Pusô are differentiated from other leaf-wrapped Filipino dishes like suman, binalot, and pastil, in that the latter use leaves that are simply wrapped around the food and folded or tied.

Pusô is traditionally prepared as a way to pack rice for journeys and is eaten held in the hands while standing, usually paired with meat or seafood cooked on skewers (inihaw or satti).

[2] Pusô were once culturally important among pre-Hispanic Filipinos as offerings to the diwatà spirits and as an extension of the basic skill of weaving among women.

Pusô is related to similar dishes in other rice-farming Austronesian cultures, most notably the Indonesian ketupat, although the latter is restricted to diamond shapes and is woven differently.

[1] A very similar octahedron-shaped version called atupat was also found in pre-colonial Guam, before the ancient rice cultivation in the island was replaced by corn brought by the Spanish.

[4] Pusô is also known by various names in different ethnic groups in the Philippines, including piyusopusó in Mindoro languages; piyoso in Maranao, Iranun and Maguindanaon; langbay, lambay, or linambay in Waray; bugnóy in Hiligaynon; tam-o in Aklanon; tamu, ta’mu, or temu in Tausug and Yakan; sinambong, patupat or pusú in Kapampangan, Pangasinan and Ilocano; and katumpat in Sama-Bajau.

It is commonly plain, but it can be cooked with meat or flavored with gatâ (coconut milk) and spices like salt or ginger.

[1][5] Pusô are differentiated from other leaf-wrapped Filipino dishes like the Tagalog binalot and the Maguindanao pastil, as well as various kakanín snacks wrapped in leaves found throughout the Philippines, like suman and morón.

These young leaves are known as lukáy in most Visayan regions; palaspas, usbong, talbos, or ibus in Southern Luzon; dugokan in Leyte; ugbos in Bohol; uyok in Masbate; and langkóy in Bicol.

[1] Fray Mateo Sánchez, a Jesuit priest stationed in Dagami, Leyte, is the first to describe pusô by name (as "poso") in his Vocabulario de la lengua Bisaya (1615–1617).

They include tambong, which was flat and rectangular; binairan, brick-shaped like a whetstone; and bayobayo, which was cylindrical-shaped like a small pestle.

[1] Juan Jose Delgado, another Jesuit priest stationed in Guiguan (modern Guiuan), Samar, writes about taking pusô with him on trips to the forest to cut wood in his Historia general, sacro-profana, politica y natural de las Islas del poniente llamadas Filipinas (1751).

Juan Félix de la Encarnacion in 1885 describes pusô as a kind of pouch filled with rice.

Antonio Sanchez de la Rosa in his Diccionario español-bisaya para las provincias de Sámar y Leyte (1914) lists pusô under lambay and langbay, the modern Waray name for pusô derived from the "crab" version that Sánchez described three centuries earlier.

[1] Pusô is related to similar dishes in other rice-farming Austronesian cultures, like the Indonesian ketupat, although the latter refers strictly to the diamond or triangular-shaped variants.

Ketupat somewhat resemble the tamu pinad version among Muslim Filipinos the most, which are shaped like a flattened diamond, although they are also woven differently.

[9] In Hindu Bali, a similar diamond-shaped variant called the ketipat or tipat is used as an offering to the rice goddess Dewi Sri.

[5] An octahedron-shaped version called atupat was also found in pre-colonial Guam, before the ancient rice cultivation in the island was replaced by corn brought by the Spanish.