A Cupcake or Two: October 2010

Bwahahahhahaha. It’s Halloween once again and below is my idea of a goolishly delicious treat. It’s actually called (Buko Pandan) or as Trish called it Green Grass Jelly & Young Coconut Cream Salad.

This dessert is popular at all Filipino gatherings and like all Filipino desserts, it is really rich and sweet.

So here is Mama Eugenio’s version of Buko Pandan

Buko Pandan

Ingredients

2 cans of green grass jelly

2 cans of coconut gel (Nata De Coco)

1 can of sugar palm seed (Kaong)

600ml thickened cream
1 can of condensed milk

2 bags of frozen young coconut meat

1 teaspoon of pandan flavouring

Method

1. Drain the coconut gel, sugar palm seeds and coconut.

2. Slice the grass jelly into small cubes and put it into a large deep serving bowl.

3. Add the coconut gel, sugar palm seed and coconut to the grass jelly.

4. Stir in the thickened cream, condensed milk and pandan flavouring.

5. Set aside in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Tips:

- - Once the Buko Pandan chills the flavour changes so buy 2 cans of condensed milk as you may need to add a little bit more. It really depends on how sweet you want it.

- - If you cant find grass jelly, you can just make pandan flavoured jelly using agar agar, sugar and some pandan flavouring

- - All the ingredients are available at all good Asian supermarkets.

Happy Halloween Everyone, I hope you all have a devilishly good time. Mwahahahahahha…

Thanks to Sheryl from Crispy Waffle and Divina from Sense & Serendipity the theme for October’s Kulinarya Cooking Club is Suman. This was a really challenging dessert for me to make. I remember watching my grandmother making it but never thought that I would one day make it myself.

I rang my Aunty Dulce and asked her to help me with this months challenge. We decided to make Suman sa Lihiya. So with my Grandmothers recipe in hand, we started the long process of making this delicious dessert.

Suman Sa Lihiya with Latik

1 kilo of Glutinous Rice
1 teaspoon of Lye Water
1 kilo of Banana Leaves

1 roll o kitchen twine

(You can find the Lye Water and the Banana Leaves at any Filipino Food Store)

The first thing that needs to be done is to prepare the banana leaves. Take the leaves and cut them into approximately 30cmx 30cm pieces. Wash the banana leaves and allow them to drain. Make sure they are still slightly damp. Turn on the stove top and pass the leaves on both sides. They will change colour from a light green to a dark green. This is done so that the leaves are more pliable. It ensures that you can wrap the suman mixture without the leaves falling apart.

1. Wash the glutinous rice a few times to get rid of the grit. Put the rice in a large bowl and add the lye water. Mix well.

2. Take one big spoon of the rice mixture and put it in the middle of the banana leaf. Take both ends of the leaf and bring it up. Fold both ends down and tuck the sides to form a small parcel.

3. Take 2 of the small parcels and put them on top of each other. Get some kitchen twine and wrap it around and tie a small knot on the side to secure.

4. Once all the suman is wrapped, put it all in a deep pot and cover with water. Boil the suman for two hours. After 2 hours take the suman off the heat and drain.

5. Set aside while you make the latik.

Latik Sauce

2 cans of coconut cream

1 to 1½ cups of brown sugar firmly packed

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar and the coconut cream together.

2. Stir over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Let the mixture reduce until it is a thick consistency. Make sure to stir the mixture constantly to avoid sticking to the bottom of the saucepan.

To serve – Peel the banana leaves of 2 suman and serve with lots of latik on top.

Kulinarya Cooking Club was started by a group of Filipino foodies living in Sydney, who are passionate about the Filipino culture and its colourful cuisine.

Each month we will showcase a new dish along with their family recipes. By sharing these recipes, we hope you find the same passion and love for Filipino Food as we do.

If you’re interested in joining our Kulinarya Cooking Club, please feel free to drop by our foodblogs and leave a comment – we would love to hear from you!