Will the Original Manapla Puto Please Stand Up?

Not all Manapla Puto (rice cake) are created equal not even when they’re made in Manapla, Negros Occidental. Everybody who’s making puto on a banana leaf these days call themselves Manapla puto. Let’s weed out the copycats from the real McCoy and what do we have? Capulso Manapla Puto.

Capulso Manapla Puto claims to be the original maker of puto in Manapla. Mrs. Magdalena Balgoa-Capulso started making puto commercially in 1954 and has been a thriving business ever since . I had a chance to talk to Mrs. Capulso and she told me that puto making has been a family tradition and the special puto recipe was handed to her by her aunt. The same family recipe has been handed down to her children  who continue to make the delicious puto. I told her Manapla should be grateful to her since their puto has made the town famous. I asked her about the Manapla puto maker in Iloilo and  she said it belongs to the family of her brother.

Her sons who now manage the business said there’s really no secret in  making puto. You just have to have the right ingredients like laon or aged rice which is best for puto. Mr Jerry Capulso believes it’s probably experience that’s on their side. They can easily determine the right combination of quality ingredients even with the different rice varieties available today in order to get the quality of puto they want. He added that it’s also in the cooking technique that’s why puto making can never be mechanized because the right consistency of the rice batter cannot be achieved using a mixer.

Manapla puto is soft, tasty and has fine, uniform texture. Available variants of Capulso Manapla Puto are plain puto and puto cheese. Manapla Puto best complements flavorful dishes such as batchoy and dinuguan. Puto at room temperature is highly perishable but when kept in a freezer, it can last for a month. Just reheat in a steamer before eating.

Capulso Manapla Puto is available at Lopue’s East, Pendy’s and Deco’s. They deliver daily so you get freshly cooked Manapla puto. They don’t sell through vendors but you can also buy from their store at Crossing Manapla. Just come early since products are easily sold out. You may call them at (034) 491-0092.