My dearly departed Lola Mama, my mother’s mother, hailed from Tacloban, Leyte. One of my favorite childhood memories of her involved her semi-annual trips to her home province and how she would come home with a treat called sumang minuron or just plain moron. (No, it’s not as stupid as it sounds. 
)
Minuron is different from other kinds of suman which are made with steamed rice. This one involves galapong (rice flour) soaked and allowed to drip over a number of days. The end result of this process is mixed with native chocolate and boiled peanuts and steamed in banana leaves. These are wonderful on their own, but I like gilding the lily by dipping these in thick Spanish-style hot chocolate.
Since my Lola died, minuron has been a rare treat. Still, all those Kookai kiosks selling Visayan treats at most MRT stations can be counted on for a taste of my childhood. (And they’re relatively inexpensive, too. I mean, P 10.00 apiece?! Nice!)
