Palitaw

As promised, the Palitaw recipe...

Just be glad you didn't have to suffer through my really old Filipino language class project where I made this dessert on video while speaking child like Tagalog!

Palitaw
(also spelled as Palitao)

Ingredients:

3 cups of rice flour
1 1/2 cups of water
toasted sesame seeds
1/4 cup (or less)
freshly grated coconut (I substituted sweetened flaked coconut)

*I actually cut the recipe in half

Directions:

Mix the rice flour with the water with your hands
(according to my mom, you should add the water gradually to the flour)
Form dough into small balls
Flatten balls into small ovals
Place balls in boiling water
Remove balls with skimmer once they "float" (they are done)
Roll the balls in coconut, sesame seed, and sugar mixture

TC mixing the dough...our mistake was putting the water all at once. I found I had to add more water since the flour was so dry.

TC and Bert shaped the balls while I boiled the water and got the scooper ready.

Gently drop in the pressed rice discs into the boiling water. Once it floats, it's done...

Coat with coconut, sugar, and if you like, toasted sesame seeds. You can even use black sesame seeds for variety.

It looked pretty good but the dough just wasn't as nice and soft as my mom's. I'll have to make this again and play with the water and flour ratio...

Here are a few recipe links for Palitaw:
My favorite link is from Oggi, from the blog I Can Do That. Her food photos (and food styling) are beautiful and she always adds a twists to her recipes. In her case, the palitaw was stretched into ribbons and coiled. She also used peanuts in addition to the sesame seeds. See Oggi's recipe here...

CookAdvice (this one makes larger sized patties, which I don't like)
Cooking For My Family I like the photos in this one and it also shows a coconut grater!
and Pinoy Recipe