Hello!
This is a first coming to you today people- a recipe I created!! Woohoo!! Came up with this little bad boy using some research and information from my mother-in-law; put it all together and what do you get?? Biko!! This is a traditional Filipino dessert, and literally my favorite thing ever.
Let’s get started with what you need:
- Sweet rice- 2 cups
- Water- 2 cups
- Coconut milk- 2 x 400mL cans
- Brown sugar- 1 cup
- Pot or rice cooker
- Wok or large frying pan
- Fine mesh strainer or slotted spoon
- Aluminum pans x 2 (you can usually buy this from any Dollar Store)
And that’s it! It’s actually pretty easy to make too!
First thing you want to do is get the rice started. This is the rice I used (no reason, just the only one I could find)…
Always wash the rice first! You can use a bowl or a fine mesh strainer, rinsing the rice until the water is clear.
Next, get ready to cook the rice. I have a rice cooker so I use a 1:1 ratio when cooking it. In this case, 2 cups of rice and 2 cups of water (you can always add another ½ cup of water if you want the rice to be a little softer)…
When your rice is finished cooking all the water should be gone and it should look something like this…
While the rice is cooking you can work on the biko topping called LATIK. The way my mother-in-law makes this is she gets fresh coconut, scrapes out the insides (which you would have to toast or fry), soaks it in water and then uses this water as the coconut milk. Now, if this is something you want to do I will provide a link to a homemade coconut milk recipe. I used canned coconut because, well, fuck that! Way too much work for me, seriously!!!
So yeah, I just used two 400mL cans of coconut milk…
Empty the coconut milk into the wok over medium high heat. Stirring this mixture occasionally. After about 5 minutes it should start to look like this…
After 20 minutes the coconut milk is going to separate into oil and almost like a “milk curd” substance, and will look like this…
Allow this to get a golden brown color before removing from the pan. Use a slotted spoon to remove the toasted bits (Latik) from the oil. Pour the rest of the mixture through a fine mesh strainer and separate the oil, saving it for later…
Next, add your cooked rice and the brown sugar to the same wok that had the coconut milk in it. Start stirring until the sugar is melted and all the rice is coated. This process has to be done frequently and does takes quite a while, becoming harder to do as the rice gets sticky (so really put some elbow grease into it!!). Make sure you taste it along the way too and add more sugar to suit your taste. Personally, I do not like my biko too sweet. You should end up with something that looks like this…
Next, you want to take the oil made from earlier and use it to oil the Aluminum pans. This ensures that the rice will not stick to the pans when you serve it. After, empty the rice into the pans and pour some of the oil on top to help you smooth it out and fit to the size of the pan (you can use a silicone spatula to do this, but my mother-in-law just puts a small sandwich/Ziploc bag over her hand and does it). When you’re done, use a sharp knife to cut the Biko however you like. The traditional way is to cut it in a diamond pattern like this…
Lastly, take the Latik you made and sprinkle it on top of each individual Biko slice. And there you have it.. your own homemade biko!! All ready for your next party, or hey maybe even just your own individual platter… 😉
As promised follow this recipe for making your own fresh coconut milk. Here in the GTA your local Asian super market should have fresh coconuts.
Princess Jessica 