Meet 4 Filipino-American food innovators and their unique takes on bibingka

Photos from Musang, The Dusky Kitchen, and Woldy Reyes/Instagram

Bibingka, for its simplicity, ease of making, and comforting taste is one of the beloved Filipino staples all year-round. It takes two things we have in abundance: rice ground into galapong or glutinous rice flour and milk extracted from coconut, the life-giving tree.

What makes this distinct from any other kakanin is that it is topped with cheese and salted egg then cooked between hot coals. This rice cake, as with any dish in our archipelago, comes in many iterations depending on which part of the Philippines it is made. That is Filipino ingenuity.

Even more intriguing is Filipino-Americans’ take on bibingka. Given they are miles away from home, making some ingredients inaccessible, it is amazing to see just how our kababayans abroad make do with what they have just to get a taste of home.

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Here, we feature five chefs and home cooks and their unique takes on the beloved bibingka using otherwise unconventional ingredients.

Abi Balingit’s horchata bibingka

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Brooklyn-based Filipino-American home cook and author Abi Balingit got her start at baking during the pandemic. Her blog The Dusky Kitchen sold pasalubong boxes filled with colorful and whimsical Filipino treats with an American twist.

This recipe for bibingka fuses Filipino and Mexican influences, specifically, the sweet nutty cinnamon-rice drink horchata. She made hers bite-sized, too, for convenient snacking.

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Melissa Miranda’s mochiko bibingka

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Filipinx-American chef Melissa Miranda has had a whirlwind of a life in a few years: returning to New York from Italy to open her Filipino pop-up, starring in Bon Appetit videos, then being shortlisted as a James Beard semifinalist—that’s separate from Musang here Filipinx restaurant in Seattle’s own accolades.

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While bibingka is generally considered a holiday staple, Miranda serves it all year round at Musang. Their recipe uses sweet rice flour also called mochiko flour instead of regular rice flour, resulting in a slightly sweeter and chewier bibingka.

Woldy Reyes’ bibingka waffles

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New York-based Filipino-American chef Woldy Reyes of boutique catering company Woldy Kusina has been tinkering with bibingka and its possibilities for years now. A firm believer in utilizing seasonal produce, he’s infused and topped his rice cakes with all kinds of ingredients.

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He’s also done it in various forms: petit fours, pan sheet cake, glazed birthday cake, and loaf. But perhaps his most innovative to date is bibingka waffles. It’s vegan and gluten-free, substituting eggs and butter with club soda and coconut oil. He tops it with fresh fruits, toasted coconut flakes, and coconut yogurt.

Chef Joel and Rachel Javier’s ricotta bibingka

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The chef and events organizer couple Joel and Rachel Javier are behind the Brooklyn-based Filipino-American food business Flip Eats, which creates exclusive dining experiences using seasonally-driven and global flavors that also allude to Filipino flavors.

Descendants of Negrenses, the husband and wife duo were inspired by a trip back home to create their own take on bibingka. “For this particular recipe, we wanted to make it a bit more decadent, a bit more American,” they said, referring to the addition of ricotta and cream cheese. The spongy and rich bite-sized pieces also incorporated original components of the bibingka, namely salted egg and coconut milk.