In the Tagalog language, puso means "heart." It is rice wrapped in coconut leaves shaped like a diamond. To make the puso, coconut leaves are first weaved into diamond shells leaving a hole where uncooked rice is poured before sealing the shells and putting them on a large pot filled with water and putting them over the fire. The making of pusô requires a degree of thinking that is only earned through practice and learning from people specializing in the craft. The puso is also popularly known as "Hanging Rice." Pusô
Pusô is a favorite companion for lechon and sutukil. It refers to cooked rice wrapped in diamond- or heart-shaped woven coconut leaves.
Making pusô does not involve clumping the cooked rice in one's hand and then wrapping it in coconut leaves. Rather, pusô preparation is a little bit tricky and requires special skills.
According to Angela Retonalla, a pusô maker for almost a decade, the first step in pusô-making is the weaving of the coconut leaves (locally called lukay) into diamond shells. Some slack is left in the woven shell so that the rice grains could be poured in. An expert weaver usually takes only around 30 seconds to weave one shell.
Then, uncooked rice grains are poured into the container and the slack is tightened to seal the grains inside. The uncooked rice should not fill up all the space inside the container because the rice grains will still puff up and expand when they start to cook.
Afterwards, the uncooked pusô are tied into bunches by the unwoven ends of the coconut leaves. The bunches are hung on bamboo sticks and then lowered into a drum or large kettle of boiling water until the rice grains have cooked. After cooking, each pusô is not removed from the bunch; rather, the bunches are hung and put on display. Thus, pusô came to be also known as "hanging rice."
Pusô is abundant all over Cebu. One can see it in the lowly street-corner cafeterias, as well as in the posh restaurants. It is most abundant in places where barbecue, sutukil, and lechon are sold.
Pusô is popular among Cebuanos because of the convenience that it brings. One hardly needs any special implement to transport pusô.
Pusô makers can make hundreds of pusô in a day. Because of its high demand, pusô making has become a primary source of livelihood for many Cebuanos. Price for each pusô ranges from a meager 1 peso to 5 pesos, depending on the size and the quality of the rice. Most pusô makers can be found in Carbon, Tabo-an, and other markets around Cebu.
Pusô is a uniquely Cebuano food item and can be found only here in Cebu.
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