Filipino puto are fluffy, moist and sweet steamed rice cakes served as a snack or accompaniment to savory dishes.
Traditional puto is made with fermented rice but for ease, flour is now used. So is this recipe that calls for rice flour. Rice flour is more available and easier to work with than fermented rice when pressed on time and cost of rice outside the Philippines.
The name of this popular snack may have a different meaning in Spanish, but the name puto in this sense might have come from the Malay word putu which a a popular steamed rice cake or puttu a South Indian state steamed rice cake.
Amon asks for this snack as she remembers it from our old neighbor. Our neighbor used to invite us for afternoon tea and chat and gave us a bag full of yummy goodness to take home as we left her house. Now that we moved we do not have that luxury anymore. How I wish we get to have snacks from her still.
And that is the story of how this recipe came about. In 20 minutes before school pick up, cups of steamed rice cakes out of the steamer would be ready. Sometimes my daughter pairs this with fruit or cheese.
This recipe is vegetarian-friendly but is easily adapted to make it vegan by replacing the egg with egg substitute or use dairy in place of plant-based milk. This is also a very easy recipe that a child can follow and make on his own. Enjoy by topping the steamed cakes shortly after cooking with slices of cheese or salted egg. Serve with a cup of warm chocolate or coffee for breakfast, midday snack or after-school snack.
Ingredients to make Filipino Puto
The ingredients to make Filipino puto are easy to find if you have not had them in your kitchen. A trip to a specialty store is not necessary because supermarkets in the UK have rice flour on their shelves, online Amazon and Ebay stock them too. Doves farm have them on their website as well.
Egg White – lightens the batter and gives an airy texture
Water – Use all milk if you prefer the cakes to taste of the milk used but I like the lighter taste from using half milk and half water
Oat milk – plant-based milk is used in this recipe, coconut, oat milk and soy milk were all used and had good results
Rice flour – rice flour, not glutinous rice was used here
Baking powder – used as a raising agent
Sugar – White granulated sugar was used to keep the color white as traditionally used. Other sugar could be used
Salt – to balance the sweetness, no salty taste at all
How to make steamed rice cakes?
Fill a kettle with water and bring it to a boil.
While waiting for the water to boil, mix the ingredients for the steamed rice cakes. Start with the wet ingredients, beat the egg white until fluffy, and add the water and milk. Sift the rice flour and baking powder into the wet ingredients. Lumps of flour will be prevented by sifting the dry ingredients. Combine by mixing lightly. Add the sugar and salt then mix to combine. Prepare cupcake cups by lightly greasing them with vegetable oil. Spoon the batter into the cups halfway full.
Place the cups in the steamer. Pour the boiling water into a saucepan. Place the steamer with the lid on top into the saucepan and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes. Check for doneness by sticking a toothpick into the rice cake, if it comes out clean then it is done. Take the steamer off the saucepan and let it sit for 30 seconds. Take the cakes out of the mold and serve them warm.
What is puto made of?
Puto is traditionally made of rice that is soaked overnight but for ease and availability flours are now used.
What goes with Filipino Puto?
Puto is traditionally served as a snack but it also goes well with savory dishes such as dinuguan or pork blood stew.
Storage
Filipino steamed rice cake is best enjoyed warm. For any leftovers, keep them in a container to put in the fridge then re-steam in a steamer or microwave oven before serving.
You might want to watch how Filipino puto is made by clicking here.
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FILIPINO PUTO (STEAMED RICE CAKES)
Equipment
- 1 saucepan
- 1 bamboo steamer
Ingredients
- 1 egg white
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup oat milk or any milk of choice
- 1 cup rice flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 c sugar
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- Fill a kettle with water and bring it to a boil.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg white.
- Add the water and milk to the egg white.
- Sift the rice flour and baking powder into the wet ingredients. Mix lightly.
- Add the sugar and salt to the mixture. Mix to combine all the ingredients.
- Spoon into greased cupcake cups halfway full.
- Place the cups in the bamboo steamer. Cover.
- Pour the boiling water into a saucepan.
- Place the steamer in the saucepan and steam for 8-10 minutes.
- Check if the puto is cooked by inserting a toothpick and if it comes out clean it is ready. Take the steamer off the saucepan. Let it sit for 30 minutes. Take the cakes out of the mold and serve them warm.
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