Biko with latik

@ mirandablue

My family doesn't celebrate All Souls' Day but like most Filipino families, we cook some native delicacies on or before November 1st.  When we were kids, my aunts and I had fun experimenting on kalamay (rice cake), espasol (we call it bayi-bayi), but-ong (glutinous rice wrapped in cone-shaped banana leaf and cooked in coconut milk), ibos (glutinous rice wrapped in woven coconut leaves and cooked in coconut milk), muasi (or palitaw--steamed ground glutinous rice topped with roasted sesame seeds and muscuvado).  Those were the days when glutinous rice was inexpensive and we had free supply from my grandfather.

My all-time All Souls' Day comfort food is Biko with latik (a residue of coconut milk).  About a week before All Souls' Day, I start having Biko cravings.  The aroma of boiling coconut cream gives me warm, fuzzy feelings---it brings me back to childhood with my grandfather slaving away in the kitchen cooking his favorite rice cake.  We seldom find my grandfather in the kitchen, it was my grandmother's domain. The only day Lolo was in the kitchen was during kalag-kalag, or All Souls' Day.  His ratio was 1:1 and his biko could stay fresh for a week without refrigeration. It is easy to cook but one needs powerful biceps to mix it.

@ mirandablue

I wanted to do my grandfather's biko and I needed sung-sung rice, an aromatic, glutinous rice.  And the price was shocking!  A few months ago, sung-sung was P72 a kilo---now it's P110 a kilo!  A tip from my mother:  malagkit rice should be new, laon is not good. But how should I know if it's new or not?  Leave it to the experts. So far, with sung-sung, I was never disappointed with quality and texture.  I also got muscovado sugar and mature coconut.  

Cook glutinous rice and set aside.  Cook undiluted coconut cream in low heat to extract oil and latik.  Latik should be golden brown.

@ mirandablue

@ mirandablue

Mix in the cooked glutinous rice, mix well.  Blend the muscovado sugar into the mixture.  Calamansi leaves were added to balance the sweetness and add a bit of zest.  Cooking biko on All Souls' Day somehow connects me to members of my family who already passed on. And it's my way of remembering Lolo, a foodie and a kind gentleman with a big heart.

@ mirandablue

Posted for Food Friday and Food Trip Friday