Karioka: a Filipino dessert every exotic-food lover should know

Karioka is a popular dessert in the Philippines that consists of portions of glutinous rice flour fried, sweetened and served in the form of balls or spheres. This dessert has a chewy texture and is usually accompanied by a caramel glaze that covers them or can be served in a cup for dipping.

Southeast Asian flavor

Filipino cuisine shares a lot of its roots with Indonesian and Malaysian gastronomy, and has evolved over the years with the influence of ancient Chinese and Indian traditions first, and adopted those from Spanish and American cuisines during the last centuries.

Even in those ancient recipes the question about how much rice to water should be used to make well-cooked rice surely existed. In this section you will know a different way to use rice for making an old dish in which the water-rice ratio is not an issue.

Rice and coconut sweetness

The karioka is a dessert that you can easily see and taste if you walk the streets of Manila. There are a lot of street stalls where locals make these delicious fried rice.

Here you will learn how to make a delicious street-style karioka. A tasty rice-based dessert with coconut milk that everyone will love.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups of glutinous rice flour.
• 2 1/2 cups of shredded sweetened coconut.
• 1 1/4 cups of coconut milk.
• 2 cups of neutral cooking oil for deep-frying (more if needed).
• 1 can of coconut cream.
• 1/2 cup + 3 tablespoons brown sugar.
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

How to prepare

1. In a large bowl, stir together the glutinous rice flour, sweet grated coconut, and coconut milk until a firm dough consistency is formed. With a spoon, grab portions of the mixture and start forming balls. They should be no bigger than golf balls or so.
2. In a deep frying pan or pot, heat the oil up to about 350°F. If you need to know when the oil is ready, dip the skewer in it and if bubbles form, you are ready to go.
3. Fry the balls for about 5 minutes or until they turn brown. After frying the balls, place them on kitchen paper to remove excess oil.
4. In a separate pan, mix the coconut cream, sugar and salt. Heat the mixture until it comes to a boil. Lower the heat and stir while it gradually gets thicker, about 6 to 8 minutes.
5. Soak the balls in the glaze and mix. You can also serve the rice balls in a bowl and spoon the glaze over.
6. Serve with skewers or toothpicks.

And voila! Those delicious Filipino Karioka are done to delight you whenever you like.

Tips for serving Karioka 

You can serve the Karioka either dipped in the glaze or serve the glaze in a separate bowl for dipping.

If you do not plan to eat the Karioka at the time of preparation, it is advisable not to pour the glaze on them immediately, but when you are going to eat them. It is preferable to do it this way because when mixing the rice and the glaze, the karioka will get soggy.

If you decide to eat leftover Kariokas from previous days, you can bake them at 350°F for a few minutes or reheat them in a frying pan by turning them 1 or 2 times at the most.

Be careful, since Kariokas, if stored at room temperature, will last for just about 2 days. So it is advisable to store them in the refrigerator, where they will be good for up to 5 days, although you may find their texture changed a little.

Can I use other kinds of flour to make Karioka?

Unlike other rice flours that are made from long-grain rice, glutinous flour is made from short-grain rice, and despite being called “glutinous”, it does not have gluten itself, so if you are intolerant to this compound, you can consume this dessert without putting your health at risk. This type of flour is called glutinous because it tends to become sticky after cooking.

If you can’t find glutinous rice flour to make this dish, you can substitute it with potato starch, coconut flour, corn starch, or another gluten-free product.