Alupe is made of ground cassava or balinghoy mixed with coconut milk and wrapped in banana leaves. Other places in the Philippines have their own version of this cassava-based delicacy.

This native delicacy is called alupe or alupi in most parts of Western Visayas.

When cooking sweet alupe (cassava cake) you can add shaved young coconut, coconut milk and brown sugar during the process. It may just look like a bland mixture at first but during steaming it will surely delight both your sense of smell and taste because of the sweet aroma of the banana leaves.

Here's a recipe I found while searching on how to make this native delicacy.

Sweet Alupe

Ingredients
• 1 kilogram grated cassava (tapioca)
• 500 grams grated young coconut
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• banana leaves

Procedure
• Squeeze grated cassava to extract water from it.
• Mix thoroughly cassava, young coconut and brown sugar. Set aside.
• Pass the banana leaves over fire to make it easy for folding later.
• Divide the cassava mixture into 12 equal parts and wrap each with banana leaf to cover completely. It is recommended to tie each one with a thread to hold it together when cooking.
• Put the wrapped mixture in a saucepan with water and cook for 20 minutes.
• It can be served either hot or cold.

Just be careful because it is sticky and messy to eat. You can add some latik or minatamis to enhance the flavor of the alupe after boiling.

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photos/source/reference:
flavoursofiloilo.blogspot.com
jinkzzkitchen.blogspot.com
ilonggolivingincanada.com
Kruhay! Antiqueño! FB page