I.

Ingredients
4 cups malagkit rice (glutinous rice) 1 & 1/2 tbsp salt 3 cups thick coconut milk Buli leaves (for wrapping the suman)

Fill with water and remaining 1 cup coconut milk until suman is completely immersed.

Let boil until suman is cooked. Served with sugar and ripe mangoes.

II.

Nutritive value
Calories- 171 Total fat- 4g Iron- 2% Protein- 3g

IV.

History
Ibos (Visayan) or suman (Tagalog) is basically malagkit (sticky rice) wrapped in either banana leaves or coconut leaves. Suman is a rice cake originating from the Philippines. It is made from glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk, and often steamed wrapped in buli or buri palm (Corypha) leaves. It is usually eaten sprinkled with sugar. Suman is also known as budbod in the Visayan languages which dominate the southern half of the country.

III.

Procedure
Measure all the ingredients. Wash rice and soak with water until it swells. Mix with 2 cups coconut milk and salt. Wrap mixture in prepared buli leaves (do not fill them up completely). Place suman in large container.

The Interloper By Clinton Nix Frozen grass crunched beneath the steps of a shambling man. His shoes were crusted and worn, and dirty toes protruded from holes in the sides. His quivering eye scanned the surroundings: a freshly paved path through the grass, which led to a double swingset, and a picnic table off to the side with a group of parents lounging in bundles, huddled to keep warm. Squeaky clean-andcombed children giggled and bounced as they weaved through the pathways with their hot breaths escaping into the air like smoke. One boy clutched an ocean-blue rectangular box, which had a shooting star etched in the side. He unlatched the tin, and a plethora of snacks tumbled out. The ragged man cast his gaze upon the contents like a magnet, groping his midsection furiously. His face was ghastly, with a horrid expression that pierced the atmosphere like a spear. He stuck out like a sore thumb, and it didnt take longer than a few moments for the loungers to catch a glimpse of this unsightly intruder. The boy shuffled through his mound of snacks like plundered treasure. He kneaded the pile flat and even, leveling the goods so that every variation could be seen. A stray piece of edamame teetered on the edge of the picnic table, and slipped through the boys failed attempt to snatch it midair. The ravenous stranger eyed the lone piece of food and ambled slowly toward it, one step at a time. A man in a camping blanket rose to his feet in haste, with an iron stare that broke to pieces under sight of the slovenly being that walked nearer to his child. With each step of the abominable thing, a gasp escaped from the bundled man at the picnic table.

His frightened squeaks grew louder, but his body was as frozen as the grass. He was terrified, but he could not move a muscle to save his son. His breath became hotter, and the small white puffs from his mouth turned to steaming geisers, pulsing in rhythm with the monsters steps. The others caught notice of the beastly man and pointed, but with arms extended, they froze in place, with the only sign of life visible by way of breath. The small boy looked directly at the approaching alien with serene composure. The grizzly demon neared the picnic table overflowing with mounds of snacks. His gaze waved, and lowered from the boy, to the table, to the grass below. The ground thumped as he fell to his knee-like nubs. The rabid creature thrust out its grubby, filthy hand-claws, and purloined the treasured edamame from the earth and began to devour it with gangly teeth until no morsel remained. In a lustful craze, the disgusting alien beast thieved another snack from the table, and began ravaging it just the same. While the horrendous abomination of a life form was occupied, the parents of the boy dethawed, as if a magic spell had been broken, and began to act. They snatched their belongings, along with the boy and as many snacks as could be hoarded in an armful. They fled the park and the wicked diseased creature without looking back. The subhuman thing had passed out during their mad rush, after gorging itself. *** Upon waking, the disheveled man lifted his quivering eyes, and cracked a smile that cast a shimmering light upon his grimy face. Stumbling to rise, he noticed the pale green glow of another edamame placed gently by his head.