Bibingka is a soft and spongey Filipino rice cake and is made with rice flour, glutinous rice flour, sugar, egg, butter, salted duck egg, coconut milk and salted cheese. It is slightly sweet and is colour yellow due to margarine. One bite of this this native Filipino delicacy will bring a lot of blissful and happy memories. During the Christmas season it is sold outside of churches during the nine-day Misa de Gallo. it’s normally Consumed as breakfast after the mass or as a evening snack with a cup of hot coffee.
BIBINGKA
Bibingka is commonly sold on the streets alongside with puto bungbong during the Christmas season. I remember eating this snack on the way home after the Simbang gabi. Bibingka is a kind of kakanin which originates from the Philippines and Indonesia. It is sometimes compared with the Indian bebinca. Bibingka and bebinca has almost similar base ingredients but were prepared in different processes. The main ingredient of bibingka is galapong or milled glutinous rice.
The cooking process of bibingka is unique which makes it more fascinating. It is traditionally placed in a banana leaf and is cooked in a clay pot with layers of charcoal on both its top and bottom. I remember being curious on how bibingka is cooked just by looking at the charcoal on top of it. This baked rice cake is usually topped with salted eggs, grated cheese, sugar and native white cheese. It is best enjoyed with hot salabat or coffee.
HOW TO MAKE BIBINGKA
Making a bibingka is very easy. You will only need to prepare the bibingka batter and the banana leaf molds. In preparing the bibingka batter, basically you combine and mix all the ingredients until smooth and well-blended. Make sure that there are no lumps in the batter. Pour the batter into the banana leaf molds and your bibingka is now ready to cook. As mentioned earlier, a traditional bibingka is cooked in a clay pot between two layers of charcoal.
Since clay pot is not always available on our homes and the use of charcoal will be laborious, the modern technique of using an oven will be used in this recipe. Using an oven is similar to the cooking process using the charcoal layers since both techniques provides heat on the top and bottom of the bibingka. When the bibingka is cooked, topped with your favorite toppings. Serve fresh and enjoy!
Bibingka
Course: Filipino Recipes5
servingsIngredients
1 cup rice flour
1/4 cup glutinous rice flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 pc. egg
1/4 cup melted butter
3/4 cup coconut milk
salted egg and cheese (toppings)
Directions
- Prepare the banana leaves by heating in the stove until slightly wilted. Line the wilted banana leaves in (muffin) molds and cut the excess.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the rice flour, glutinous rice flour, sugar and baking powder. Mix the ingredients well. In a separate bowl, add the egg, melted butter and coconut milk. Mix the ingredients well.
- Combine the dry and wet ingredients and whisk to fully-blend. ‘
- Pour ¾ of the banana leaf mold with the bibingka batter. Top with your favorite toppings.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven for 15 to 20 minutes at 200C.
- Top with grated cheese and grated coconut. Serve and enjoy!
