GLENDA BARRETTO’S BEEF ‘RENDANG,’ JESSIE SINCIOCO’S ‘KUEH DADAR,’ HENY SISON’S ‘BÁNH MÌ,’ DOROTHY FERRERIA’S CHOCOLATE ‘BIKO’
rice. Let stand for 1 hour.
Add 2 c warm water to the grated coconut, mix well and squeeze out the coconut milk. Measure milk in a glass measuring cup. It should total 3 ½ c. If the yield is less than this amount, add an adequate amount of water to the coconut milk. Discard the grated coconut.
After one hour of soaking, drain the rice in a colander. Transfer to a large wok and add 3 ½ c of coconut milk, cocoa and butter. Place over medium heat and allow to boil. Continue to cook with constant stirring until almost dry. Add the sugar and continue to cook until very thick. Transfer to a tray previously greased with butter.
Thailand’s sticky rice with fresh fruits by Dorothy Ferreria
This popular Thai dessert usually features ripe mangoes and rice, or durian and rice. Ferreria enjoys this dessert because it is similar to our suman served with ripe mangoes, but at the same time it is refreshingly different because of the creamy white sauce.
To make it more interesting, she adds a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds with sugar, similar to the dipping sauce for another rice cake called palitaw.
Sticky rice with fresh fruits
2 c raw short grain rice (pure malagkit)
2 c water to cook rice
Sauce:
200 g coconut powder 1 c warmwater 1 c white sugar ½ tsp fine salt
Topping:
2 tbsp sesame seeds 1 c white sugar Assorted sliced fresh fruits, such as ripe mango, ripe papaya, dragon fruit or kiwi
Wash rice three times or until clear. Combine rice and water into a rice cooker. Cover and cook until done.
To prepare the sauce, dissolve coconut powder in warm water. Transfer to a saucepan and pour in sugar and salt. Cook over low heat, stirring continuously, until slightly thick.
When ready to serve, form cooked rice into mounds using a small tea cup as molder. As an alternative, use an ice cream scooper to form rice into mounds. Arrange rice in a serving platter and surround with preferred fresh fruits. Drizzle the prepared sauce over the rice. Top with sesame seed sugar mixture.
To prepare topping, toast sesame seeds in a frying pan until light golden brown. Pound into a powder using a mortar and pestle. Transfer to a small bowl and add sugar. Mix well.