PURPLE PUTONG PUTI AKA PUTO, OR FILIPINO RICE CAKE
Putong puti are little steamed rice cakes, scented with coconut and sometimes teamed with cheese, eaten as a snack or as an accompaniment to a savoury meal. Called puto for short, they are sweet, fluffy and white, and traditionally made from fermented rice but can also be made with rice flour (and/or other flours). I was inspired to make some purple cakes that were less sweet for Mahi’s and my birthday which, being in February, corresponds to amethyst birthstone — a popular purple crystal (though you can find it in other colours too). I decorated simply with a Viola flower, the flower for February, also purple and also happens to be edible!
Purple puto is not that rare in itself: ube, a type of very purple yam, this sweet starchy root vegetable is a popular dessert ingredient in the Philippines and a jam of it, ube halaya, is sometimes used to flavour this rice cake. I couldn't find this purple ube to try it out (though it’s available grated and frozen at Oriental supermarkets) but I did find something that's often subbed in (for looks not flavour) or even mistaken for ube: purple sweet potato, in a powder form. I used some to dye my rice cake batter (a recipe I adapted from Kawaling Pinoy)... or so I thought, until I ended up with quite a beautiful green!
This led me to a bit of experimentation and a whole lot of research. At first I thought it was something to do with halving the sugar content. Then I thought perhaps I’d used too much baking powder or not mixed it up well enough after messing around with the batter ratios? My next purple-batter-green-cake result said no. Then I had a eureka moment. The jaggery (on attempt 1) and the coconut sugar (on attempt 2) I had subbed in for caster sugar in the recipe might be a different pH due to the molasses content. Turns out that brown sugar has a more acidic pH compared to white sugar, which is neutral (in flavour too), and this was reacting with the natural anthocyanin red pigments (polyphenols which are powerful antioxidants) of the purple sweet potato, making it green.
While I didn’t mind my green cakes (and they were delicious), I wondered what I could do to get them a pretty purple without using a very refined sweetener. Another eureka moment: I had a bag of rock sugar in the cupboard. This (along with jaggery) is an important natural sweetener in Ayurveda. Yes, natural! This clear sugar is captured during the first stage of turning sugar cane juice into sugar, well before the refining stage, and is alkaline as opposed to acidic — I’ll do a blog post on its wonders soon!
Meanwhile, my purple, less sweet and unrefined sugar putos worked. This recipe makes approx two dozen little rice cakes, but you can easily halve the recipe. You’ll need a stovetop steamer (I haven't tried oven-steaming them yet): use a bamboo steamer or follow my instructions for another steamed cake that I love, the savoury Dokhla, an Indian steamed snack which uses chickpea flour batter.
Make sure you let the rice batter rest overnight to get rid of any grainy texture (it works fine with the baking powder already mixed in) and refrigerate the cakes if they don’t get polished off in one sitting. A quick steam brings them back to life. I also have a tiny saucepan steamer that's perfect for cooking them fresh to order from the batter that I store for up to a few days in the fridge.
I’m really happy with the way these turned out — eaten warm or room temp, they melt in the mouth, which is perfect for Mahi and very nostalgic for me. Though I have to admit I first ate puto when I was 12 (in Germany, which seems random!) and can’t remember the last time I ate one, so going by memory this recipe is great. Mum is with me tomorrow, so let's see what her verdict is!
INGREDIENTS
500g rice flour (try Doves Farm)
2 cups freshly boiled water
150g rock sugar (you can use jaggery or coconut sugar if you’re not making them purple!)
1 can full-fat coconut milk (try Rude Health)
3 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
METHOD
In a jug or bowl, add the rock sugar (or jaggery/coconut sugar) and the 2 cups of boiled water, and stir occasionally until dissolved to make a sugar-water mixture.
In a bowl, whisk together the rice flour, baking powder and salt.
Add the sugar-water and the coconut milk and whisk until smooth and well-blended.
Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Fill your steamer tray with the silicone cupcake moulds (you might need to do this in batches unless you have a multi-tiered steamer). Pour puto batter into the cupcake moulds until full to three quarters — I used just under a quarter cup in each.
In a saucepan or cooking pot the same width as your steamer, add a few inches of water and bring to the boil.
Place the steamer tray on top, then cover with the lid wrapped in a tea towel to stop condensation falling onto the cakes.
Steam for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Carefully take off the lid, then remove the tray from the heat. Allow to cool slightly before taking the cakes from their moulds. Serve warm.
East by West tip
If you don’t have silicone cupcake moulds, use paper or metal moulds and grease lightly with ghee or your choice of cooking oil.
If you want green cakes, I didn’t test them again, as I was busy trying to get purple, but I’d say definitely use jaggery/coconut sugar and whisk in the baking powder just before steaming to try and reenact my happy mistake!
IF YOU LIKE THIS, TRY THESE OTHER SWEET RECIPES:
