Steamed Palm Sugar Rice Cakes (Kue Putu)
Kue Putu Say it: koo-EH poo-TOO
Kue putu is a Javanese street snack sold from whistling bamboo steamers, eaten warm at any hour. Damp ground rice is packed into short bamboo tubes with a spoonful of dark palm sugar hidden inside, then steamed until the cake turns soft and faintly chewy and the sugar melts into a caramel centre. Each one is tumbled in fresh grated coconut just before serving, so the first bite is cool, salty and fragrant, the next molten and sweet.
Steamed Palm Sugar Rice Cakes (Kue Putu)
Kue Putu
Pronounced koo-EH poo-TOO
- Serves
- 4
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Total
- 45 min
- Level
- Medium
Also nut-free and egg-free.
Allergens: none of the major allergens in the listed ingredients. Check labels on packaged ingredients.
Ingredients
Amounts are scaled. Cooking times and pan sizes stay the same.
For the cakes
For serving
For the molds
Method
Steam the grated coconut with the 1/8 tsp salt over boiling water for 5 minutes, until hot and fragrant, then set aside covered.
Warm the water with the knotted pandan leaves until steaming, then take off the heat and let cool for a few minutes; discard the leaves. If using pandan paste, simply stir it into the warm water.
Mix the ground rice and 1/4 tsp salt in a wide bowl. Sprinkle in the pandan water a little at a time, rubbing with your fingertips, until the mixture looks like damp sand and holds together when squeezed but never forms a wet dough.
Line 12 small bamboo tubes or cylindrical molds with the banana-leaf squares, or brush the molds lightly with oil.
Spoon about 1 tbsp of the damp rice into each mold and press only lightly. Make a small hollow in the centre, drop in 1 tsp chopped palm sugar, then cover with another 1 tbsp rice and press just enough to seal the sugar in; do not pack it hard.
Steam the filled molds over rapidly boiling water, covered, for 15–20 minutes, until the cakes are set, slightly translucent at the edges, and a skewer pushed in at the side comes out clean.
Tap the cakes out of their molds while warm and roll them in the salted coconut until evenly coated. Serve immediately, while the centres are still soft.
Regional variants
Some cooks colour the rice layer pale green with pandan or suji juice, and in modern kitchens small metal or silicone molds replace the bamboo tubes.
Cook's notes
- If the ground rice feels bone dry after mixing, add water 1 tsp at a time — the texture should be crumbly, not sticky.
- Chop the palm sugar as finely as you can so it melts into a smooth centre instead of leaving hard specks.
- Steam the cakes right after filling; the damp rice dries out and turns gritty if it sits.
Serve with
Serve warm as an afternoon snack with unsweetened tea or black coffee.
Make ahead and storage
Best the day they are made; keep cooled cakes in an airtight box for up to 1 day and re-steam for 5 minutes before rolling in coconut.
