Bibingka

It was like a torture spending Christmas here in UAE after spending our past 2 years of Christmas in the Philippines. I planned to cook so many Filipino dishes for our Noche Buena but I felt so depressed that I only manage to cooked on Christmas day.We spend few hours partying with friends but since we got home early, we then felt the sadness of waking up on Christmas morning without our family near to us. Oh well, what can we do? As we always say "Buhay OFW".

I woke up early on Christmas day and prepared bibingka or some called it puto bibingka for our breakfast. It is best to pair with ginger tea (salabat) which reminds me of our days when we spend breakfast just outside the Church after simbang gabi. This definitely made me and my husband happy and sad at the same time. 

I usually baked bibingka from a scratch but as I've said, I was a little depressed so I just made used of a ready mix powder for my batter. I bought it in a grocery store here and follow the procedure written on the box, customized it a little and that's it!

Ingredients:

• 1 box Bibingka powder mix (I used White King brand)
• 3 pcs. salted eggs - sliced
• Grated cheese
• Evaporated milk (see quantity written in the powder mix instruction)
• Eggs (see quantity written in the powder mix instruction)
• Sugar (see quantity written in the powder mix instruction)
• Melted Margarine / Butter (see quantity written in the powder mix instruction) - I used margarine to have a nice golden color and good aroma.
• Banana leaf 
• Grated Coconut (optional)

Procedure:

1. Follow the instruction in the box on how to make the batter. I just used evaporated milk instead of water.
2. Put the batter on your preferred baking dish lined with banana leaf. I used small sized pan (around 12 cm diameter)
3. Top with cheese and slices of salted egg.
4. Bake in 325°F (160°C) for 20-30 minutes or until the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
5. Served with fresh grated coconut. Enjoy!

See my previous post on how to bake bibingka from a scratch here :)

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Bibingka at Puto Bumbong

The tradition of celebrating Christmas in the Philippines comprises different culinary influences from our Spanish and Chinese ancestors.  We usually serve out the best dishes we know. Thus, the most significant feature of Christmas cookery is the kakanin or rice desserts, where Bibingka and Puto Bumbong are considered Pinoys favorite.

Whenever we, Filipinos, see bibingka (Rice Cake) and Puto Bumbong (Purple Steamed Glutinous Rice) it reminds us about Christmas. Such delicacies are typically sold outside the Churches as early as Ber-month comes. Those are usually best selling especially during “Simbang Gabi” (nine-day mass ceremony before Christmas eve).

Bibingka has different recipes and procedures. As per my version of bibingka I have made used mainly of glutinous rice powder, coconut milk and other ingredients; topped with salted eggs, cheese, butter or margarine and sometimes comes with grated coconut on the side. It is commonly cooked in a clay pot lined with banana leaf over a heated charcoal on top and bottom. Since I do not have clay pot and other traditional utensils to cook, I just used my oven to bake it.

The typical puto bumbong is done by grinding an over-night soaked glutinous rice, dried and mix with outher ingredients, then cooked using bamboo tube steamer. Again, I have made used of my available materials and ingredients which I am quite sure that will come up to a fair enough version of puto bumbong.

Puto Bumbong and Bibingka

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Bibingka

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup glutinous rice flour
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 + 2 tbsp margarine, melted
• 2 pcs salted duck egg, sliced
• grated coconut
• banana leaf

Procedure:

1. Sift glutinous rice flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
2. Beat eggs until frothy, add sugar and melted 2 tablespoon margarine and beat until sugar is dissolved.
3. Pour egg mixture into the flour mixture and start mixing together.
4. Add coconut milk. Mix evenly using a hand mixer.
5. Prepare the mould lined with banana leaf.
6. Pour in batter into your moulds up to 3/4 full.
7. Bake in a 375 degrees Fahrenheit oven for 20 minutes.
8. Remove from oven then place salted egg slices and cheese.
9. Place back into the oven and bake for 10-15 more minutes or until cooked.
10. Remove from oven then brush with margarine.
11. Best serve with tea. Enjoy!

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Puto Bumbong

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup hot water
• 1 teaspoon liquid blue food coloring
• 1 teaspoon liquid red food coloring
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 cups glutinous rice powder
• grated coconut
• sesame seed
• margarine
• banana leaf
• sugar for topping

Procedure:

1. Put together hot water, sugar and the two food coloring. Mix until the sugar is dissolved.
2. Mix in the glutinous rice flour to form a dough.
3. Divide the big dough and mold a small dough.
4. Using your hand, roll each small dough into a long round shape about 4-5 inches long.
5. Spread margarine or butter in a  heat proof plate and put the long dough on it. Steam for 5 minutes or until done.
6. Remove from steamer and put on top of a banana leaf.
7. Apply margarine then top with shredded coconut, sugar and sesame seeds.
8. Serve and enjoy.

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Biko Recipe

I craved for a home-made Biko last New Year's Eve, so I decided to try my luck in cooking this authentic Pinoy delicacy. I can buy a ready made Biko from grocery stores but the taste and the texture doesn't satisfy my cravings. I've search Biko recipe over the internet. Luckily, I've found an easy to follow recipe, thus I customized the ingredients' measurements according to my taste. I usually like a not so sweet Biko with its natural color, that's why I used white sugar instead of brown.

So here's how I did it =D

Ingredients:

·         4 cups glutinous rice

·         1 can coconut milk

·         1 tbsp. vanilla extract

·         1 1/2 cup brown or white sugar (depending on how sweet you want your biko)

·         banana leaves ( optional )

Toppings

ü       grated coconut meat or

ü       latik (Using low medium heat, boil coconut milk in a saucepan, uncovered. Once it starts to thicken, watch closely so as not to burn the resulting latik (you might have to lower the heat further). Once it starts to brown, scrape the bottom of pan frequently. When brown already, drain off the coconut oil and you latik is ready.

Procedure:

1.    Cook glutinous rice in water just like you do with plain steamed rice.

2.    In saucepan, pour in coconut milk, sugar and vanilla extract.

3.    Mix, stir and let boil. Add cooked glutinous rice to coconut milk mixture and cook until thick.

4.    Spread evenly on platter lined with banana leaves or foil container (this is what I used since banana leaves are expensive here).

5.    Topped with your choice of toppings.

6.    Slice and serve.

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