Cooking the Tinagtag

MALAPATAN, Sarangani (June 18, 2007) – The crisp rice rolls – tinagtag - have been a favorite for generations. Maisora Balimbingan (left) and her sister Fatima (right) cook tinagtag, made of finely ground rice mixed with sugar. The rice is soaked into clean water for few minutes. When the mixture becomes sticky, it is placed in pangulayan, a coconut bowl with small holes. The holes serve as a screen where the gluey mixture flows down to a kala or pan of boiling oil where it is cooked. The cook makes a circling motion on to the kala as the mixture continues to flow from the pangulayan to form it like a lean pizza pan. Then a wooden sandok called gagawi is used to get the brownish pasta crisp and put it in a talam or tray ready for styling with a twangan.(Photo by SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE/CAS)