Recipe for KUTSINTA (brown rice cakes)

Filipino Food - Desserts

Kutsinta or cuchinta are brown rice "cakes" with a dense, sticky texture. Traditionally, kutsinta is made with a teaspoon of lye water, but you can skip the lye if you can't get any from an Asian grocery store. This easy kutsinta recipe yields 2 dozen cakes.


1 cup water
1/2 cup annatto solution
1/3 cup sugar
6 tbsp flour
6 tbsp cornstarch
1 cup grated coconut


1. In a bowl, mix the water, annatto solution, sugar, flour and cornstarch.

2.  Half-fill the holes of a non-stick muffin pan with the mixture. (You can use individual tart molds.)

3. Steam covered for 15 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. (You can place the tart molds in a large pan that has 2 inches of water and steam that way.)

4. Cool completely until firm. This will take more than an hour.

5. Use a spatula to remove the "cakes" from the muffin pan or the individual molds.

6. Top the kutsinta with grated coconut  before serving.