×Put Chai Ko (Bowl-Steamed Rice Cake)

Why you must eat itA batter of rice flour loosened with brown (or white) sugar is poured into small bowls over a layer of red beans and steamed to a set. Two bamboo picks turn it free from the rim, and it is eaten in the hand. The springy, chewy cake carries the gentle sweetness of the sugar and the softness of the beans. Plain and unweighed, it is the simple sweet of old streets. It does not harden quickly when cool and can be eaten walking. It survives at stalls in old villages like Coloane; aim for the hour a fresh batch is set out. Many compare the white-sugar and brown-sugar kinds.