EXPERIENCE BUDBUD AND SIKWATE AT “PAINITAN”, DUMAGUETE CITY
Contents
I took in a fast trip to Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental last week. Since It was merely an overnight trip, I didn’t have any chance to visit any tourist attraction which I can share with you. Instead, I just maximize my short time seeing some spots within the City which I will be sharing with you in the next couple of days.
One place I made sure to visit before going home is the city public market. My purposes for visiting the place is to buy “Budbud” to bring home and hoping to see an old friend.
Many years back, I had a friend named Lenuel who was a fruit vendor in that market whom I used to order for fresh mangoes. He would send these mangoes from Dumaguete via bus to Bacolod City and sometimes he would send me some Budbud. That was the time when I was introduced to Budbud.
Budbud is Dumaguete’s famous delicacy that is made of sticky rice and wrapped in Banana Leaves. Another version of this delicacy is the Budbud kabog. Budbud Kabog is not the usual suman. It is made of millet in lieu of glutinous rice.
Millet being the main ingredient of Budbud Kabog belongs to a group of related plants that produce small pearl-like textures. Millet is low in essential amino acids and higher than most grains in fat content, 75 percent of which is heart-healthy polyunsaturated fat. Millet has been proven to be potentially beneficial in the management of diabetes. Local millet or “kabog” grows wild in the arid and barren hills of Northern Cebu (like those In Catmon), as good as on other Visayan islands (like Negros Oriental). It is collected by hand and is quite expensive. Hence the Budbud Kabog is also quite expensive as compared to the ordinary one.
Before getting to the fruit and another part of the Public market, we passed straight to a section on the market, popularly recognized as “Painitan”. Painitan is a long alley of stalls, all selling Budbud, Hot Chocolate, Coffee, and Puto. I have heard of this place before, but I didn’t realize how big and popular it is in the Dumaguete.
Sikwate, a native chocolate concocted from pure tablea
Upon reaching the place, I saw a variety of groups of people leisurely taking their morning hot chocolate or coffee along with the famous budbud or puto. I have seen some elderlies grouping together, some groups were obvious local tourists because, like me they were taking many pictures, some were teenagers and much more.
As we were looking for a place to sit a group of elderly offered their table for us knowing that we are new in the place (they were done, by the way). Of course we refuse the offer, thinking that they might still want to stay for some good conversation. But one old man said, “No, we want our visitor to enjoy this place, so please take this table”. “Wow, that was heartwarming”, I exclaimed.
Upon having the table, we ordered for the specialty of the place -the Budbud and Sikwate (Hot Chocolate) made from the local Tablea. I was asked by the vendor if I wanted my chocolate with milk, well, I don’t what’s best so I said yes. But I was a bit disappointed because I was expecting for a thick chocolate. So, a piece of advice when visiting the place order for a plain Sikwate.
Painitan is the place for an early morning spree of budbud and chocolate for early morning joggers and church goers.
I really enjoyed having my breakfast at “Painitan”. The authenticity of the food that they serve, plus the sight of different types of people dining in the place and the beautiful conversations we had made that dining experience great.
So the next you visit Dumaguete City, do visit and experience the “Painitan” in the Public Market. Have a “Happy Trip”.
Thanks for featuring my home place Dumaguete City the City of gentle people but I missed Dumaguete wayback when I was a kid life there is much simplier before and most of the resicence of dumaguete before we know each other the population is s small unlike today
My favorite snack combo, budbud and sikwate. Sikwate is really popular in the Visayas and Mindanao.
Here’s one local ready to provide you answers and I’m going to help Jojo sort things out regarding Dumaguete City. 🙂
Well let me know if you’d like to taste some budbud made from Dumaguete I could take your order. 🙂
Anyway, I just hope you guys could visit us here and I’l hand you over great itineraries to recommend. See you!
Kind regards,
Beverly
( http://www.dumaguetenyo.com )
Hello! May I ask, what are the usual pasalubong we can bring from Manila to Dumaguete? Thanks.
From Manila? Maybe anything.But from Dumaguete you can buy the budbud, I think you can have it frozen and just steam it before serving 🙂
My mom-in-law knows how to cook Budbud. It is yummy, healthy, and so good to our tummy.
wow! you’re so lucky…
Just reading his post makes me want to try them. I hope there are local sellers here of that so we can try it for ourselves. Or better yet, travel to Dumaguete. 🙂 I wonder if this is different from the one in Leyte.
yes, eating this in that public is a must try experience 🙂
I havent tried BudBud Kabog yet, it looks yummy tho. Thanks for sharing such a nice blog post about your fun trip experience in Dumaguete.
Lai, its some sort of suman…but it’s good if you good try it:)
I did think it was suman! Local tourists should also explore what’s within the city rather than always going out to the usual tourist attractions in a place because oftentimes, you can really understand the history and culture of the place through its people and the usual food and places the residents go to.
Budbud is some sort of suman….and I agree the place also speaks about the culture of the place.
My husband has relatives there, perhaps we can visit one day and try that painitan authentic dishes you’re referring to. 🙂
Yes, Its fun to visit the place 🙂
I like to try the native delicacies there. It looks really delicious and a great snack or dessert.
not only delicious Frank , its really fun to be in that place
I’ve only been to Dumaguete once and it was just an overnight trip too. Unfortunately, I wasn’t really able to try any of the native delicacies. I hope I get to go back someday.
Hope you can come back Janice, Dumaguete has a lot to offer:)
It’s so interesting to visit the different markets in different cities. It’s a great way to experience the culture and the people of a place!
Yes, most local markets especially in the countryside can really tell you on what the culture of the place is all about 🙂
The city public market looks like a great place to visit with all the local food made available to sample. The people seem so friendly too so that’s a big plus point as well 🙂
Dumaguete is the “city of the gentle people”..its nice to go around this place 🙂
This is a great way to experience local food from Dumaguete. I hope I can do a backpacking trip to Dumaguete-Siquijor!