Palitaw is a Filipino rice delicacy served as a snack or merrienda. Yema (custard) on the other hand is dessert that my kid loves to munch. Because we’re on a community quarantine due to the Covid-19 pandemic, cooking is one of the things that I do to make myself busy. With this, I made some twist to make the traditional palitaw a little more enticing – filling it in with some yema! I must say, the quarantine has made my cooking skills a little bit levelled-up. Wooohooo!!!

So here’s how to cook the Yema-filled Palitaw:

Ingredients:

Palitaw
> 1 cup Glutinous Rice Flour
> 1/4 cup Water

Dusting/Coating
> 1 cup freshly Grated Coconut
> 2 tbsp Sugar
> 1 tbsp Sesame seeds, toasted

Yema Filling
> 5 tbsp Condensed milk
> 1 egg yolk

The filling:

Let’s prepare first the yema filling.

Mix the condensed milk, egg yolk and vanilla in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk until all the ingredients were well combined. Mix continuously for about 10 minutes until the custard becomes sticky. Set aside to cool.

The Palitaw:

While waiting for the yema filling to cool down, let’s now prepare the palitaw dough.

In a bowl, place the glutinous rice flour and gradually add water until it forms a soft, smooth and firm dough. Using your hands, scoop about a spoon of rice dough and roll it into a small ball. Then, flatten it with your palms. Repeat the process until the rest of the dough were done.

Put about half a tablespoon of yema filling at the middle of the flattened dough. Carefully cover the filling with the sides of the rice dough and shape it again like a ball. Remember to keep the fillings intact in the middle. Do the same with the rest of the dough.

Let’s now cook the palitaw!

Boil a pot of water then drop the palitaw dough by batch. Do not overcrowd the pot to avoid the palitaw from sticking together. Cook the dough until it floats off the boiling water. Scoop the cooked dough and transfer to a strainer to drain excess water.

Roll the palitaw in grated coconut then dust with combined sugar and sesame seeds.

Arrange in a plate, serve and enjoy!