Kutsinta Recipe

Kutsinta is a Filipino steamed rice cake made with rice flour, brown sugar, and lye water, with annatto giving it that brown-orange color. It is chewy and a little sticky, and most of the flavor comes from the brown sugar. Freshly grated coconut goes on top, and for me that is an important part of eating kutsinta.

I learned how to make kutsinta from my mom. She has been making it for as long as I can remember. We used to buy freshly grated coconut from the local flea market in Las Piñas, and that is still the topping I use today.

Getting the texture right takes some care, mostly in measuring the lye water. This kutsinta recipe uses just 1 1/2 teaspoons. Adding too much can leave a bitter taste, so measure it with a spoon instead of estimating. The rest is mixing the batter and giving it enough time in the steamer.

What is Kutsinta?

Kutsinta is the brown one sold next to puto at kakanin stalls, and the two together are what people mean by puto kutsinta. My cheese puto and puto cake are the soft, white ones. Kutsinta is denser, and you can bend a piece without it breaking. The name is also spelled kutchinta, kuchinta, or cuchinta, and in English it is sometimes called brown rice cake.

Puto rises with baking powder, while kutsinta has no leavening at all. This kutsinta recipe is the rice flour version, with a little all-purpose flour mixed in. Some recipes use all-purpose flour with tapioca or cassava flour instead. Mine is the one my mom made, so rice flour is what I use.

Why This Kutsinta Recipe Works

• Regular rice flour – This is where kutsinta gets its chew. Glutinous rice flour looks almost the same on the shelf but makes a soft, sticky cake closer to tikoy, so check the bag before you start.
• Annatto for the color – Brown sugar gives some color, but the annatto water is what turns it the orange-brown kutsinta is known for.
• Water goes in a little at a time – Stir as you pour and the sugar dissolves and the flour mixes in smoothly. If lumps form anyway, keep stirring, or pass the batter through a strainer before it goes into the molds.
• A towel under the steamer lid – Steam collects on the lid and drips back down. The towel catches it, so the tops of the kutsinta stay smooth and dry.

Kutsinta Ingredients

• Rice flour – Regular rice flour, not glutinous rice flour.
• All-purpose flour – Mix it with the rice flour and brown sugar before adding the water.
• Brown sugar – Light or dark both work. Dark brown sugar makes a darker kutsinta with more molasses flavor.
• Water – Use all 3 cups. The batter should be thin enough to pour easily into the molds.
• Lye water – Buy food-grade lye water only, also called lihia. It comes in small bottles at Filipino and Asian stores. Do not confuse it with the lye sold for cleaning, and keep it away from children. My lye water guide covers it in more detail.
• Annatto seeds – Atsuete. The seeds are soaked, not cooked, so only the colored water goes into the batter.
• Water for the annatto – Just 3 tablespoons, enough to draw the color out of the seeds.
• Fresh grated coconut – For the topping. Grate it fresh if you can. Frozen grated coconut from an Asian store works once it is thawed and drained.
• Cooking oil – A light coat on the molds. Any neutral oil is fine.

Equipment

• Kutsinta molds – Small round molds, either tin or silicone. A muffin tin or small silicone cupcake cups work when you cannot find kutsinta molds, and the pieces come out larger.
• Steamer – Wide enough to hold the molds in a single layer with the water underneath. A bamboo steamer set over a wok or a metal steamer both work.

1. Combine the rice flour, all-purpose flour, and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl. Stir until evenly blended.
2. Gradually pour in 3 cups of water while continuously stirring until the sugar dissolves and the batter becomes smooth and free of lumps.
3. Soak the annatto seeds in 3 tablespoons of water to extract their color. Strain and discard the seeds.
4. Add the lye water and strained annatto water to the batter. Stir thoroughly until well incorporated.

1. Lightly grease individual kutsinta molds with cooking oil.
2. Stir the batter again, then pour it into the prepared molds.

1. Bring the water in a steamer to a boil.
2. Arrange the molds inside and cover the steamer lid with a clean kitchen towel to prevent condensation from dripping onto the kutsinta.
3. Steam for 40 to 60 minutes, or until the kutsinta is set and no longer has a liquid center.
4. Remove the molds from the steamer and allow the kutsinta to cool before unmolding. Top with freshly grated coconut and serve.

What to Serve with Kutsinta

• Cheese Puto – Kutsinta and puto are often sold together. The soft, slightly salty cheese puto goes well with the sweet, chewy kutsinta.
• Hot tsokolate – Thick hot chocolate, for a merienda that is more than a snack.
• Coffee – Plain brewed coffee, since the kutsinta is already sweet.
• Salabat – Ginger tea if you want something warm that is not sweet.

Storage

• Refrigerator: Keep the kutsinta in a covered container for up to 3 days, without the coconut on it. Refrigerated kutsinta becomes firmer, so let it sit out for a while before eating.
• Freezer: Freezing changes the texture, and the pieces come out firmer and drier than they went in. You can freeze them in a single layer in a freezer bag for up to a month if you need to, but a smaller batch kept in the refrigerator is the better option.
• Reheating: Steam the pieces for 3 to 5 minutes to soften them again, then let them cool before adding the coconut. Room temperature is fine too if you only want them softer than they are straight from the refrigerator.

More Filipino Kakanin Recipes

• Pichi-Pichi – Grated cassava steamed with lye water until it turns translucent, rolled in grated coconut.
• Sapin-Sapin – Three steamed layers of glutinous rice flour and coconut milk, with jackfruit, plain coconut, and ube, topped with latik.
• Suman sa Lihiya – Glutinous rice mixed with lye water, wrapped in banana leaves, and boiled. Served with sugar or latik.
• Espasol – Toasted glutinous rice flour and coconut cooked into a dough, rolled into logs, and coated in more toasted flour.
• Palitaw – Flat discs of glutinous rice flour boiled until they float, then rolled in grated coconut, sugar, and toasted sesame seeds.

• Lye water – Baked baking soda is the closest substitute, and my lye water guide has the method for making it. It is not a one-to-one swap, so treat it as a different recipe to test. Baking soda straight from the box is not the same thing.
• Annatto seeds – Annatto powder works. Dissolve a small amount in the 3 tablespoons of water and add it until the batter is orange-brown.
• Brown sugar – Muscovado makes a darker kutsinta with a stronger molasses taste. White sugar works, but the kutsinta comes out paler and the color depends on the annatto alone.
• Rice flour – Tapioca flour or cassava flour makes a chewier, more translucent kutsinta, but it needs its own ratio. The amounts in this recipe are for rice flour and do not carry over.

Freshly grated coconut is still my favorite topping for kutsinta. That is how my mom served it, and it is how I enjoy it to this day. Serve it for merienda with hot coffee or hot chocolate.