Sticky Rice Cake (Bibingkang Malagkit)

Manang Jacinta, our cook, used to bring out trays of bibingkang malagkit or biko every other week for merienda back when I was but a wee toddler. This rice cake was a particular favorite of mine, so much so that a substantial portion of my long-term memory has been reserved for this sweet. I remember my excitement whenever it was ‘The Week’ that they were being served. How its rich scent filled the air! And how very like jewels the shiny, immaculate squares carefully dusted with latik at the very center. Today (many years after my fortunate acquaintance with pot and stove), I am able to enjoy this snack miles and miles away from home, thanks to bibingkang malagkit’s widely available and inexpensive ingredients. As a bonus, it’s pretty quick and easy to make, too.



Bibingkang Malagkit

2 c. Glutinous rice, soaked overnight
3 c. Coconut milk
½ c. Sugar
½ t. Salt
1 pc. Pandan leaf, washed and tied into a tidy bundle (optional)

Coco Jam Topping:
1 c. Coconut Cream
1 c. Sugar

Drain the soaked rice and place in a pot with the coconut milk, sugar, salt, and pandan leaf. Mix everything together until the sugar has dissolved. Cover the pot and simmer over very low heat. Stir every once in a while to prevent the bottom from toasting into a crust. After all the coconut milk has been absorbed after approximately 25 minutes, take the pot off the heat and let it sit, covered, for a further 10 minutes. Transfer the cooked rice into a pan big enough for the rice to spread out to about 1.5 inches thick. Leave it to cool at room temperature, preferably overnight, to set it properly, before cutting into squares.

This can be served as is, with mango slices, latik, or coco jam.

To make the coco jam, heat half of the coconut cream until it turns to oil. Add the sugar into the oil and allow it to caramelize. When the sugar is nicely brown and melted, add the rest of the coconut cream. Stir well until smooth and thick like toffee. Pour the jam on the rice cake. Let the topping cool and set before cutting the rice cake into serving portions.

* Latik is the solid left after heating coconut milk into oil. The product is best described as fragrant brown bits that can be both crunchy and chewy. The bits have a toasted coconut-y tatse.

Trip to Chinatown 1

Look at what I found at Yuen’s Market in Brisbane --- Gulong brand Pork Leg with Mushrooms! This nifty, nitrate-laden little package has yummy chunks of real pork hock (with bits of bone, too), along with chewy skin, mushrooms, and stewed chestnuts!

What I failed to appreciate about it when I was little was the fact that I’d have to cook for myself one day. And this day comes. Gulong Pork Leg makes an incredibly easy and fast Kiam Peng. ( I think it translates to ‘Salty Rice’ in my fookien dialect.) This dish brings to mind images of suffering women toiling slavishly over steaming pots and never fails to impress kids who grew up in their mothers’ Chinese kitchens.

If you do not have access to canned pork leg, you can use the real thing for this dish… just that the entire process would take longer.



Kiam Peng

Aromatics:
½ pc. Onion, roughly chopped
1 Tablespoon Garlic, minced
2 teaspoons Ginger, grated finely
1 T Oil

Condiments:
2 T Soy Sauce
1 t Chinese Five Spice Powder
2 T Cooking Wine

Components:
¼ cup Dried Shrimp
1 ½ pcs. Chinese Sausage (Lup Chung), cut into 1/8 inch diagonal slices
1/3 cup Dried Sliced Black Mushrooms
1 can Gulong Pork Leg with Mushrooms
1 ½ cups Sticky / Glutinous / Sweet Rice, soaked overnight in cool water and drained

Accompaniments:
Coriander, roughly chopped
Fried shallots
Hot sauce (I prefer the Sriracha brand; the original version of which has a green cap)

In a pot, saute the aromatics in the hot oil. Add the drained rice and the condiments. Stir fry over medium heat until all the rice grains have been coated in oil. Add all the other ingredients and 2 more cups of water. Stir well. Cover and simmer over a very low fire until rice is cooked through. This would take about 20 minutes. Stir the rice once in a while, just so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot. After all the water has been absorbed, take the pot off the heat and let it sit, covered, for 10 minutes. Garnish with coriander and fried shallots and serve with hot sauce on the side.

Rice Soup with Shitake and Coriander-Fish Dumplings

Over the Lenten season, I have tried to replicate the miracle of feeding the multitude with a few grams of fish and a handful of rice (in place of loaves of bread). A miracle, indeed, for a big pot of hearty chowder poured forth into eagerly waiting bowls. Anyway, aside from being unbeatably frugal, it was quite a tasty comforting dish, esp. for those of you who are experiencing cooler temperatures in the upcoming months.

A caveat: What does not necessitate expense will have to be attended to with patience. Your efforts will be well rewarded, though, considering the meager investment of resources. Roughly, here is what you need…

Rice Soup with Shitake and Coriander-Fish Dumplings

To make the Fish Dumplings, throw the following into a food processor:

300 Grams of any White Fish Fillet (skinned, de-boned, and cut up into the size of ice cubes)
1 Onion (chopped up)
1 Tablespoon of Cooking Sherry
2 Teaspoons each of Salt, White Pepper, and Baking Powder
2 Heaped Tablespoons Flour
2 Eggs
Dash of Sesame Oil

When everything's a homogeneous goo, mix in a handful of roughly chopped Coriander.

Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. Using two spoons, shape the fish paste into quenelles. Drop each quenelle into the rapidly boiling pot of water. As the quenelles float up, retrieve them with a slotted spoon and set aside in a clean dish.

Cooking the Rice Soup …

Depending on how much water is left in the pot where you boiled your fish quenelles, you may top up your pot with more water until you have about 1.5 litres. Add the following aromatics:

1 Teaspoon of grated Ginger

1 Teaspoon of minced Garlic
1/2 Cup of Sliced Shitake Mushrooms (I use the sliced dehydrated kind without reconstituting them in water)
1 Cup of leftover Cooked Rice or 1/2 Cup of Raw Rice.

Bring the pot to a boil. Lower the heat, and simmer gently while stirring once in a while to make sure that the starch doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot.

After about 20 minutes, when the soup has achieved the consistency of chowder, add approximately 2 cups of water and put the fish quenelles back into the pot. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for about 10 more minutes. Season the soup with salt and white pepper to taste.

* The fish quenelles will puff up to about 3X their size at some point (they will deflate back to their original size when they're tired), so make sure you are using an adequate-sized pot.