Palitaw

Oooh another Filipino food yay! It’s Palitaw! It a sweet rice cake. It’s name is from the word litaw which means float. I never thought why it was called that. I only learned why they called it that when I finally made it for myself. It’s cooked in boiling water and they float to the surface when they’re cooked.

Anyways I grew up eating lots of these. Almost always an after school treat. My grandma would buy these and we’ll have it for merienda. I think they even come with banana leaves like most of the kakanin (rice cakes) we eat. There was even a time when my cousins made palitaw to sell and we’d buy all of them because it’s delicious and it frees my cousins’ time so we can play with them. Haha.

I’ve only eaten palitaw a couple of times here in New Zealand but now that I know how to make them maybe they’ll be an after-university treat this time around. Yay!

Let’s go palitaw! It starts with toasting sesame seeds.

And end with dunking the cooked rice cakes on coconut, sugar and sesame seeds. It’s fun and slightly messy. Or maybe that’s just my clumsy hands. Here they are!Apparently, this is one of the easiest Filipino rice cake you can make. But this is also the first time I tried making anything with glutinous rice flour so I was a bit scared. But they all came together and became yum! If you love texture on food this is the rice cake for you! You’ve got the smooth, sticky cake. Piled with different textures from the coconut, sugar and sesame seeds. Munch munch munch. There you go. Easy Filipino.

Palitaw from Ang Sarap (A Tagalog word for Delicious)

2 1/2 cup glutinous rice flour
1 3/4 cup of water
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 1/2 cup of desicated coconut
1/2 cup coconut cream

– Toast sesame seeds in a non stick frying pan until they are golden brown. Place on a plate and set aside.
– In a bowl, soak the desiccated coconut with cream, making sure that the coconut is well hydrated. Place on a plate and set aside.
– Place the sugar on a plate then set aside.
– Boil 2 litres of water in a large pot.
– While waiting for water to boil mix the glutinous flour with the water until a soft dough forms. Add or remove water as needed (I started pouring 1/2 a cup of water and added gradually until the dough forms, just enough so it’s not crazy sticky).
– Once the dough is formed take a tablespoonful of dough and place it on a flat surface and flatten it with your palms or rolling pin. Then remove the dough with a flat frying spatula and drop it briskly into the boiling water. (Alternatively, you can just flatten it between your palms then drop them into the water.)
– Place 6 doughs in the bowl of boiling water at a time to avoid overcrowding and sticking to each other.
– When the dough floats up the surface remove it with a slotted spoon and place it on the plate with the coconut. Give the dough a good soak with the coconut, then do the same with the plate of sesame seeds and plate of sugar.

Enjoy!