Piaya is a flat unleavened bread filled with muscovado (raw sugar). A product of the provinces of Negros, the sugar capital of the Philippines, it is now also produced in other regions of the Visayan Peninsula. The piaya pictured is from Cebu province.
PayaWhat is the texture?
The bread is flaky, like Chinese hope, and the filling is, of course, sweet. There’s an episode on Live Asia that talks about the Negro region. One segment of the episode is the making of piaya. The dough is cooked and then formed into small balls. Muscovado sugar is spread in the center of each ball, after which the ball takes on a new shape.
Rolling pins are used to flatten them. The ovens used to make piaya are not enclosed structures, but rather like huge open pans. Flattened piayas are arranged in rows and columns, cooked until the underside is lightly browned and then flipped and browned on the opposite side. They are cooled and then packaged for sale.
Leave a Reply