Rice Puto With Gata Food

PUTO

Steps:

• In a bowl, combine rice flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Whisk until distributed.
• Add water and coconut milk. Stir until smooth and well-blended. Cover with film and refrigerate overnight.
• Lightly spray insides of puto molds with non-stick cooking or lightly brush with melted butter. Pour puto batter into molds until 3/4 full.
• In the bottom part of the steamer, add water and bring to a boil. Arrange filled puto molds in a single layer on the steamer basket. Place steamer basket over the bottom part. Wrap lid of the steamer with cheesecloth or any cotton material (to prevent condensation from dripping onto puto) and cover steamer.
• Steam for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
• Remove from the heat and allow to slightly cool and gently remove puto from the molds.

PUTO

Steps:

• Grease small cake, puto molds, or ramekins for use in a steamer. Mix the flour, sugar, and baking powder together in a bowl. In a separate, large bowl, scramble the eggs with the evaporated milk and water. Fold the dry mixture into the eggs until evenly blended. Fill the prepared molds 2/3 of the way up with the batter and top with shredded cheese.
• Fill a wok or a sauce pan that will hold a steamer basket with a few inches of water. Bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat. Place the molds into a steamer basket and place over the boiling water and cover.
• Steam until a toothpick inserted in the center of one of the putos comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack and serve warm or at room temperature.

PUTO (FILIPINO STEAMED CAKE)

Steps:

• Fill a 12-inch pan halfway with water and set over high heat.
• In a bowl, sift together cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
• In another bowl, combine water, egg whites and fresh milk. Using a hand mixer, beat the mixture at low speed for 5 minutes.
• Add the sifted dry ingredients and blend until smooth.
• Strain the batter into another bowl to ensure that there are no lumps.
• Lightly brush a mini muffin tin with vegetable oil.
• Fill muffin tin ¾ full with the batter.
• Once the water in the pan is boiling, place the muffin tin in the pan and cover the pan with a lid.
• Steam the puto for 5 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the puto comes out clean.
• Once the puto is cooked, remove from the pan and allow to cool at least 30 seconds before removing from the muffin tins.
• Repeat steps 6 to 10 three more times, making sure there is enough water in the pan each time.

HOW TO MAKE PUTO (STEAMED RICE CAKE)

Steps:

• Sift the dry ingredients together. Sifting your rice flour, sugar, and baking powder will help you combine the dry ingredients, get rid of any lumps, and get some air into those ingredients. Just pour them into a bowl through a sifter, scraping a fork along the bottom of the sifter as they fall, allowing them to sift more easily. Mix the ingredients well until they're thoroughly incorporated. If you don't have rice flour, you can use regular flour instead, though this is considered less traditional than using rice flour. If you're really serious about making puto, then you can combine the rice flour and water in a bowl, cover it, and let it sit at room temperature overnight. If you want to do this, you should combine about 1 lb (16 oz) of rice flour with 1 1/2 cups of water.
• Add the butter, coconut milk, egg, and water and mix all the ingredients thoroughly. Use a wooden spoon, whisk, or electric mixer to mix the ingredients until they are thoroughly incorporated. If you don't have coconut milk, you can use half as much evaporated milk, or just regular milk, but that won't give the puto the distinct traditional flavor it is known for. If you'd like the puto to be a bit more gelatinous, you can add 1 tbsp. of tapioca to the entire batch. Though food coloring isn't necessary, it can make this treat more colorful. Some common colors for puto are lime green, yellow, or purple. If you'd like to create a multitude of colors, you can even divide the batch into four parts, and place 1-2 drops of unique colors in three of them; you can leave the fourth batch without coloring, to create a nice "white" color for contrast.
• Pour the mixture in molds or small cupcake pans. If you're not using cupcake paper, you can grease the molds with butter to prevent the treats from sticking to them. You should fill the mixture to the top or a little bit below the molds. They'll expand as they cook, so you don't want them to leave some room for them to grow. Some would even say to only fill the molds three-quarters of the way.
• Put cheese on top of the mixture. Cut the cheese into little squares about the size of a half-dollar, a little larger than a quarter. If you're using regular cheese, then you should put it on the mold before you start steaming. However, if you're using Quickmelt cheese, then you should put the little squares on at the end of the steaming process, when there are just two minutes left. That's all you'll need to melt the Quickmelt cheese.
• Prepare the steamer. Make sure you've put the necessary amount of water in the steamer and have set it to cook. You can line it with cheesecloth to protect the molds and use more cloth to cover it. Or you can just stick to using an ordinary lid to cover the steamer. You can start preparing the steamer as you mix the ingredients together to save time.
• Put the molds in the steamer and steam for 20 minutes. You can start checking up on them after 10 minutes. Once you can put in a toothpick and have it come out clean when you take it out, then the puto is ready. Just remember to leave two minutes for cooking at the end if you're using Quickmelt cheese.
• Remove the puto from the molds. Give them a minute or two to cool down before you do this. When they're ready to handle, arrange them on a serving plate.
• Serve. This treat is best served warm, so you should enjoy it immediately. Puto can be enjoyed on its own at any time of day, but many people love to have it with coffee. You can also enjoy it along with dinugan, pork blood stew, if you like.