English: Rice-cake making, Thrust the glutinous rice which it was sultry with a mallet, Katori-city, Japan 日本語: 蒸したもち米を杵でつき、餅を作る。 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Tambo-Tambo Dessert Recipe with a Twist

The twist meant not all original ingredients are available here in the local Australian market unless my Asian stuff is accessible, which are not always.



“Tambo – Tambo” is an Ilocano term of Glutinous Rice Flour Dessert introduced from the province of Ilocos Sur, north of the Philippines. Filipinos in different provinces have their own name of “Tambo – Tambo” but similar ingredients and way of preparation and cooking. Some terms I found online are “Padarusdus” or “Ginataang Bilo-bilo” and maybe even more from other Filipino tribes. I also figured out that “Tambo” is another Filipino recipe refers to “Bamboo Shoots in Coconut Milk” from Iloilo province. Interestingly the Iloilo term for Tambo – Tambo dessert, they call it “Ginataang Lugaw”. Ginataang Lugaw in Ilocano is a baby food; you only cook the glutinous rice flour in the water like how you cook oats and add your chicken broth or any nutritious soup in it.

•  Mix 1 can of coconut milk with the 400 gram of glutinous rice flour and add more glutinous rice flour until it’s really sticky enough to make balls (like mixing a dough flour not a watery pan cake lol…) Then try to slap as long as you like your ready-made dough on the table to absorb all the coconut milk well.

• While you simultaneously cooking the water in your cooking pot, you are also making balls of your glutinous rice or sticky rice flour by using the palm of your hands only.

• Dice your sweet potato in cubes about similar size of your glutinous rice balls. After dicing, place the sweet potatoes in the hot water pot together with your Buckwheat until cooked. Stir it occasionally.

• I don't have Yam, Taro or Sago so I whisk the Chia Seeds in a bowl in cold water before you add the boiling water later so it won't stick together. Then add the Maca Powder while stirring in your bowl to prevent sticking with your cooking mixtures once you pour them in the pot.

• Stir 2 to 3 tablespoons of glutinous rice flour to thicken your dessert soup in a separate small bowl.

• Boil the 3 litres of water while you add 1 can of coconut milk, the raw buckwheat and sweet potato diced in cubes.
• Cook the buckwheat and the Sweet Potato together (Yam, Taro or Sago)
• Add the honey or cane sugar (or use Stevia, Maple Syrup as your other options) Taste it to check its sweetening enough.
• After the buck wheat and sweet potato are cooked, you can add the prepared glutinous rice balls.
• Add pinch of salt only
• Add your whisked or stirred Chia seeds and Maca powder (naturally nutritious ingredients)
• Add the roasted sesame oil
• While cooking all the ingredients in the pot, you may thicken your dessert soup as desired or as needed, not too much.
• How to know when your glutinous rice balls are cooked? They will all be floating on top as the photos illustrated above and very soft if you taste it. Warning it's hot - taste it responsibly!

Are you looking for gluten free recipe?

Scouring my old photo files of the recipe, here's something you can cook very easy but yummy and filling.You can buy this from some or any Asian shops in Australia already grated from the frozen products section. You can also purchase the cassava crop peeled and frozen as well if you want this steamed first before pounding as your alternative. When you cook this for the first time, you get a sticky or gooey texture similar to glutinous rice but not exactly. It's a gluten free cake recipe and could be non-dairy without using milk. You can adjust the ingredients for gluten-free and non-dairy by only using honey and coconut milk only.

Cassava Cake Oven Bake Recipe 

Cassava is "Kamoteng Kahoy" in Tagalog

Ingredients:

2 packs of 454g grated Cassava raw (thawed from frozen) (grated fresh Cassava root crop tastes best!)
2 cans of coconut milk (2-3 cups of coconut milk if prepared fresh)
1/2 cup condensed milk
1/2 cup honey or stevia (or use "tagapulot" or Muscovado or Barbados or molasses cane sugar -- very nutritious to mention it, almost the opposite non-benefits of the adulterated table processed white and brown sugar! Buy it from an Asian shop.)
1 tsp of Vanilla extract
1 tsp salt
1 to 2 eggs
100 g of olive spread (instead of butter)
Parmesan Cheese (Optional to spread on top of your cassava batter before putting in the oven)

Method 1:
Preheat oven to 180°C
Mix all your ingredients and whisk it
Grease your tray or dish before lining it with baking paper measuring its size
Pour all your whisked ingredients.
Top it off with Parmesan Cheese although it's optional.
Bake it for one hour or until brown on top

Method 2:
You can steam your cassava ingredients with similar mixture procedure than using your steamer. You just need your steaming pot and align your tin or dish through your steamer before pouring your cassava batter ready mixed. Then steam until it is cooked. In the Philippines, we also use Banana leaf to wrap and steam it, the banana leaf gives its distinct tasty flavour.

Slice and serve it as dessert or snack more so than dessert in Filipino culture.

Note: Tapioca Flour is a cassava flour.

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