Kutsinta Recipe

This Kutsinta Recipe creates a chewy reddish brown Filipino steamed snack. Made by steaming a mixture of all purpose flour, cassava flour, brown sugar, lye water, annatto seed and water. Topped up with grated coconut that adds a nice aromatic finishing touch. Kutsinta (cuchinta) is a scrumptious and popular dish you can easily made at home.

Kutsinta

Recipe rating: N/A

Course: SnacksCuisine: Filipino

Servings

25

Pieces Medium

This steamed goodie made of cassava and all purpose flour combo and a dash of sugar will surely satisfies any taste buds!

Ingredients

• 1 cup all purpose flour

• 1 cup cassava flour

• 1 1/2 cup brown sugar

• 1 tablespoon lye water

• 3 cups water

• 2 tablespoons annatto seeds (soaked in 2 tbsp. hot water)

Directions

• Soak annatto seeds in 2 tbsp. hot water. Stir well. Strain and set the colored water aside.
• In a mixing bowl, combine all purpose flour, cassava flour and brown sugar. Add water while mixing. It will make a very thin batter / mixture. Mix in annatto water / mixture and lye water.
• Strain to remove impurities and lumps. Grease each molds with oil or butter. Arrange the molds in before pouring in the mixture. Steam for 15 minutes (longer if the molds is large, I used small-sized molds)
• After 15 minutes, remove from the heat. Let it cool before removing from the molds. Top with grated coconut. Enjoy!

Notes

• To those who are asking. Lye Water or “Lihiya” is an ingredient used in ‘kakanin’ or rice based dishes like kustinta and pichi-pichi. It gives the dishes it’s really chewy texture. It can be found at supermarkets ( at the baking section ), at the dry market ( where they buy sago and gulaman ). These can range from 8 to 20 pesos depending on the size. Outside the Philippines, these can be found in most Asian grocery stores.
• The “Atsuete” or “Annatto Seeds” are used to color the snack. If this is not available, you can also use Annatto Powder ( dissolving 1 tablespoon with 2 tablespoons of hot water ).
• If you still want to add color to the snack you can simply omit the powder / seeds. The Kustinta will come out slightly cream / translucent white in color. If you really want to change the color, you can also add a few drops of food coloring.

How To Cook Kutsinta (Yummy Kitchen Kutsinta)

Craving some some chewy sweet Filipino snacks that you can easily make at home? Look no further with this simple Filipino steamed cake that only uses 4 to 5 ingredients. All you need to do is prepfer your annatto water first. While this is optional and you can also use food coloring if you’d like, annatto water helps add a nice sweet nutty flavor and that distinct reddish-brown color kutsinta is known for. Set this aside while you mix all of the dry ingredients together; combine all purpose flour, cassava flour, and brown sugar. then mix in the strained annatto water or food coloring, water, and lye water. To ensure a smooth texture, make sure to strain this. The batter is then poured into the oil or butter greased molds that are then arranged in the steamer. Once the steamer (pot) is boiling place the steamer / molds in. Steam for 15 minutes or until the top looks slightly translucent. let this cool before taking it out by scraping the side with a toothpick or spatula.

Wanting to spuce up your kutsinta? Some people sprinkle latik (coconut milk curd) or niyog (grated coconut) on top of it to experience adventurous taste giving excitement in every chew on this beautiful gooey rice cake.

What is Lye water?

Kustinta is a dish can be described as a browned almost translucent snack that has a shiny sheen on the outside with a chewy sticky texture in the inside. How does this recipe get this uniquely interesting texture? This is the result of adding lye water that makes this rice cake so surprising chewy and translucent. The addition of “Lye Water” (also known as Lihiya, or lihia). It is water-like solution that gives the soft yet chewy texture to the kutsinta. With just a few drop of it is enough to enhance the texture of this snack. But, be careful not to add too much as it might give a bitter taste and can burn your throat.

Find more information of the many uses of lye water, recipes, and how much to use, and how to make it at home here : “What is Lye Water ?“.

Other Chewy Yummy Recipes :

• Pandan Kutsinta ( pandan flavored Kutsinta )
• Black Kutsinta ( using molasses )
• Pichi-pichi
• Pretzels
• If you do want to try this snack without lye water, try this “Pichi-pichi without Lye Water“

Kustinta Recipe ( in Tagalog )

Mga Sahog

• 1 tasa all purpose flour
• 1 tasa cassava flour
• 1 ½ tasa ng kayumangging asukal
• 1 kutsarang lihiya
• 3 tasa ng tubig
• 2 kutsarang astute ( binabad ng 2 kutsarang mainit na tubig )
• Ginadgad na niyog ( para sa sahog )

Paano Lutuin

1. Ibabad ang mga atsuete sa 2 kutsarang tubig. Salain at itabi.
2. Sa mangkok, haluin ang harina, cassava flour, at asukal. Dagdagan ng tubig habang naghahalo. Haluan ng ginawang tubig ng atsuete at lihiya.
3. Salain ang batter. I-grease ang mga lalagyanan. Ayusin ang mga molde sa steamer bago buhusan ng batter. I-steam ng 15 minuto (o mas matagal kung malaki ang mga ito)
4. Pagkatapos, tanggalin ang mga ito at palamigin ng konti bago tanggalin sa molde. Dekorasyonan ng ginadgad na niyog bago i-enjoy!

Recipe Notes:

• Sa mga nagtatanong po, ang lye water or Lihiya ay ginagamit sa mga kakanin gaya ng kutsinta at pichi-pichi para sa “makunat” or chewy na texture. Nabibili po ito sa mga supermarket (baking section) at palengke (bilihan ng mga sago, gulaman). Around 8 to 20 pesos depende sa laki. Sa ibang bansa naman, makikita ito sa mga asian stores.

• Ang annatto seeds naman po ay Atsuete. Pampakulay lang po ito para makuha yung same color kagaya ng nasa video. Pwede rin gumamit ng annatto powder, (1 tbsp, dissolved in 2 tbsp hot water). Kung walang annatto seeds or powder, pwedeng wag na gumamit, light lang magiging color ng kutsinta. Pwede rin gumamit ng food color. 

If you are looking for a traditionalkutsinta recipe. Then this is one of the best recipe that you can be sure that it’ll be food proof. From showing you how to make kutsinta by step by step instructions to make old fashioned kutsinta recipe. It’ll always make a nicely chewy, slightly sweet and delicious kustina.