Vegan Puto Rice Cake for Siesta

31st March 2024

The young woman from the UK is back for the Easter break, bringing joy, laughter, and noise to the house again. With my chatty pal at home, my days aren't as boring anymore. We were both left at home one day, so I made something to eat for siesta. After purchasing organic coconut oil at a Thai store, I received a free coconut milk, so I considered using it. Puto, or rice cake, was the first delicacy that immediately came to mind. It's also the simplest to prepare.

Puto is just one of those delicious Filipino delicacies that is easy to make using a few simple ingredients you can find at home. And the preparation time would only take less than half an hour.

If you still remember, I made a post about
Puto with a twist Some years ago, you could check it out to see more creative flavors of puto rice cake.

Now let's make Puto rice cake again.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups rice flour
• 1 can or 400 ml coconut milk
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• Butter (optional - use to lather the steaming cups)
• Food coloring/flavoring (optional)

You can add any flavors you want. Some add some cups of water to make the cake softer. I actually added 2 cups of water here to check how it taste. But I like the taste with pure coconut milk only. So it's your preference. You can make the rice cake softer by fermenting the batter longer.

The preparation:

• Combine rice flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Whisk until mixed well.

• Gradually add water and coconut milk. Stir until well-blended and smooth. Cover and refrigerate to ferment.

Preferably, fermenting overnight inside the fridge is better to make the cake softer. But since I was a little impatient and wanted to serve the puto for siesta, I fermented it for only 2 hours. If you have more time, 4 hours is better too. So you can prepare the batter in the morning, and cook it in the afternoon.

• After the fermentation process, you can add food coloring and flavors you want. I divided mine into three bowls. One was for the purple taro flavor, one for the chocolate flavor, and the last one was the plain white flavor.

• Lather the puto molders with melted butter. You can use vegetable oil if you don't have butter. Pour about 3/4 puto batter into molds. You should leave some room for the cake to grow.

• Arrange the puto molders on a steamer pan. Steam the batter for about 15 minutes or until it is cooked well. You can insert a toothpick in the middle of the puto to check it.

• Remove from the heat. Cool down before removing from the molders. Then serve!

Puto is best served both when it is warm and cold. In the Philippines, the best way to eat this is with blood soup. A popular food pair for both ordinary and special days. You should try it. It's delicious.

We enjoyed the puto while watching an old Chinese series recommended by the lady. I also noticed her Psychology Book which I read while eating. There are some interesting topics in the book that I could use in my career. The siesta was complete with a cup of hot tea for both of us.

It tasted different from the last time I made puto. With water, the cake is softer but stickier. I prefer the firm and soft puto rice cake from the last time.

If you like this recipe, you can try it. It's easy and yummy!

Thanks for your time.