Kutsinta (Brown Rice Cake)

Ingredients:

•  1-1/4 cups water
•     3/4 cup brown sugar
•     1 cup flour
•     1 tsp. lye (lihiya) water, for cooking
•     grated fresh coconut

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How to make Kutsinta (Brown Rice Cake):

1. Bring water and sugar to a boil. Let cool. Add to flour, stir until smooth. Add lye water (lihiya) and mix well.
2. Boil some water in the steamer. Stir flour mixture to recombine.
3. Fill greased small muffin pans 3/4 full with mixture. Steam for 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool before removing from pans.
4. Before refilling molds for a second batch, stir batter very well because the flour tends to settle at the bottom and may cause thekutsinta to be too soft or soggy on top. Do this before refilling each batch of molds.
5. Loosen sides of molds with spatula before unmolding kutsinta onto plate. Serve with grated fresh coconut sprinkled on top. Do not substitute packaged coconut flakes for freshly grated coconut for this recipe.
6. This recipe may also be steamed in an 8″ square casserole for 30-45 minutes, unmold onto serving plate and cut into squares or diamond shapes.
7. Makes 10pcs of Kutsinta.

Colorless lye water for cooking (lihiya) is sold in small bottles in Asian food stores. It is used in suman sa lihiya which are usually wrapped in banana leaves and insapin-sapin, the multi-layered and muti-colored rice cake. Frozen banana leaves and even fresh ones are now available in Filipino food stores.

Source: Filipino Recipe Site