Cucina: Palitaw

Among the native delicacies or merienda that I grew up with, palitaw is among the top three in my list. Suman sa lihiya and tamales are the other two. I love the gooeyness of the boiled rice dough, balanced out with the flaky textures of coconut and sesame seeds. Laced with sugar, how sumptuous can a snack be.

Nothing can stop me from reliving this gastronomic experience far away from home. And here’s my journey in creating this yummy kakanin...

Roasted and grinded the sesame seeds....

Spread out the dessicated (fresh is the best but not an easy find in my part of the world) coconut on a plate...

Grinded sesame seeds met sugar....

Grinding glutinous rice to make the "galapong" or rice dough is impressive, but hello, it is best done on a stone grinder and not in an electric grinder. So I ignored the battle of the grinders and grabbed a bag of rice flour.

This was the tricky part, since it's all about the feel of the dough, no exact measurement of flour and water could be given. Gradually added room temperature water to the rice flour till its kneadable. No kneading required though. Honestly, this was the part I didn't enjoy much. The dough was so sticky and I cannot form a ball out of it. Research says that wet hands will help, but a big no! Floured hands does help, like with regular dough making.

Back to the fun...ooops, I missed out to take the pictures of the flattened balls of dough and when they were dropped in boiling water and the exciting part where they got their name "palitaw". One by one they floated and appeared on top, declaring they're cooked. Drenched in cococunt flakes...