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Best Kutsinta in Chicago

“A jelly-like, chewy rice cake with mild sweetness, topped with fresh grated coconut.”

Kutsinta

What the real thing tastes like

Puto cuchinta or kutsinta, is a type of steamed rice cake (puto) found throughout the Philippines. It is made from a mixture of tapioca or rice flour, brown sugar, and lye, enhanced with yellow food coloring or annatto extract, and steamed in small ramekins. It bears resemblance to the Burmese mont kywe the and Indonesian and Malaysian kuih kosui. The cooked cakes are traditionally topped with fresh grated meat from mature coconut. It is consumed year-round as a merienda or snack, and is frequently sold along with puto. Unlike its counterpart, which has a doughy texture, kutsinta has a jelly-like, chewy consistency. It has a very mild sweetness. It may be further sweetened by adding latik (coconut syrup) or a yema (sweet custard) dip.

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Kutsinta is a golden-hued steamed rice cake that wobbles on the plate with a jelly-like give—nothing like the doughy puto it's often sold alongside. Made from tapioca or rice flour, brown sugar, and lye, then topped with fresh grated coconut, it arrives barely sweet on its own, counting on you to decide whether to dip it in coconut syrup or custard. It's the kind of snack that's been eaten year-round across the Philippines for generations, humble and textural, asking very little but delivering something genuinely distinct.

Order it here when it has

  • distinctly chewy jelly-like consistency
  • versatile sweetness (mild or enhanced with dips)
  • traditional coconut topping
  • year-round availability

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