While the Philippines has many great desserts, carioca is my favorite and pretty underrated. Carioca has different names & variations throughout the Philippines like cascaron, tungi-tungi in Kapampangan, bitsu-bitsu in Bisaya, and tinudok in Ilocano. Though not all carioca hit the spot — sometimes they turn out a bit bland and too soft on the…

Bibingkang Nasi, also called bibingkang malagkit in Tagalog, is a Kapampangan rice cake made with glutinous rice, coconut milk, and brown sugar, baked on banana leaves for extra flavor. In my family, we call it putong nasi, and as a veghead, was sometimes the only thing I could eat at family parties. 😆 It’s often…

Buko fruit salad is a Filipino-style fruit salad and is perfect in hot weather. 👌🏼 Sadly, another dessert you’ll rarely see veganized. In fact, I’ve never seen a vegan buko fruit salad anywhere. Still, it’s really simple to put together. You do need access to an Asian supermarket as well as Nature’s Charm vegan sweetened…

Jollibee’s sweet, fried, Filipino buko pies stare at me every time I tag along to Jollibee with friends. 😆 Thankfully, buko pies are easy to veganize at home. Originally from Laguna in the Philippines, this coconut-filled pastry is perfectly sweet with a crisp, semi-flaky crust. I made these for a Christmas Eve family party, and…

Salukara is a fermented rice pancake from the Waray people of Eastern Samar, Philippines. This Waray delicacy is made from rice, coconut milk, and sugar, and is traditionally fermented with coconut wine (tubâ). In this Salukara recipe I use instant yeast. Salukara tastes likes fermented bibingka. It’s usually eaten with hands like a snack and…