Glutinous Rice Cake (Biko)

biko

One of the most famous and easy to cook Filipino sweets is Biko. Biko is usually serve during birthdays, thanksgiving, Christmas and any other celebrated events in the Philippines.

When my mother taught me to cook this sweets, I have to crack coconuts, grate them and squeeze the juice, not to mention that we used fire woods to cook. But today canned coconut milk is available so the preparation time is shorten.

In cooking Biko you need:

2 cups glutinous rice
2 cups water
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
2-400 ml can coconut milk
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Cooking Instruction:

1. Cook glutinous rice in water (the same way you cook normal rice in a rice cooker).

2. In a heavy pot, mix coconut milk, sugar and lemon juice and boil in medium heat stirring continuously until the mixture become thick. This would take about 25 to 30 minutes.

(Tip: If you are not sure about the exact thickness of the mixture, you can prepare water in a transparent glass. Drop a small amount of mixture, if it settle perfectly into the bottom of the glass without breaking, then you have right thickness. If it disintegrate at the bottom, then continue boiling).

3. In a bowl transfer about 1/2 cup of the thick coconut milk-sugar mixture (latik), reserved as toppings.

4. Lower the heat and add the cooked rice in the remaining latik, mix it thoroughly making sure that all the rice is coated with the latik. Cover the pot and let it cook for 3 more minutes.

5. Scoop the cooked biko and place it in a serving dish, flatten and pour the reserved latik on top, spread evenly.

6. Slice into serving size, share and enjoy!