Biko

One of my earliest memories is being 5 years old and visiting the Philippines for the first time.  My very large extended family (pretty much the entire town) chartered 4 or 5 fishing boats and went to a small remote island not too far away.  We packed a lot of food into one boat, which of course included my dad’s biko.  I remember it being held snuggly by fresh green banana leaves and placed ever so gently in a basket.  I still vividly remember being on a wooden motorboat and seeing how clear the blue water was–so clear you could see the ocean floor and the different fish swimming around.  Once we arrived on the island my cousins and I just swam away in the clear, blue ocean with the warm sun beaming down on our heads; we only came to shore when it was time to eat.  As lunch came around I came back to shore and asked for biko and being devastated when my family told me it was gone.  The 5 year old me had the absolute biggest meltdown.  Seriously, my [5 year old] world ended and soured the rest of my day on the island, if that gives you any indication how good this dish taste.

Biko is a traditional Filipino dessert and snack, kind of like a coconut caramel rice cake. My dad’s biko is very popular with our friends and he proudly makes it for every event, whether it is a family party at our home or a friend’s party.  He even makes extra so that my cousin has her own dish to take home to enjoy for the week.  You can find many variations of this dish depending on which region you’re visiting, but this is my dad’s version. Actually, this is my great grandfather’s version, who then taught my dad, and then my dad tried to teach me.

It consists of 3 ingredients:  coconut milk, brown sugar, and rice.  Make sure you buy short grain sticky rice.  You can easily find it in any Asian supermarket or the Asian aisle of your local grocery store.  It is important to get this type of rice as it is extra starchy.  And another tip is that you want to rinse this type of rice more than your long grain rice to rid it of the extra starch.  When it’s done cooking and you open your rice cooker, don’t get sad if it looks a little wet–this is the consistency we are looking for!

Another important note is that you HAVE to constantly stir the coconut milk and sugar.  If you don’t, it will burn and you’ll have bittery bad stuff.  It seriously needs to be the consistency of a caramel syrup.  If you add your rice prematurely, the coconut caramel does not really adhere to the rice because there is just too much water, from both the rice and your syrup.

This is a great dessert to serve at any party.  It should please the pickiest of eaters and it adheres to most dietary restrictions–it is gluten and dairy free, AND vegan friendly!  I hope your family enjoys it as much as we do!