Kinampay is the ube variety Boholanos reach for when they want the real thing: deep violet, floral, and nothing like the extract most purple ice cream is built on. Ours comes from the Tubod cooperative, forty-two growers on the limestone hills inland from Loboc.
Why this variety
Kinampay has a lower water content than the commercial white and lavender ubes, so when we steam and mash it the purée stays thick. We fold it in at about a third of the batch by weight, which is far more tuber than looks sensible on paper and exactly enough to taste the root rather than the colour.
How the harvest reaches Makati
The cooperative harvests between October and February. We buy the whole season’s allocation up front, steam and freeze it in Tubod within forty-eight hours of lifting, and ship it in insulated crates by sea to Manila. That is why kinampay ube is on the carte all year even though the tubers only come out of the ground for five months.
What the growers get
A fixed price agreed before planting, paid half on contract and half on delivery. It is a small amount in Metro Manila terms and a meaningful one in Tubod, and it is the model we are extending to every farm on our map.
See every farm we buy from on the Our Story page.