Kutsinta Recipe

Kutsinta (cuchinta) are Filipino steamed cakes made with flour, tapioca flour, and brown sugar. Soft, chewy and topped with grated coconut, they’re a delicious breakfast, snack or dessert.

I’ve been on the lookout for a good recipe for kutsinta since forever, but my search and kitchen experimentations had been sorely disappointing. That was until last weekend when my friend Victoria Latido and her daughter Donna posted on Facebook a picture of the kutsinta she made and how she finally nailed the recipe after two years of trial and error.

I was so excited reading her post, I PM’ed her as fast as my stubby fingers could type! I am not sure of the time difference between New York and Kidapawan City, North Cotabato where she lives, but I was glad she replied with the recipe and had me on my kutsinta-making project in thirty minutes flat. Thank heavens for awesome friends

What lye water does in kutsinta

Food grade Lye water is a strong alkaline solution used in various cooking processes such as curing and baking. As a key ingredient in making kutsinta or pichi-pichi as well in Chinese moon cakes, bagels, pretzels, and ramen noodles, it raises the ph level of the dough for a richer color and a springy texture.

The substitute for lye water I used, was 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda dissolved in 1 cup of water then boiling the mixture for 5 minutes, that's it!

Cooking tips

• The atsuete is primarily added to deepen the color and you can use more or less depending on the brown sugar you use.
• I use silicone molds for steaming; if you’re using tin molds, you might need to lightly grease the inside for easy removal of the steamed cakes.
• Steam in a gentle simmer to prevent the kutsinta from sinking in the middle.
• These are mini-sized cuchinta; recipe yield depends on the size of molds you use.
• Make sure to stir the mixture in between pouring into the molds as the flour tends to settle in the bottom

How to serve

• These steamed rice cakes are traditionally served for breakfast, midday snack or after-meal dessert.
• To store, transfer to a container with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate for up to 3 days. For longer life, top with coconut when ready to serve

Try this easy-to-prepare Puto Kutsinta Recipe.

Kutsinta Recipe

 Prep Time 20 minutes

 Cook Time 1 hour

 Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

 Servings 6

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup rice flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3 cups water
• 1 1/2 tsp lye water
• 2 tsp anatto seeds

Instructions

1. In a mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients starting from the rice flour, all-purpose flour, and brown sugar then mix all the ingredients.
2. While mixing, add water gradually and continue to mix until all ingredients are completely distributed.
3. Add lye water and anatto water (soak the anatto seed in 3 tbsp water) then continue mixing.
4. Place the mixture into individual molds and steam for 40 minutes to an hour.
5. Serve with grated or shredder coconut on top. Share and Enjoy!

Notes

• Stir the mixture in between pouring into the molds as the flour tends to settle in the bottom.
• Steam in a gentle simmer to prevent the kutsinta from sinking in the middle.
• Nutritional info calculated at 2 pieces per serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 89kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Sodium: 5mg | Potassium: 26mg | Sugar: 13g | Calcium: 14mg | Iron: 0.5mg