I am craving! Sweet Rice Dumplings… they’re called “Palitaw” (Pah-lee-tao) in my country. The word “Litaw” (Lee-tao) means to float because literally, the sweet rice dumplings are done cooking when they float in boiling water. These little goodies are then rolled in freshly grated coconut and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds and sugar. Yum-oh-yum.
Since freshly grated coconuts are hard to come by where I live, it was a toss up between rolling the sweet rice dumplings in dried grated coconut or top it with coconut chips instead. I chose the latter. The word “sweet” in sweet rice is used to describe a variety of rice grain that has a sticky texture when cooked. It is not sweet at all, another name for this rice variety is glutinous rice.
Tips:
– Add water to sweet rice flour a little at a time, dough shouldn’t be too wet
– Form dough into small balls and flatten by using thumb to press down on dough
– Spatula and a wide wooden spoon may also be used to shape the dough
– Roll sweet rice dumplings in coconut and top with sugar and toasted sesame seeds
– or you can top the dumplings with whatever your yummy creative self wants!
Sweet Rice Dumplings
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup sweet rice flour
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup water
Instructions
- Bring 6-7 cups of water to a rapid boil in a deep 3 quart cooking pot
- Put sweet rice flour in a bowl, add water gradually while mixing
- Knead dough until it forms a ball, add more sweet rice flour a tbsp at a time if dough is too wet
- Take a small piece of dough, roll into a ball then flatten with thumb into ovals
- Carefully drop dough in boiling water, leave room for other pieces of dumplings to float
- Sweet Rice Dumplings will start to float, wait 1-2 minutes and scoop gently with slotted spoon
- Top with Sugar, Toasted Sesame Seeds, and Coconut
Arielle
These look delicious! May have to give them a try this weekend…
Susan
Wow! How simple and beautiful. I must try these. Thanks for sharing.