The Filipinos’ innate love for food and cooking spread all the way even here in the United Arab Emirates as several Filipinos choose to spend their hard-earned money on cooking their favorite Pinoy dishes with local ingredients.
With the right ingredients along with Rainbow Milk, one of the top choices of Filipino expats in the UAE when it comes to creamy, delicious milk, Filipinos can easily re-create these lip-smacking Pinoy merienda dishes.
Here are some ideas:
Royal Bibingka (Filipino Rice Cake)
One look at this iconic Filipino Rice Cake and it will already send mouthwatering vibes as the Royal Bibingka is only served during special occasions – and the dish peaks its popularity during the Christmas season!
Recipe:
1/3 cup Rainbow Milk’s Evaporated Milk
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1½ cup glutinous rice flour
6 tablespoons sweet rice flour
2 cups coconut milk
½ cup margarine softened
4 egg yolks
1 egg
Steps:
– Preheat oven to 350F.
– Whisk and blend the following ingredients in a bowl: sugar, glutinous rice flour and the sweet rice flour. Set aside once it’s well blended.
– In another clean bowl, beat the eggs and mix the coconut milk together with 1/3 cup of Rainbow Milk’s Evaporated Milk until all three ingredients are well mixed.
– Add the rice flour mixture at a steady pace and continue to whisk until the texture of the mixture becomes soft.
– Brush margarine on each of the aluminum molds and pour an equal amount of the mixture on all molds. Be sure to cover the molds with foil.
– Bake for 18 minutes.
– Remove the cover. Brush with a bit more margarine and put cheese as desired on top.
– Place the aluminum molds back in the oven to continue baking at 350F for the next 22 minutes.
– Set the oven to a broil for 8 minutes, serve hot afterwards.
Maja Blanca Espesyal
Another popular Pinoy snack you can easily create with a mix of Rainbow Milk’s Evaporated and Condensed Milk is the Maja Blanca Espesyal that fuses the deliciousness of corn and milk together, perfect for your merienda time.
Recipe:
1 ½ cup Rainbow Milk’s Evaporated Milk
1 ¾ cup Rainbow Milk’s Condensed Milk
3 ½ cups coconut milk
1 ¾ cup sweet kernel corn, drained
½ cup water
¾ cup sugar
1 cup cornstarch
Steps:
– Brush bottom and sides of a large baking dish with coconut oil (from cooking the latik).
– Combine 1 ½ cup Rainbow Milk’s Evaporated Milk, 1 ¾ cup Rainbow Milk’s Condensed Milk together with coconut milk and sugar. Stir well until the sugar is dissolved to make sure everything’s blended.
– Place the mixture to a large pot over medium heat and boil as you stir from time to time. Add the corn and continue to cook for around 2 minutes.
– Mix water and cornstarch in a separate bowl until dissolved and gradually pour into the large pot with the mixture. Whisk thoroughly in a fast pace to prevent lumps until mixture thickens to resemble a paste-like texture.
– Transfer the mixture to a prepared pan and smooth the top with a lightly oiled spatula. Let it cool before you cover it and refrigerate for around 2 hours until it’s cooled and set.
– Prior to serving, be sure to prepare your latik by cooking two cups of coconut cream on a pan on medium heat. Bring to a boil until liquid thickens. Lower the heat and simmer and you’ll see solids beginning to form. This is the time to regularly stir to prevent the latik from burning. Cook until golden brown and separate the latik from the oil afterwards.
– Once the Maja Blanca is chilled, brush coconut oil on top and sprinkle latik as desired. Cut into small squares and it will then be ready to be served.
Mini Egg Pies
Remember when you used to head to the nearby bakery and saw that delicious slice of egg pie? You can now bake your own with a very delicious mini egg pies with that yummy custard filing with a mix of Rainbow Milk’s Evaporated and Condensed Milk.
Crust Recipe:
2 cups flour
2 sticks of butter
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup ice water
Custard Recipe:
6 egg yolks
1 ½ cup Rainbow Milk’s Evaporated Milk
1 ¾ cup Rainbow Milk’s Condensed Milk
Steps:
– Cut butter into cubes, freeze for around an hour.
– Mix salt, sugar and flour in a bowl thoroughly and chill in the fridge for around 30 minutes.
– Add the chilled butter with the flour mixture. Cut the butter within the flour mixture by hand or by using a pastry blender. Mix well until it shows several small butter-pieces the mixture.
– Gradually put ice water to the butter and flour mixture and mix together with your hands until it blends. Gather the dough and press into a ball – if the dough doesn’t seem to hold together, add a tablespoon of water each time. Be sure to not put too much liquid on the dough and don’t overwork the dough as well.
– Wrap the dough in a plastic wrap and chill it in the fridge for around 2 hours.
– Combine 1 ½ cup Rainbow Milk’s Evaporated Milk and 1 ¾ cup Rainbow Milk’s Condensed Milk with the egg yolks until everything blends. Strain the custard mixture with a cheesecloth.
– Create 12 small balls out of your dough and place each between two sheets of parchment paper. Gently flatten each ball using a rolling pin into a dough with a diameter or 4 inches, with 1/8 inch of thickness.
– Spray each hole of your muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray. Lift each of the doughs and gently place in each of the muffin holes as you softly press the dough on the sides and the bottoms on each hole. Remove the excess dough on the edges.
– Put your custard mix on the dough and fill to around 3/4s on each hole. Bake it in a 350F oven for around 20-25 minutes until the crust becomes golden, and the toothpick inserted within the custard comes out clean.
– Remove from the oven and allow to cool before you remove the baked goods from the pan. Serve at room temperature.
Rainbow Milk is known for being sourced directly from Friesland Campina’s member farms across Western Europe, made out of pure cow’s milk with no preservatives. From its humble beginnings in 1955 here in the Arab world, Rainbow Milk has been trusted by the UAE’s residents for over 60 years here in the Middle East.
Various Rainbow Milk products are available across grocery stores and convenience stores across the UAE at affordable prices.
