#65_GLUTINOUS RICE CAKE WITH TOPPING

Latik or Nilatikan
(Glutinous Rice Cake with Latik Topping)

It is always fun to go to Filipino get-togethers because we play "name games" on the food we bring. Just like with this rice cake, someone from the Tagalog region call this "bibingkang malagkit", another one from Manila said they call it "bibingkang kakanin", in Bicol, they call it "biko". I'm from Pangasinan and we call it "latik" or "nilatikan" over there. One thing we all agree on though is that it is yummy, no matter how we call it.

Latik refers to the caramelized sauce made of coconut cream and panucha (molasses cake) and is used as topping for this particular rice cake. It also refers to the kakanin (rice cake) itself, thus latik.

On the otherhand, in Tagalog, latik refers to the curdles from coconut milk when making coconut oil.

Confused???!! I don't blame you because I'm too! That's why I chose "GLUTINOUS RICE CAKE WITH TOPPING" for the title.

In this recipe, I used light brown sugar instead of the panucha for the topping. Most of the time though, I use the bottled coconut jam or katiba, found in most Asian stores, for the topping. It is a shortcut to making this dessert...it is quick, less work and less messy.

If you decide to use the bottled coconut jam, heat it in a pot with some coconut milk to make it more spreadable. Do not microwave.

RECIPE FOR NILATIKAN:

4 cups glutinous rice
4 cups water
1/2 can coconut cream
2 cups white sugar

TOPPING:
1 1/2 cans coconut cream
2 cups light brown sugar

Cook rice just like the procedure in Biko recipe #7, click here.

1) Rinse glutinous rice with cold water, drain well. Add the water and cook in a rice cooker just like cooking regular rice.
2) When cooked, stir in the sugar and coconut cream. Mix well.


3) Spread the mixture into a greased 9x13" baking pan.
(Sorry, this is a bad picture as the sauce looks more orange in color than dark brown. I guess I have to blame the lighting).

4) Pour the latik on top and smooth it out.
5) Bake in a pre-heated 350 degrees oven for 45 minutes.
6) Let cool before slicing.

HOW TO MAKE THE TOPPING (LATIK):
1) In a non-stick pot, combine the coconut cream and the brown sugar.
2) Boil, stirring often, until thick but of spreadable consistency.

#7_ Biko ( Rice Cake)

In Pangasinan, this is BIKO. I know that different regions in the Philippines have different names and versions for this kakanin, but for me, this is "the" BIKO and I'm sticking to it!


Originally, Biko is topped with ganosal, in Tagalog, latik, which is the curdles from the coconut milk when making coconut oil. Well, there were two reasons I didn't make latik for the topping: One, I don't know how to make it. Two, I know it is so tedious to make it because I had seen my mother make them all the time and I don't have any interest whatsoever in learning how to make it. My friend, Aida, substitutes toasted coconut for the latik. It's a very good substitute and in fact it's as good as the latik if not better. Personally, I like the toasted coconut better because it gives crunchiness to the BIKO.

This version of biko is from my friend Gloria. There is no soaking the malagkit in water for hours,(which causes the grains to break up when cooked). You don't need to cook the sugar and coconut milk on top of the stove. This is very easy to make and yet its very good and it is the way I like biko to be, not mushy and the grains retained their shapes, they are not broken up to pieces. I've been doing it wrong until just recently Gloria told me to fully cook the malagkit. I cooked it that way today and also my water-malagkit ratio was precise. It came out so perfect!

Ingredients:
4 cups malagkit
4 cups water
1/2 can coconut milk (updated)
2 cups DARK BROWN sugar, firmly packed
Sweetened Flaked coconuts, toasted (optional)

Procedure:
1. Rinse the malagkit and cook it in rice cooker with 4 cups water
2. Grease a 9"x13" baking dish with butter and line it with a piece of banana leaf. Grease top of banana leaf also.
3. When the malagkit is fully cooked, turn power off but leave the malagkit in the rice cooker pot. In it, while the malagkit is still hot, add the coconut milk and the sugar stirring well but gently until everything is all blended together.
4. Spread the mixture in the prepared pan. Do not press down, just smooth the top out
5. Bake in a pre-heated 350 degrees oven for 50 minutes to 1 hour.
6. Sprinkle toasted flaked coconuts on top.

Related posts:
Nilatikan>>>>>http://pinoyamericanrecipes.blogspot.com/2009/01/64glutinous-rice-cake-with-topping.html
Biko:>>>http://pinoyamericanrecipes.blogspot.com/2011/04/291mango-sticky-rice.html

Notes from MaMely:
I found that using dark brown sugar brings better result. Taste, texture and color are better. No, there's no taste of molasses. The amount of water used in this recipe is the key. Make sure the ratio is 1:1

Lining the bottom of pan with banana leaf is optional.