Food: Beverage - How to make Bubod (Wine Yeast)

Bubod is the main ingredient of the traditional cordilleran beverage or alcoholic drink like the rice wine. It is a white to brown oval disc-shape hardened starch powder that contain the fermenter – the yeast.

Ingredients and materials:

1 kl of kintuman (a violet red rice of the Cordillera) or any sticky rice.

7-10 pieces of 5-inch tall ‘ung-gwad’ herb, i forgot its english name (whole plant) or you may use the aniseed plant or any other edible herbal plant that have the yeast.

1/2 cup of sliced ginger

1 liter of water

Mixing container for the ingredients

Clean glass container

Grain grinder

Wide baking pan

Procedures

1. Pulverize the rice using the grain grinder, then put the powdered rice into the container.
2. Crush the plants and the ginger with the grinder to break them into small pieces, spare the juice too.
3. Put the crushed plants and the juice into the container and add water then mix all the ingredients until it became a sticky paste.
4. With your plams, take a handful of the paste and form an oval disc shape or ball and place it on the clean pan. Repeat the step until finished with the paste.
5. Dry under the sun to harden the soft wet bubod balls before keeping them in a closed container for future use.

Bubod crumbs and balls courtesy of DOST, Philippines