A perfect combo for cold morning puto and sikwate made from pure ta...

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What's up my dear ASEAN fellow hivers, it's bit cold here in my town and raining for how many days. How are you guys these days? I hope everything is well especially with your loved ones. For today's blog I made hot chocolate or sikwate in our dialect to ease the coldness I felt. Sikwate is made from pure tableya literally from cacao seeds. Last January we picked 30 fruits from our cacao tree in our backyard, we had only one cacao tree, but it bears too many fruits such a blessing. My mother dried up the seeds through the heat of the sun, it's been quite long to dry because our weather is moody, there's no sunlight 🌞. After drying the seeds, it must be roasted in a pan.

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Last Sunday my mother asked my big sister to take the cacao seeds to the market to have them ground to break them down into paste. They weighed one- and one-half kilo. So, when my sister arrived from the market my mother mold the tableya paste into circles.

To make the hot chocolate or sikwate is very basic.
First, get a clean pot and add half a cup of water and bring it to a boil.
Note: Start only half a cup of water because using too much water the tableya will not dissolve properly and affecting the desired texture.

Once the water is boiling add two tableya or the molded chocolate and stir until fully dissolved.
Add 3 cups of water bring it to a boil again.
Add brown or white sugar according to your taste preference or you can add also condensed milk or coconut milk as an optional ingredient to enhance the flavor.

The perfect pair for sikwate is puto maya or sticky rice cake it is a traditional dish from my region. It is traditionally served in banana leaves folded into triangles. The combination of fresh thumsized ginger, the creamy coconut milk and sticky rice is very delicious. I did not make the puto by myself, I bought it because every morning a puto vendor goes house to house. However, I know how to make puto, but I don't have much time to make that because I have a baby.
The recipe of making puto:
What you'll need?

1kg. glutinous rice - locally known as malagkit or pilit
4 & 1/2 cup coconut milk - to add creaminess
2 fresh thumbsized ginger - adds refreshing aroma
2/3 cup sugar - adds a touch of sweetness
2 tsp. salt - to balance the sweet

The steps are easy:

Soak the glutinous rice overnight
After soaking discard the water
Boil water in a steamer and line it with banana leaves or cheesecloth
Place the glutinous rice and add ginger and steam for 25-30 minutes
In a separate container, Mix the coconut milk with salt and sugar. Stir until the salt and sugar dissolved completely.
After steaming the glutinous for 30 minutes add the mixture of coconut milk stir well until the rice absorbs.
Return the mixture to the steamer and steam for another 35-45 minutes until is fully cooked.
Wrap it with banana leaves folded into a triangular shape.

Sticky rice can be refrigerated up to three days it will dries and harden when it's cold. To reheat, steam the puto for five minutes or warm in a microwave until it soft.

This is now the molded tablea made by my mother and she put it on top of banana leaves.

Puto and sikwate are both favorite of Filipinos a perfect pair for breakfast.The contrast of light sweetness of puto and light bitterness of hot chocolate is very satisfying.