Biko (Sticky Rice Cake with Fried Coconut Milk Curd Topping)

It's the first day of May...and in the Philippines, it's the start of the monthlong Flores De Mayo (Flowers of May). It is a religious celebration held in honor of the Virgin Mary, wherein devotees gather together every afternoon or evening to offer prayers, songs and flowers to Mary. After the ceremony, the Hermanos or Hermanas for the day will give away homemade delicacies and snacks to the participants. I remember that whenever my family was the Hermana, my mother would always make Biko, a sticky rice cake similar to Bibingkang Malagkit, but is brown in color and has latik (fried coconut milk curd) topping. Aside from being my mom's favorite kakanin, biko is also very economical to make, and I guess that's why she loved making it. With just glutinous rice, sugar and coconut, you'll have a yummy snack or dessert in no time. It's usually served during New Year, Christmas and other special occasions and (for my family back then), during Flores de Mayo. :)

Yesterday, the hubs was working from home and when he was drinking coffee during breakfast, he suddenly said he misses biko and wants me to make it. It's so good with coffee, and the hubs really like it. It has been a while since I last made it, so I immediately checked the pantry to see if I have the ingredients. Luckily I did, and I was able to accommodate what seemed like a simple and reasonable request. By around 3 p.m. yesterday, this yummy rice cake was ready...

...and the hubs enjoyed his afternoon coffee break! :) 

Biko is a favorite Filipino delicacy that has a very simple yet delightful taste. It requires very few ingredients and requires no baking unlike the Bibingkang Malagkit.If you love Filipino kakanin (sweet rice delicacies), you should try this!

Guest Post at Nava-K.com Featuring Suman sa Lihiya

Happy Monday everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

I am glad to be doing another guest post today. This time it's for my Malaysian friend, Nava who has this very wonderful lifestyle blog called Nava-K.com where she shares her love for beauty, fashion and food. I am one of the lucky bloggers she asked to do guest posts for her while she attends to some important matters. I am truly honored for this opportunity, and I've chosen to feature a favorite Filipino kakanin (sweet rice delicacy) called Suman sa Lihiya. This is basically glutinous rice with lye wrapped in banana leaves and is something we, Filipinos enjoy either as snack or dessert.

Please drop by Nava's blog and see for yourself how to make this very simple yet so delicious kakanin! While you're there, be sure to check out Nava's recipes as well as her fashion, beauty and travel tips! Don't forget to subscribe to Nava's blog and follow her on Facebook  and Twitter too! 

Kutsinta

Cherrie Moore of  Sweet Cherrie Pie & I are the hosts for this month's Kulinarya Cooking Club Challenge, and because June is the month when we celebrate Philippine Independence Day, we have decided to focus on our country's unique dishes.

As I've mentioned before, Filipino Cuisine is a mixture of many different cuisines from countries which have colonized the Philippines. But there are lots of dishes that we can call our own...dishes that can be found "ONLY IN THE PHILIPPINES" and we thought that it would be good to share them with you. 

After checking my archive, I realized that I've already posted most of my favorite native Filipino dishes here on the blog. I was having a hard time thinking of what recipe to share when suddenly I thought of this favorite snack that I used to enjoy during my childhood days which is called Kutsinta...

Kutsinta is a brown (sometimes orange) and sticky cupcake which is made from rice flour, brown sugar, achuete (which is used to add color and flavor), water and a little lye water. It is cooked by steaming and is served with grated coconut.  It is a traditional Filipino snack that's very easy to make, and can be found almost anywhere. Kutsinta is my mom's favorite and she would always buy dozens of it everytime she goes to the market. She would also make it at home whenever she finds the time. 

For this month's Kulinarya Cooking Club Challenge, I'm sharing with you my mom's kutsinta as I remember it. I think the only difference is I used annatto powder instead of achuete juice because I couldn't find achuete seeds here. The result, however, is basically the same except for the tiny particles of annato powder that settled in the bottom of the kutsinta. So if you can find achuete seeds, soak about 1 Tablespoon of it in 2 Tablespoon of water for about 10 minutes. Get ½ Tablespoon of that juice and add it to the kutsinta mixture instead of the annatto powder.

Kalamay with Pinipig

Yesterday was one of those days when nothing could stop me from cooking the food I crave for. Though I've always been hesitant to make kalamay because of the long cooking time and all the stirring that goes with it, I gave it a shot.  Wondering what Kalamay is???

Kalamay is another favorite sticky rice-based kakanin (sweet delicacy) in the Philippines. It basically has the same ingredients as the espasol, but they differ in the manner of preparation and cooking. Kalamay comes in the form of a very sticky brown paste, although other colors in less viscous versions also exist. It actually has different versions, consistency, packaging and texture depending on location. In Bohol, it is spelled  "calamay" and is sealed inside hollowed-out coconut shells. In Tarlac, on the other hand, it is called "nilubyan" and green rice is used. In Baguio, they call their kalamay, "kulangot" (Tagalog word for snot). Kulangot is usually packed in smaller sago shells to further the playful image. In other regions, flavors are added to their kalamay to make it distinct from traditional preparations. In Mindoro, for example, locals add peanut butter to the paste, while others add grated coconut meat. Historians have difficulty pinpointing kalamay's exact origins because of it's wide variety of preparations. While the use of coconuts and rice is a clear indicator of traditional Philippine cuisine, similarities in preparation lead some food historians to believe that it an adaptation of the Chinese nian gao, a rice dish commonly served during the Chinese New Year. Though names and recipes for kalamay vary from region to region, the base ingredients are consistently the same: glutinous rice, coconut milk and brown sugar. 

I grew up with the simplest version of it - dark brown, sticky and a bit chewy, very fine textured 2 cm thick triangles wrapped in banana leaf...and that's what I love the most! It has been 4 years since I last had kalamay, and I was badly craving for it yesterday. I had all the basic ingredients in my pantry, so I really don't have any reason to simply ignore my craving! Though the Kalamay I grew up with had latik (fried coconut milk curd) on it, I thought that crunchy pinipig (rice flakes) will work well on it...and it did!

It took me more than an hour to cook it. My arm got so tired with all the stirring...but it was all worth it! I satisfied my craving and I was able to prove that I can make my own homemade kalamay!

Yield: one 8" round kalamay

Ingredients:

• 2 cups glutinous rice flour or finely ground glutinous rice
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 4 cups coconut cream or coconut milk (I prefer using coconut cream because of its thicker, more paste-like consistency compared to coconut milk)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup roasted pinipig (rice flakes)