Puto Calasiao
Tiny steamed rice cakes from a batter left to ferment for days, with nothing on top of them.
Vegan.
Ingredients
- 600 g glutinous rice
- 300 g long grain rice
- 900 ml water
- 200 g caster sugar
- 0.5 teaspoon salt
- banana leaves, to line
Method
- THE BATTER IS FERMENTED FOR THREE DAYS. That is the whole of what makes this different from the puto already on this site, which is raised with baking powder and made the same day. The sourness here is the point, and nothing added to a fresh batter reproduces it.
- TINY, AND BARE. These are made in thumbnail-sized moulds and carry no cheese, no butter and no salted egg. If it has something on top it is the other puto.
- Soak both rices together in cold water overnight, then drain.
- Grind with the 900 ml of fresh water to a completely smooth batter -- a blender, 3 minutes, scraped down twice.
- Pour into a non-metal container, cover loosely so gas can escape, and leave at room temperature THREE DAYS. Stir once a day.
- By day two it bubbles and smells sharply sour. By day three it should smell sour and faintly alcoholic. Any pink or fuzzy growth means start again.
- Stir the sugar and salt in and let it stand 1 hour. The batter falls slightly as the sugar goes in, which is expected.
- Line small moulds with squares of wilted banana leaf and fill them two thirds full.
- Steam 8 to 10 minutes over a rolling boil, with a cloth under the lid. Drips leave grey spots.
- They are done when the tops are domed, matt and dry to the touch. Eat warm; they go firm within a few hours and are best steamed again rather than eaten cold.
Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.
Filed under Philippines · All recipes