A Good Snack for Summer

It used to be sold at almost every street corner, like the fried bananas are in the present in many districts in the city. Siakoy, or twisted doughnut, was a popular favorite. The kids loved it with sugar on top; the grownups liked to pair it with native coffee.

Siakoy is a good idea for summer. It’s easy to make at home, and is sure to delight the kids’ taste buds. On its own, siakoy is a great snack. It is also often enjoyed as dessert.

Curiously, everybody’s favorite siakoy is also the butt of joke. In the Visayas and Mindanao regions, where it’s alternately called “lubidlubid,” anyone who looks dry and rather worn-out is labeled “mora’g siakoy wa’y kamay” (like siakoy without sugar topping). It ironically suggests condescension on the very thing that everybody loved.

Siakoy is made from a length of dough twisted into a distinctive rope-like shape before being fried. The preparation is almost exactly the same as doughnuts, although certain variants are made from glutinous rice flour. The texture can range from soft and fluffy, to sticky and chewy, to hard and crunchy. The fried siakoy is then sprinkled with white sugar, or topped with sesame seeds or caramelized sugar.

It’s not a good idea to have siakoy every day, though; that will bore the palate. Instead, it’s good to alternate with other delicious homemade snacks: champorado, lugaw, boiled or fried ripe bananas, binignit etc. These are all going to take the summer experience to the next level.

The website www.pinoyrecipe. net shares the following siakoy recipe to try at home: