Palitaw is a small, flat, chewy rice cake boiled until it floats, then rolled while still warm in grated coconut, sugar, and toasted sesame seeds. The name itself comes from the cooking: the dough discs sink at first and bob to the surface when done. Soft and slightly sticky, with no filling, it is a simple, much-loved merienda. The three coatings give it a tidy contrast — coconut, sweet sugar, and a nutty sesame finish.
Palitaw takes its name from the Tagalog litaw, to float or surface, describing the moment the cooked discs rise in the boiling water — a rare case where the name is a transparent, well-attested description of the method. It belongs to the pre-colonial kakanin tradition of glutinous-rice sweets, made from galapong, the soaked-and-ground sticky rice that underpins many Filipino rice cakes, and is associated especially with rice-growing Luzon. As a folk merienda its precise origin is undocumented, but its place in the everyday kakanin canon is long-standing.
Each piece is thin, soft, and pleasantly chewy, almost gummy in the way of boiled glutinous rice, with no filling to interrupt it. The grated coconut clings in moist shreds, the sugar gives a granular sweetness, and the toasted sesame brings a warm, nutty crackle. It is best fresh and still slightly warm, before the dough stiffens; eaten in one or two bites, sweet but not heavy.
Boiling is the method and the timer at once. The discs are shaped from a stiff glutinous-rice dough and dropped into rolling water; as the amylopectin starch gelatinizes through, the cakes lose density and rise — floating is the visible signal that they are cooked. The dough must stay thin and flat so the heat reaches the center quickly. Rolling them in coconut while warm lets the dry coatings stick to the slightly tacky surface, and the sesame is toasted first to draw out its aroma.
Variations
The standard finish is coconut with a separate sugar-and-sesame mix, but some serve palitaw sa latik, drenched in the syrupy reduced coconut cream instead of dry coatings. Cooks may tint or flavor the dough with ube or pandan, or stretch the rice flour with a little mashed sweet potato. The shape and size are loose — most are flattened ovals, some pressed thinner and crisper at the edge.
On the Palate
Where Palitaw sits in the Filipino flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6How it's made
8 steps · 15 min
- 15 min
Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan until fragrant, then mix with sugar and set aside.
- 26 min
Combine glutinous rice flour with water and knead into a smooth, firm dough.
Watch outKnead a smooth, firm dough and keep the discs thin and flat — thin means the heat reaches the center fast so they cook through before the outside overcooks.
- 35 min
Pinch off small balls and flatten each into a thin oval disc.
- 45 min
Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil.
- 54 min
Drop the discs in a few at a time and wait until they float to the surface.
Watch outWait until the cakes float up to the surface — floating is the clear signal the starch has cooked through and they're done.
- 62 min
Lift the floated cakes out and drain briefly.
- 74 min
While still warm, roll each piece in grated coconut.
- 83 min
Arrange on a plate and dust with the sugar-sesame mix to serve.
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