By Ruth Ezra
One Saturday afternoon, I was craving for some palitaw.
So I made some!
I saw how palitaw was being made by my dad when I was a little girl. When he made them, it looked so easy! In addition, he gave me this tip: It is best eaten fresh or on the day it was made. Coconut milk does not stay fresh that long even if it is sweetened with sugar. So, I made just enough for us three. Yummylicious when served warm.
Palitaw is a type of kakanin (Filipino native sweet delicacies). It is called palitaw because of the manner it is cooked. It is sweet rice flour dough that you cook by dropping it in boiling water; you will know when it is cooked when it floats on the surface, hence the name Palitaw (litaw-meaning to show up or to surface).
Ingredients:
1 cup glutinous rice flour
½ – 1 cup of water (to make the glutinous dough)
1 can lite coconut milk
¾ – 1 cup brown sugar (depending on the sweetness)
1 tsp hazelnut syrup
Pinch of salt
Procedure:
1.Make the palitaw by combining sweet rice flour and water. Form into balls between your palms and flatten it. Set aside.
2. Boil coconut milk and sugar in a saucepan on slow to medium heat. Add a pinch of salt and the hazelnut syrup. Taste to find out if it is to your liking and adjust accordingly to the sweetness you desire.
3. Drop in the palitaw into the boiling sweetened coconut milk. Let it cook until the palitaw float on top and simmer for 5 more minutes.
You should end up with a slightly thickened coconut sauce.
Addendum: No matter what angle I take, I couldn’t make this palitaw look better and appetizing in pictures so I deleted like 6 of them and kept one and sent to my OSM Editor, but trust me it is very good even if you don’t like coconut that much (like my daughter). The coconut sauce added a little something, something to this dish.
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Ruth D. Ezra is a culinary queen in her own right through experience and training. She works at the AllState Roadside Services in Northbrook, IL. Her greatest delight is serving good and healthy food to her husband Heman and only daughter, Isabelle. Kit would love to receive feedback on her recipes, and exchange them with yours at ezraruth@comcast.net.
