Bandi (Peanut Brittle, San Joaquin style)

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Here is the recipe on how to make homemade bandi or Peanut Brittle (San Joaquin style)

San Joaquin is a town south of Iloilo Province. It is known for its bandi that they celebrate annually the Bandi festival to promote their product. Everytime visitors pass by this sleepy town, they would always buy bags and bags of bandi for pasalubong. Just in case you are unable to visit San Joaquin, I am sharing with you this recipe shared to me by Wowa, a bandi maker from this town. Try it out...

Ingredients:

1 cup native peanuts

¼ cup water

1 cup sugar

¼ cup sesame seeds

Materials: 

Plastic cover (the one used for wrapping books) or banana layers (saha sang saging)

Frying pan or wok

Direction:

1.Mix 1 cup of peanuts, 1 cup of sugar and water in the frying pan.

2.Heat and stir for about 15 minutes for the sugar to caramelize and for the peanuts to be cooked.

3.While waiting, wipe some oil on a plastic cover.

4.Remove the frying pan from the heat and pour the caramelized peanuts onto the plastic cover. While wet form into flat round shapes.

5.Leave to harden and dry.

It is preferred that you use banana layers or  the saha sang saging to serve as tray for the bandi to dry because these contain moisture that makes the bandi dry faster. These days, however, they’ve opted for the plastic wrapper for convenience.