Biko is a Filipino cake made with glutinous rice, coconut milk, and brown sugar, traditionally served on a round bamboo tray called bilao, lined with banana leaves.
It is usually topped with latik, a coconut-based topping that can be in syrup form or curd form (find the recipe within Sapin Sapin).
It is considered a kakanin, a term that refers to a Filipino snack or dessert primarily made from rice and coconut milk.
The recipe was featured in the TikTok live “Waiting for Christmas”.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 7 Minutes
- Portions: 6People
- Cooking methods: Boiling
- Cuisine: Filipino
- Seasonality: All seasons, Christmas
Ingredients
- 1 cup glutinous rice
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 2 oz dark brown sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/3 cup coconut milk
- 0.7 oz dark brown sugar
- 1 pinch salt
Steps
Soak the rice for at least 1 hour and rinse.
In a pot, pour the coconut milk, add the rice, sugar, water, and salt. Bring to a boil.
Allow the rice to absorb the milk (about 20 minutes).
For the latik: Cook the coconut milk with sugar and a pinch of salt until the mixture resembles caramel (about 7 minutes).
Spread the latik over the biko, placed in a bamboo container lined with banana leaves, and cut into squares.
You can enrich with additional latik in its “crumble” version, by cooking longer until a sort of crumbly curd forms (see the Sapin Sapin recipe).
Christmas in the Philippines
The Philippines, one of the two predominantly Christian countries in Asia (about 90% of the population, of which 81% are Catholic), is one of the countries in the world where Christmas celebrations last the longest.
