos Region, where rice and

coconut are major agricultural products. Oral history could not determine where tupig production

originated.

Christmas in Ilocos Norte is aglow- not with tinsel, brightly colored lights and glittery

ornaments, but with the spirit of fun, laughter and sharing. Because Ilocanos are clannish in nature,

they always return to their ancestral home during the Christmas holidays. Whether the home be of

bamboo, wood or brick, it serves as a treasure chest of heirlooms and memories. It is here where

family reunions are held and tales of the previous years are shared.
 Chapter II

One of the delicious native delicacies of Norte is the tupig. It is a Filipino snack that is made

from rice cake preparation which was one of the favorite around holidays especially Christmas and

New Year. Tupig version of Ilocos Norte, equally tasteful as Isabela’s.

More specifically though, tupig is very similar to suman: a Filipino delicacy of sweet glutinous

rice that is wrapped and steamed in banana leaves but what makes tupig different from suman is

that instead of being steamed, the banana leaf parcels are grilled over an open fire, yielding a

pleasantly smoke and charred flavor.

Traditionally popular around Christmas is tupig- a pastry from a soft and oily variety of rice

used for native seeds(diket) cooked in coconut milk, molasses, and sesame seeds. Tupig comes in

various form. While some towns prefer to cook their tupig in bamboo tubes, coconut leaves and

coconut shells, the ones most commonly served are cooked in banana leaves.

Tupig is a treat that is served to friends, relatives, loved ones and Christmas carolers- a sign

of gratitude for their holiday greetings and to wish them well in the coming New Year.
 Intemtem in Pangasinan, or popularly known as tupig, is made of ground rice, sugar and

buko (young coconut) strips, rolled and wrapped in banana leaves, then grilled over live coals. This

native kakanin (rice-based food products) belongs to the suman (rice cake) family.

In Nueva Viscaya, their tupig is made of glutinous rice known in Iloko as diket. With sugar,

the milled diket is flavored with semi-pulverized peanuts and corn, desired flavor and wrapped in

banana or cooked leaves. It is then grilled for atleast five(5) minutes.

People in certain municipalities in Pangasinan have different ways of making tupig but the

basic ingredient remain the same- grated coconut, ground sticky flour or rice, and molasses. Sugar

is used as sweetener although most prefer coconut milk.

Some towns in Norte, their tupig is also made of ground glutinous rice mixed with coconut

gratins, sugar and sesame seeds then wrapped in a wilted banana leaf. It is being cooked in a coal

fire. They make use of small stones over a galvanized sheet to make the cooking even. It can be

stored for a longer period of time (3 days) under room temperature.

The different ingredients of tupig in Ilocos Norte are grated matured coconut, ganta

molasses, white refined sugar, butter or margarine, ganta finely ground glutinous rice, toasted

sesame seeds, 9”x 6” banana leaves.

In the Barangay Pias Norte, Currimao, Ilocos Norte they have two different kinds of tupig;

special tupig and ordinary tupig. The ingredients of the special are glutinous rice, grated coconut,

shredded coconut, margarine, sesame seeds, oil, cheese, condensed milk and sugar. The only

difference between their special and ordinary is that there are no sesame seeds, condensed milk and
cheese. They used banana leaves for packing. They consumed almost one(10 hour in preparing all

the ingredients and packing it. They use pugon to cook tupig for almost twenty(20) minutes.

The tupig can last for two(2) weeks even without refrigeration. Its shelf life is extended up

to a month when kept frozen.

Chapter III

As a native delicacy, tupig is also a source of pride of the North. Many provinces in the North

have been vying for the longest tupig in the world. The first record in the Guiness book was at by

Laoag City, Ilocos Norte.

The tupig parade was part of the Pamulinawen festival marking the City’s month- long fiesta

in honor of its patron, Saint William the Hermit. “This season to go back to our tradition. We are

breathing life to our tupig, a modest creation of our Ilocano forebears, so that this tradition may live

heroen and forever,” Asuncion Farinas, city tourism council, said. Laoaguenos went back to the
streets parading this time the longest tupig, also known as native suman spanning 1.5 kilometer. It

stretched from the city hall to the market and ten (10) blocks down to the provincial museum just

beside the provincial capitol.

Solano, Nueva Viscaya beat this record after cooking a 1.8 kilometer long tupig on February

14, 2005. The “longest and biggest fever” catches on. This time, Nueva Viscaya town which is

eyeing a Guiness feat by churning out the longest tupig.

However, in 2005, Lasam Cagayan prepared the longest tupig so far at 2.82 kilometers

long. The longest tupig  was displayed in the town's poblacion  (municipal center) and was eaten by

over 5,000 people. About 100 people grilled the tupig for about five minutes.

Tupig is rooted in the way of life of the Ilocanos (people who originated from the Ilocos

provinces).

The people of Cagayan province cooked the tupig  during the town’s 3rd Aringay Festival on

May 19. The Aringay Festival is a tribute to the special and aromatic rice variety which is resistant to

pests and bad weather conditions, planted on the slopes of hills and mountains there. It is a week-

long festivity in the town as thanksgiving for the abundant harvest of rice, the main source of

livelihood of the people in the province known as the rice granary of the north. 

Linda Damascon and Doming Orbito are from Urdaneta and Carmen, Pangasinan,

respectively. They both try to earn a living by tupig. Damascon sells tupig, which she cooked,  at her

makeshift stall along McArthur hi-way in Urdaneta from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. By 9 a.m., she would be

competing with other vendors also lined up along the hi-way. Damascon, 50, learned
making tupig  from her mother who also used to sell the native kakanin. Though her husband is

jobless, she was able to send her only child to college by selling tupig. At a selling price of P25 per

pack of 10 ($0.49 at an exchange rate of $1 = P50.13), she earns from P300-P400 ($5.98 – $7.97).

Her customers are locals and travelers from Manila who stop at her post to buy pasalubong (take

home). Meanwhile, Orbito, 34, carries a box with packed tupig.  He sells them by boarding

commercial buses or at bus stops were passengers wait for buses. His wife prepares and cooks

the tupig in their house in Carmen. He earns about P300 ($5.98) a day.

The town of Laoac, the youngest municipality of Pangasinan, hosted and launched its first-

ever Tupig Festival at SM City Rosales last Saturday. Laoac Mayor Silverio Alarcio Jr. said the

launching was part of their marketing strategy to promote the Tupig Festival to the country and the

world. "

According to the employees at the Municipality of Currimao, their tupig is a community

livelihood project. Special boxes are made by the LGU to help the makers with better packaging and

marketing of the food products.

Several provinces have competed to make it to the Guiness Book of Records for preparing

the longest tupig( a variety of rice cake). For the people of the northern provinces of Luzon island,

cooking and selling tupig is rooted in their way of life, is a source of livelihood, and a regular fare

during festivals and the Christmas celebrations.

Tupig has been one of the favorites of devotees to the Our Lady of Manaoag Church in

Pangasinan province. But the commercially sold tupig is 

jackfruit, pandan (screw pine), guava, ube (purple yam) and strawberry. Although best eaten hot, it

can be stored up to three days under room temperature.

In whatever form it presents itself, wrapped in a leaf or stuffed in a shoot; tupig is a

wonderful example of culinary ingenuity- preparing the amazing dessert with whatever is at hand

and limited resoures.