Clarin’s House of Suman: Home to a Rich Variety of Rice Cake Flavors

The suman, a Filipino delicacy is an elongated rice cake neatly wrapped in banana leaves is a favorite local snack. But how many flavors of this suman have you tried? There’s chocolate, mango, cheese and it’s just crazy to know there’s more. Well in Clarin municipality of Misamis Occidental, they boast of 13 flavors under the roof of Clarin’s House of Suman, a popular stop amongst locals and tourists not only for suman but some pasalubong treats as well.

The Clarin House of Suman and Pasalubong Center

OTOP Success

Clarin’s House of Suman started in 2009 when Clarin was still searching for their municipality’s one town, one product (OTOP). Suman was one of the products they dabbled in and their plain suman was noticed since it was of good quality, moisture, and texture and tasty even without sugar. But it was when they played around with different flavors that they captured the curious tastebuds of people. After a few tweaks and experiments, they were able to find the right mix of flavors that appealed to many people.

Inside their suman factory

House of Suman

It’s hard not to find Clarin’s House of Suman. Aside from its prominent location near the highway at the border of Ozamiz City, its green building with a leaf-shaped roof and a large suman pillar screams its very own presence. We got to visit its small factory just across the street where a few workers, mix, knead, and wrap this suman. They make about 2000 pieces a day and most are sold by day’s end. Their shelf life is only good for three days when refrigerated but I’m sure it won’t last that long.

Suman best eaten with sikwate on the side

Sumptuous Flavors

Aside from buying from the piles of suman as pasalubong to take away, visitors can have their snacks too. They serve Sikwate, a rich local hot chocolate which is a perfect accompaniment with any suman flavors. There was a lot to try but among the flavors I really liked were the lightness from the buko, the sweetness from the jackfruit, and the nutty peanut flavor. For only Php 8.50 each there’s very little reason not to just buy the other flavors and consume them later.

Inside the House of Suman

Clarin’s House of Suman
Clarin, 7201 Misamis Occidental
Contact: (088) 545.1943, 0947.411.4346

Stacks of suman

Carefully wrapping the suman with banana leaves