Vegan Dinumugan

Dinumugan is a type of suman (rice cake) dessert that hails from the island of Bohol - my parents' hometown. This is the first vegan dessert that I have ever made. It is basically made from coconut meat, rice flour and ripe bananas. What I love about this recipe is that the bananas are naturally sweet so you don't need to put any free sugar in it (not that mine had any). Free sugar is defined as any form of sweet crystalline substance obtained from plants like sugar cane or beets. It is also commonly known as table and white (brown) sugar.  

Traditional dinumugan is very sweet because the recipe calls for white sugar. This recipe is all natural and is full of fiber that can aid in digestion. Moreover, it is so easy to make that I was able to make my first batch with success. Beginner's luck perhaps? For this healthy banana-rice cake recipe, below are the things that you will need:

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Cuisine: Vegan, Gluten-Free
Serving size: 3 to 4 (makes 18 small rice cakes)

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

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Ingredients:

5 cups ripe bananas, mashed

1 cup rice flour

1 cup coconut meat, shredded

1 cup water 

5 pitted dates, soaked overnight (optional)

Instructions:

1. In a food processor or blender, blend the dates until it purees into smooth mixture.
2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
3. Scoop a tablespoon of the mixture onto a  banana leaf and roll the leaf just as you would      in making spring rolls.
4. Continue doing the third step until you finish packing all the mixture inside the banana leaves
5. Steam for 15 minutes.
6. Let it cool before serving.

By the way, I used dates as sugar substitute but you can always opt to leave it out. I happen to have dates because my sister gave me a pack of it. If you have difficulty finding them, you can always use coconut sugar or other natural sweeteners that you can find except honey as it is not vegan. But if you are not a vegan but you just want to try this recipe, you can use honey anytime. 

This recipe is so good that it did not have a chance to cool down at all.  Although still hot, we ate it for lunch. Surprisingly, even the non-vegans and sugar-lover members in the family loved this recipe. I cannot wait to make this recipe again in the future. I hope you can enjoy it too.

XOXO,

Ang Pobreng Vegan