Espasol is a Filipino dessert made from sweet rice flour, glutinous rice flour, coconut milk, sugar, and shredded coconut. The ingredients are toasted, mixed, and cooked for up to an hour before being rolled into tubes and served wrapped in paper or banana leaves.
Sweet Filipino dessert, espol is a type of tubular rice cake. Originating from the province of Laguna in the Philippines, espasol is usually made from two different types of flour and also has a strong coconut base. Besides being a homemade treat, it is also popular vendor food in the Philippines.
Both sweet rice flour and glutinous rice flour are included in this dish. In addition to the flour, coconut milk, sugar and shredded coconut are also included. Sometimes salt, aniseed or vanilla essence are also added.
To prepare the espresso, both the glutinous rice flour and grated coconut are first roasted. The flour and coconut are placed in separate pans and heated over low heat. The cook mixes each ingredient until it turns light brown. Sometimes sweet rice flour will also be toasted.
Once the toasted ingredients have been set aside, the coconut milk is boiled. Some versions will boil the sugar with the milk and others will wait to add the sugar until the milk has boiled. In either case, the sugar will be dissolved and the mixture allowed to thicken before adding the next ingredients.
Next, toasted shredded coconut is added to the milk mixture. Once the coconut is combined, vanilla seeds, salt or anise, and toasted flour are mixed into the mixture. The espasol can cook for up to an hour, until it thickens. The cook must keep stirring the mixture frequently during the cooking process.
Occasionally, only sweet rice flour will be used. In this case, the flour is toasted and then divided to be used as both an outer coating and a cooked ingredient. Otherwise, the cooking process remains the same. Regardless of the process, once the mixture has thickened sufficiently, the pan is removed from the heat and the espasol is allowed to cool. Meanwhile, a flat surface is dusted with the sweet flour.
When the mixture is cool, it is divided and the pieces are rolled into tubes on the floured surface. The mixture can be divided into several small pieces or it can be divided into two. If it is split, each longer tube will be cut into suitable size pieces after rolling. Usually, each espasol is about 0.5 inch (1.27 cm) thick. Although espasol can be served on a plate, it is often served wrapped in paper or banana leaves.
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