by amber's hands
a collection of things i make with my hands
It’s Filipino Food Month over here, but in a few days it’s also St. Patrick’s Day. I decided to combine the two and make some Filipino food that’s green.
Puto is a Filipino steamed rice cake, although it can also be made with regular flour. (And before anyone gets all up in arms, I am aware that “puto” means something entirely different in Spanish. So if you and/or the people you’re serving are Spanish speakers, you might want to stick to “steamed rice cakes.”) I made these to be coconut pandan flavored, but they can also easily be made plain coconut, if you can’t get your hands on pandan extract. Bonus! These are gluten-free and vegan. I adapted the Puto Puti recipe found here.
Traditionally, puto is made in small cups placed in a steamer. However, these cups are not readily available to me, so I decided to create an oven hack version in mini muffin cups.
Before you begin, preheat the oven to 300˚ and put a good quart of water on to boil. Place a 9 x 13 pan on the bottom rack of the oven as it preheats.
To start, I combined 1 1/2 cups rice flour (regular white rice flour, not sweet/glutinous rice flour) and 1/3 cup sugar, 1 Tbsp baking powder and a pinch of salt.
Add to this 1 (400 mL) can of coconut milk (regular, not light) and about 2 Tbsp. water, or enough to make sure it does not hold peaks. I think this was a bit thicker than it should have been.
Then, if you can get your hands on it, add about a teaspoon of pandan extract. We could only find a combination buco-pandan, but buco is young coconut, so it works just fine here. Pandan is a leaf that imparts a sort of nutty flavor, and complements rice dishes quite nicely. This extract also has green food coloring included, so it’s perfect for a St. Patty’s day treat. Alternately, if you can come by actual pandan leaves, you could infuse them into the coconut milk beforehand.
Divide into 24 greased mini muffin cups and place in the oven. Carefully pour the boiling water into the 9 x 13 pan to steam the oven up. Bake for 20 minutes.
If you wish, sprinkle some dried coconut on the top right as they come out of the oven. My cakes cracked on top, I think because the batter was a little thick. When I had tested this recipe before, they came out smooth and a bit stickier on top, which is what you get when they’re steamed in a steamer. Still, for a fairly simple alternative, these came out pretty close.
Inside, they’re light, a bit creamy, and delightfully sweet. It’s easy to eat 10 without really noticing… not that I’d know about that, of course. I am a picture of self-control.
Alternately, in a typical Filipino fashion, you can cut up some slices of quick melting cheese and place them on top, returning them to the oven for a minute. I should advise, however, that if you have a typically western palate, you will likely enjoy the coconut topping better. You could also brush them with some melted butter, or just leave them plain. All of those are excellent options, in my opinion.
One additional note: These are definitely best they day they’re made. I found that if they’re stored in an airtight container, the outside gets weirdly wet, but if you leave them out in the open they’ll begin to dry out. This is not a problem, however, since they’re so tasty you’ll want to eat them up immediately.
UPDATE:Hey friends! This post continues to be a very popular one on my blog. However, people have had mixed results with the ratios listed. The ratios I have here worked perfectly andconsistently in my old gas oven, but since getting a new electric one, it’s far too wet. If you have an electric oven, or one that traps steam very well, I suggest starting with half as much coconut milk and seeing if that works better for you. I’m still working on figuring out the right ratio for my new oven and whether specific brands perform better than others. Until then, Iwould love to know if you find a ratio that works perfectly for you! Please give a shout out in the comments and help a blogger out! 🙂
Coconut Pandan Steamed Rice Cake-- Puto
- Servings: 24 mini muffins
- Difficulty: easy
Adapted from Oggi’s Puto Puti recipe
Preheat oven to300˚ and place a 9×13 pan on the bottom rack of the oven as it preheats
Put 1 quart of water on to boil
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups rice flour (not glutinous or sweet rice flour)
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 400mL can full-fat coconut milk
2 Tbsp water (more if needed)
1 tsp pandan (or buco pandan) extract (can omit to make plain coconut puto)
Optional toppings: shredded dried coconut or cheddar cheese
Whisk together rice flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add coconut milk and water, adding more water if needed. Mixture should not hold peaks. Stir in pandan extract. Divide mixture into 24 greased mini muffin cups and place in the oven. Carefully pour the boiling water into the 9×13 pan to steam up the oven. Close oven quickly. Bake for 20 minutes. Top with dried coconut immediately when removed from the oven, if using. If using cheese, cut into strips and make an “X” on the top of each. Return to the oven for a minute or two to melt. Let cool a bit and remove from pan carefully. Cool completely before serving.
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46 Comments on Coconut Pandan Steamed Rice Cake (Puto) {Filipino Food Month}
I am a filipina leaving in sweden and and i am so interested in making Puto
and i like your recipe its look like our own Puto binan.It taste good.Reply
I’m glad you think it looks right! Let me know if you try it and how it works for you. 🙂
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I just follow the measurement but 200ml coconut milk just enough. Maybe my cup smaller and its successed.tq.
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Could you specify in cups or mL how much coconut milk (instead of ‘1 can’ as we have various sizes in Australia) – thanks!
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Oh, for sure! It’s a 400 mL can. I’ll update it in the post. 🙂
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May I ask how do you grease the pan, with butter or the greasing spray? Thank you.
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Hi Eleanor! You can use butter, oil or cooking spray for greasing it. They should all work quite well. Butter may add a bit of flavor to the final product, so that may help you decide. I’ve personally never objected to a little butter flavor in my food, but that’s a personal preference! I hope you find this recipe to work for you!
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you can also use vegetable oil , brush it on.
