Who would have thought that "suman," a native delicacy made of sticky rice, could be reinvented?
Well, Lynn Sun did, and thus was born Tita Lynn's Flavored Suman, which is also opening its first shop in the food area of Tiendesitas.
Sun learned to make suman from her parents and grandparents who hailed from Pampanga province.
But she did not think it could be a business until the late 1990s when the suman her maids used to bring to the school of her children attracted quite a following. Soon, she was getting orders.
The business started off from there with more orders coming in through word of mouth.
The principal attraction is her incorporation of fruits and flavors in her suman, such as nangka, uve, macapuno, sweet corn, camote, red mungbeans, and chocolate.
But she stayed true to the traditional way of preparing the suman, which has been handed down through generations.
"That's why we say it's tradition with a twist," she said.
She still prepares all the suman from home and she sells about 1,000 suman a day. She opens at past 1 o'clock in the afternoon. By 3 pm, she's sold out.
Patrons don't mind. They just come back for more.
Someone has figured out (once again) how to energize a traditional carbo-loaded treat for our
appetites to rediscover. Suman, which is Filipino for glutinous rice rolls wrapped in banana
leaves, has been selling like hotcakes in a Manila store called Tita Lynn's.
The store offers plump sumans with a variety of fillings such as chocolate, mango, purple yam and peanut butter.
People line up and buy mass quantities at a time to stock up. The place has frequently closed by 2:30 pm
because it simply does not have enough supply to meet demand. Store hours are supposed to be from
12 noon to 12 midnight. Expansion is imminent.
My parents took home flavored suman from Tita Lynn's--and I dare say it's the best I've tasted. Ever.
Ube, mais-macapuno, langka, cocomas, sweet potato.
5.) Chocolate-flavored suman. I don’t recall the name of the stall that sells flavored suman
(there’s also langka) but the chocolate-flavored one is really great. The packaging is good, too.
Someone I know brought a bunch to New York and it lasted four days without refrigeration.
