Have you eaten the soft and chewy rice cake called Kutsinta lately?
For most of us, nothing beats the satisfaction of reminiscing about your days when you were still a child. Personally, I remember the days where I would see an old lady selling these delicious sweet cakes, particularly the kutsinta.
Reliving these childhood days by making these foods on your own and sharing it to your family and other people as well is one of the simple joys in life, so why not try it for yourself? Here is a recipe of the delicious Filipino snack, kutsinta! Be sure to also read some tips and trivia about it, too!
What is Kutsinta?
Puto Kutsinta (also spelled Kutchinta or Cuchinta) is a sweet Filipino snack that is commonly made out of sticky rice. This snack has been around for as long we can remember.
While this is traditionally made out of sticky rice or rice flour, more and more recipes tend to use tapioca flour and all-purpose flour as a substitute. Other ingredients added in the mixture are brown sugar and annatto, for color. For toppings, grated coconut is usually partnered with this.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Flour
For this recipe, we will be using a combination of tapioca flour and all-purpose flour for a tender chewy texture. You”ll find other recipes that combines rice flour or cassava starch with all-purpose flour.
Annatto
We will also use annatto or atsuete powder and this will give the bright orange color to our kutsinta.
Lye Water
Lye water is a food grade alkaline solution used in various culinary applications. Read more about this ingredient in the section below.
Aside from these, we will also be using other regular pantry ingredients like sugar and grated coconut. If you are filling up your pantry, here’s a handy shopping guide:
Equipment You’ll Need
- Steamer Pot- Most rice cakes are cooked via steaming, so with this kutsinta recipe. You can use a steamer or steamer pot that can hold about 16 molds or cook by batch if you have a smaller one. Most rice cookers also have steaming pots with them.
In need of kitchen tools and equipment? Read this before you buy:
How to Make Kutsinta
When it comes to the ingredients used for the kutsinta, there are a lot of recipes which use rice flour, but for this recipe, we are going to use a combination of all-purpose flour and the tapioca flour. This gives us a soft and firm texture of kutsinta, which is great for most people.
So all you have to do is to mix the flour, and the sugar together, while pouring in water until you get that smooth mixture. For the color, we use the annatto powder or atsuete. And to make the texture even thicker, we now add in the lye water.
That is pretty much it, the last thing you have to do is distribute the mixture into the molds and transfer them to a steamer. A good thing to remember is to just let these cakes steam in low temperature, for better consistency of the kutsinta.
Try this recipe and you’re also good to make kutsinta for business.
Kutsinta and Lye Water
The use of lye water is essential for the kutsinta as it is the one that binds the mixture together and makes it into a firm and soft cake. The more lye water you add into the mixture, the more firm the cake would get, so be sure to remember this when using lye water.
There are a lot of other foods in which lye water is also used, such as the pichi-pichi, suman sa lihiya, and palitaw among others.
Cooking Tips
- Depending on what type of molds you are going to use, make sure that the molds you are using are lightly greased with oil so as to avoid the cakes or the mixture from sticking into it.
- Use molds which are the size you prefer for the kutsinta. For this recipe, we prefer to use molds which are also what is commonly used for puto. This is the perfect size for the kutsinta and is sure to give you just the right amount of satisfaction.
- Don’t forget to stir the mixture in the molds from time to time because it might tend to settle at the bottom.
- The type of sugar you use can affect the color of the whole mixture, so if you want it to have a nice and thick red and brown-ish color, use brown sugar and the annatto powder. The amount in the recipe gives you a nice color, but if it is not enough, just adjust the amount until you achieve the color you want.
How to Serve Kutsinta (and Toppings)
Kutsinta is usually served as a snack (merienda) or as a dessert. When it comes to the toppings here are some that you can try:
- grated coconut
- grated cheese
- latik (coconut curd)
- coconut caramel sauce
I also suggest you serve this warm and pair it with a pancit dish and a glass of soda, juice, or iced tea.
How to Store and Reheat Kutsinta
In case you have leftover kutsinta, transfer into a clean food container with lid and refrigerate. This will extend its shelf-life to 3 to 5 days.
To reheat, you can use a microwave oven but the best way is to re-steam it until it becomes soft again.
Other Filipino Rice Cake Recipes
For a quick reference about this recipe, see the recipe table below:
Easy Kutsinta (Kutchinta) Recipe
Equipment
- Steamer
Ingredients
- ¼ cup tapioca flour
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 ½ cup water
- 1 tsp annatto powder
- 1 tsp lye water (lihiya)
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, add in the tapioca flour, all-purpose flour, brown sugar.
- Mix well and then pour in the water. Mix further until well-incorporated and smooth.
- Add in the annatto powder and mix until the color is uniform.
- Pour in the lye water and continue to mix.
- In molds greased with butter, pour in the mixture into each until ¾ full.
- Transfer the molds to the steamer. Steam for 40 to 50 minutes or until the mixture is set. Let it cool.
- Remove from molds and transfer to a serving tray or serving plate.
- Top with grated coconut (optional). Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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