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Pingback: Puto | Gluten Free Investigation
hi. what do you mean steam the oven?
cheers
tinaReply
Hi Tina!
These are usually cooking in special moulds in a steaming basket, set over boiling water. Since I don’t have that equipment, I used mini muffin tins in the oven. But they still need steam to cook properly. To achieve this, I put a pan in the oven rack below the puto, and put boiling water in it. The boiling water releases steam into the oven during the whole time the puto cooks, allowing them to steam bake.
Does that answer your question?Reply
Can I steam these like it’s regularly done if I have the equipment?
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Sorry, this recipe won’t work for regular steaming as it has more moisture to account for baking. They’ll be overly wet.
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Very disappointing. I was so excited when i was preparing ang baking but the taste,not good. Using rice flour made the taste disgusting.
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I’m so sorry you didn’t like these. Some things aren’t for everyone. They’re a very popular snack in the Philippines, but if you’re not used to those types of foods, I could see why they didn’t live up to your expectations.
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you can use the regular flour or cake flour. that’s what Im using here since we can use the original rice and blend it fine.
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When u said steam,do I have to cover the puto on foil please advice thanks
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Hi Angie,
I did not cover the puto in foil. Closing your oven door quickly after pouring the boiling water in the pan below the muffin tin should create enough steam throughout the oven for the puto to cook properly.Reply
Curious about oven steaming… do you need to preheat the oven? and at what temperature should you bake the puto?
Hi Leo!
The directions as written will steam up the oven. So you preheat the oven to 300F, then when you put the puto in the oven, you put a pan of boiling water in the oven at the same time. This will create steam in the oven as the puto bakes. Does that make sense?Reply
Are you sure its rice flour?and 400 ml of coconut milk?i think 400ml of coconut milk is too much for 1 1/2 cup of rice flour.So upset just waste all my ingredients…turn out to be a horrible puto ever….
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Oh no, Ana, I’m so sorry this didn’t work for you. Did you use regular rice flour and not glutinous? And did you bake it as written or steam it?
I haven’t made these in a while, so I’ll try the recipe again and see if it’s still working for me.Reply
Yes, Ana I believe 400 ml coconut milk is way too much too… After steaming it it was more like soft soggy – here we call it as ‘kuih’ texture.
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Melly, did you steam it in the oven as directed, or did you steam in the traditional way?
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Sorry for late reply.
First time baked in oven as instructed- but it was still wet – so extended the baking time few times. Overbaked them till became biscuits instead. My mistake. But these are tasty and very aromatic biscuits. I did enjoy them.
Second time – tried steaming in traditional way- turned out soft soggy
Do know how much coconut milk to use if steamed in traditional way?
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Thanks so much for taking the time to reply! It helps give me an idea of what’s going on. I’m going to be re-trying this recipe again soon as I haven’t made these in a while and see if I can figure out the problems some people are having. I got a new oven, so maybe with a better oven I’ll also have trouble! The recipe I adapted this from used 2 cups rice flour to 2 cups coconut milk and steamed them, so that may work for you. Thank you for commenting!
What do i do if the batter is way too thin? Just add more rice flour?
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Sorry I didn’t see this sooner! You could try to add more rice flour and see if that works. I know some others have had problems with this ratio. I’m working on figuring out the problem– I think it can vary a lot depending on your oven.
Let me know how it works for you! Next time you could try adding half the coconut milk at first and then going from there. 🙂Reply
Mine came out perfectly! Thank you so much!
I work at a Filipino restaurant here in Hawaii and all of my Filipino coworkers love it!Reply
I’m so glad it worked well for you!! 🙂
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Have you tried using regular steamer for this recipe?
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Hi Wisty!
This won’t work in a regular steamer because there’s more moisture in a steamer than in the oven, so they’ll end up soggy. You can decrease the amount of liquid by quite a bit and then it would work. I don’t know the exact measurement you’d have to use, though.Reply
I used steamer and the result was bad.
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Yes, this recipe is not made to be used in a steamer. The batter is wetter to account for oven cooking, not steaming.
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Hi, did you put the muffin pan directly on the pan with boiling water or the pan with boiling water is on the bottom rack and the muffin pan on the upper rack? thanks
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Hi Cris!
I put them on two different racks, the muffin pan above the pan with boiling water. 🙂Reply
Thank you, can’t wait to try 😊
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I’m a little bit disappointed, I followed your recipe, but it doesn’t turned out good to me.I can still taste the rice flour , like a sandy puto. I think it’s better to use a regular rice in a blender and STEAM it on the steamer rather than in the oven with water.
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I’m sorry it didn’t work for you. It worked very well and consistently for me with my old oven, but not in my new one. It may depend on the brand of rice flour you use, as well.
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I have a regular steamer can I use it ? What do I do?
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This recipe will not work with a regular steamer– there is too much liquid to account for how much is lost in the oven. You’d be better off finding a recipe that’s written specifically for a steamer.
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Can you use regular flour instead of rice flour?
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You can try, but they don’t act exactly the same. I haven’t tried it so I can’t say anything about it. It sounds like another commenter has done it and it worked fine, so it might be worth a try.
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I know where the issue is. Some of the brands coconut milk looks like a cream, other brands are totally like water. So this changes the consistency of the batter. I had the bad luck to have the second type, where probably 200ml would be much more than enough…. Hope I have the ingredients soon to try them again with proper doses.
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I followed the recipe except for the baking part. I used my steamer and used 5 jumbo silicone muffin cups. And steamed it for 20 min. Mine turned out beautiful 😍 thank you 🙏
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So glad this worked well for you!
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