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Cuchinta is a type of kakanin (Philippines’ native delicacies these are snacks usually made with or containing any or combination of these: coconut,coconut milk, rice flour, glutinous rice, cassava).
Cuchinta is delicious and super easy to make and is almost fat free and low in calories..
I was actually surprise to find out how simple it is too.. I used to think otherwise cause I have never seen my mother made this, we used to buy it regularly from a peddler on a bike when I was a kid. I remember waiting very early in the morning quite regularly (we usually have these in addition to our breakfast either before or after) on our doorstep and when I hear that familiar sound of the peddler’s horn, I will run to the street and wave him down. He sells puto (rice cakes) along with kutsinta, I don’t care much about the puto, though but my mother and one of my sisters like it very much so I had to buy some too, but I always buy more cuchinta than puto hehe :)
Anyways, I’ve memorized the recipe because like I said it’s super-simple. All you need to remember is this: 1,1,2,1, that’s flour, brown sugar, water and lihia or lye (sodium silicate, sodium carbonate)
Food grade lye is commonly used in food preparations like in suman sa lihiya and cuchinta in the Philippines. I’m sure it’s not poisonous or hazardous to one’s health or I won’t be blogging here anymore as I have eaten so many cuchinta and suman sa lihiya in my life LOL..Lihiya or lye makes the cuchinta makunat or maligat, loosely translated in English: to have a bite to it.
combine dry and wet ingredients in a bowl
mix well, strain and pour into mini muffin pans and steam for 10-20 minutes..that’s it!
Oh, wait, you have to cool it first or else you won’t be able to take it off of the muffin pan easily…just be patient and like magic, you can peel it off without anything sticking at the sides or bottom of the pan which means..easy clean-up! :)
RECIPE FOR KUTSINTA (CUCHINTA)
adapted from Maya Kitchen Sarap Pinoy1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups water
1 teaspoon lihiya
teeny-weeny bit of yellow food coloring (optional)fresh grated coconut
Here’s how easy it is:
Prepare the steamer, I don’t have one so what I do is boil a little water in a big pot, I put a metal trivet inside to hold my muffin pan.
Meanwhile, combine everything in a bowl, mix well, strain into a pouring cup, or small pitcher for easy pouring into mini muffin pans. Steam for 10 -20 minutes or until set. Cool completely before taking out of the pan..you have to be patient here if you try to take it off while its hot or warm, you will find it stuck in the pan and you’ll regret that later when you’re washing the pan. So like I said, just wait till it cools completely and like magic, you can easily peel it off the muffin pan.
Serve with fresh grated coconut. Yummy!
Thanks for reading and Have a Nice day! :)
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I bet this tastes light and amazing !
…i wish i could source these ingredients here…sounds very exotic and ethnic…
Wow, they look so easy to make. love your ratio rule :) Just wondering now where to find that lye…
I miss these desserts. Used to eat a lot of these when I was back home. I have to make them soon. They are very delicious.
very tasty and unique recipe! I’ve never seen or had any of these either
Mmmm…very delicious! This looks very similar to the Malay snack here.
Olive, kutsinta is my dad’s favorite. He would usually eat this at buffets. And whenever we eat at buffets, we eat these in his memory. :D How come I don’t see you at Powerplant? What’s the name of your stall?
These looks great. I love to try making them!
Greetings fom Shizuoka, Japan!
Little beauties, aren’t they?
Thanks for sharing!
Cheers,
Robert-Gilles
my favorite! I’ve been meaning make this from scratch but I can never find lihiya around here, hopefully I’ll see it at the asian store. Thanks for posting this recipe, this will definitely impress my family if I make it from scratch
So interesting. I’m amazed that there is a food grade lye. I always thought of it as that poisonous stuff in soap.
I came across a recipe that uses Cocoa butter. There’s another one I never thought you could eat. It sure smells good enough to eat but I was amazed that it actually IS used in cakes and the 100% pure cocoa butter cream is actually food grade. Pretty interesting discovery.
Wow, these look yummy!
So neat! I have never seen these before!
MMMMMMMMMM,…Olive!! These little treats look delecetable!!!
Now, I would like to savour at least 3!!
Beautiful as food gifts for christmas too!
Sophie, I think you’ll eat more than that once you tasted it :), I never thought of gifting this, that’s a good idea, just don’t add the fresh grated coconut, it spoils quickly at room temperature