One remarkable thing about Pinoys is their ingenuity when it comes to creating good food. Who would have thought that combining two Pinoy favorites, the Puto and the Ube would result to a somewhat magical treat: the Puto De Ube.
In my experience, this delicacy is a rare find. It’s available in select pasalubong shops only. That’s why it is really worth the effort of learning and making them at home! See this easy recipe here:
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 cups mashed ube (purple yam)
- 2 cups uncooked rice
- 1/4 cup evaporated milk
- 4 tbsp baking powder
- 1 & 1/2 cups water
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup butter
- Cheese strips (for topping)
- Salted egg strips (for topping)
HOW TO COOK:
- Start by washing the uncooked rice and soaking it in water overnight.
- Grind the soaked rice until the texture is fine (you can use a native stone grinder, a corn meal grinder, or a meat grinder).
- Clean the ube by brushing it then rinse it with water.
- In a pot, boil the ube until the texture is soft.
- Remove the ube from the pot and let the temperature cool down, then peel the skin after.
- Place the ube in a mixing bowl then mash.
- Add the ground rice and continue mashing.
- Remove lumps by letting the mixture pass through a strainer or sifter.
- Add the sugar and the butter then mix well.
- Add the evaporated milk and the baking powder then mix thoroughly.
- Pour the mixture into puto molds or spoon it into individual molds and fill up to 2/3 of the molds.
- In a prepared steamer over boiling water, arrange the molds and cover.
- Place cheese and/or salted egg (pulang itlog) over each puto.
- Check if steaming is complete by inserting a toothpick in a piece of rice cake. If the toothpick comes out clean, this means that you are done.
- Cool down, remove from the molds, and serve!
IMAGE: cnnphilippines.com
Also try: Ube Biko
