Binuburan

Binuburan is fermented rice sold on weekend - and market day -  mornings at the public market of my hometown in Pangasinan. The fermented rice is pressed on a banana leaf-lined bigao, or bilao, then again covered with banana leaves. A serving is a cupful, along which goes a plastic bag of water and sugar syrup.

It is meant to be taken and eaten home, where it is put in a bowl and mixed with the water - preferably cold - and sugar syrup.

Binuburan is different from the other fermented, odoriferous rice - buro - in that the latter is very savory, an appetizing side, while the former is sweet, and can be had as a meal, like some kind of porridge. Binuburan is called binubudan in the Ilocano language.

Binuburan is actually the first stage in the process of making tapuy, the Northern Luzon wine made from rice. It is in the phase when the rice has just been inoculated with the fermenting culture and has yet to turn alcoholic. But it has been allowed to ferment for a few days, up to a week, so it tastes slightly caustic, like an over-ripe pineapple or grapes.  

It is also the culture introduced to sugarcane juice when making basi, the wine of the Ilocos and Central Luzon regions that is based on sugarcane.

The culture comes in the form of hardened rice dough flattened into discs, looking a bit like free-form puto seko, but more like play-doh piso. These are called, unsurprisingly, bubur, and are available most days at the section of the market where local rice delicacies are sold. The bubur is crumbled and sprinkled on cooled boiled rice for it to start the fermentation process. Thus the name bubur, a permutation of bubud or budbud, describing the way it is used.

The bubur is made by mixing ground rice and pounded ginger with a small amount of a pre-made culture - the previous bubur - then fermented, molded, then dried under the sun.

Binuburan was actually exotic to me. That is saying a lot, because my life growing up in Pangasinan was full of what many citified folks would consider verging on the fear factor - consider snails, or frogs, or wild dwarf crabs. Fear factors extreme, actually.

But it was as exotic as coffee, which was forbidden to us children. So it was an exotic adult fare. Though it wasn't exactly forbidden - I never saw it in our house, and I never saw it eaten by any family member.

The first time I came across it was when I came upon a parish priest having it for breakfast. I thought then it must be holy. Over time I thought it was a male thing, like alcohol, or cigarettes. But when I got married I learned that binuburan is occasionally made at my husband's house, and eaten by the elders, who are all females.

So I got the courage to buy some at the market. When I lugged home my purchase I was scolded for taking the water, as it must have been fetched from the public CR. I didn't know it was just piped water, for diluting the binuburan. So I got cold, distilled and mineralized water and mixed it into the binuburan, along with some brown sugar for a caramel finish.

Binuburan takes some getting used to, and is an acquired taste, but so does buro. It has the same tangy sourness, but not as pronounced. It was refreshing, though, and perfect for the weather. But my cup was fininshed by my husband, who grew up eating the stuff, albeit home-made. The elders pronounced the market kind to be okay, but said next time we'll make some ourselves, and instructed me to buy bubur instead.

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