Palitaw History

PALITAW

Palitaw is another product of rice that originated in Pangasinan a province in the northern part of Luzon, Philippines.

Palitaw is a well-known Philippine delicacy eaten as a snack or dessert, in a white oval or circular, flat sugary form.  Derived from the Filipino word “litaw”, which means “to float or to surface,” it’s a scientific phenomenon on its own.

Palitaw is originally made washed, soaked, ground sticky rice or “kaning malagkit” – however, some use glutinous rice flour or any packaged rice flour to minimize the time in grinding and soaking the sticky rice and because it is more efficient. It is made by simply mixing the rice flour and water until a dough is formed. The dough is divided into small pieces then manually molded into a ball-shape figure and flattened. The flattened dough is cooked in boiling water until they float – an indication that they are done. Once cooked, it will be dipped in grated young coconut, toasted sesame seeds and sugar.

Some palitaw can be stuffed with ingredients such as fruits or nuts, or have the sugar and sesame seeds integrated into the dough cooking. These methods can cause difficulty for home cooks, however, because adding ingredients to the dough can cause it to break apart while cooking. Palitaw can be frozen once completed for long-term storage

History

Palitaw is a simplification of the Filipino term “litaw” means to float. They can be considered to be almost same as the Japanese mochi cakes which are sweetened steamed or baked rice flour cakes, Korea also creates an almost similar version that is prepared from rice flour, poached and stuffed with sweet bean paste. Since Asians use a large amount of rice in their diet, almost every culture has different versions of steamed or poached rice balls.

Palitaw is a soft steamed rice dough cakes that can be sweet or spicy in taste. This very popular Filipino recipe is cooked for special occasions.

Palitaw is a Philippine dessert and snack made with simple rice flour dough that is boiled and then coated in coconut and sesame seeds. The small, flat rice cakes are traditionally eaten during holiday festivities but can be enjoyed at any time. The texture of the finished cakes can range from very moist and delicate to chewy and rubbery, depending on the preferences of the cook. Although there are a few variations, the palitaw is usually prepared according the same basic recipe without any changes. It is similar to other types of sweet, cooked rice cakes that are produced in countries such as Japan and South Korea.

The rice used for palitaw is traditionally glutinous rice, also called sticky rice or malagkit in the Philippines. An authentic preparation involves cracking the dried sticky rice and then soaking it overnight in water. After soaking, it is ground down into dough with water being added as necessary. If this method is being employed, the rice nearly always requires soaking in water before being used, sometimes to soften the very thick shell around the rice and other times to remove some of the starch before cooking.

In many countries, instead of laboriously grinding down sticky rice into a powder or dough, bags of readymade glutinous rice flour are available for purchase. The premade flour is actually the preferred method for making palitaw at home. It is not necessary to use sticky rice for the recipe, meaning regular rice flour can be used instead with no real ill effects. The amount of water in the dough can help to determine what the final texture will be. Using as little water as possible and forming hard dough will create palitaw that is chewy, rubbery and dense. Adding extra water to create looser dough will result in cakes that have a softer text.