Hello and Nyob Zoo everyone!
Fresh corn season is here! Here’s to another cooking session with my grandma teaching me how she makes her version of Ncuav pob kws: Fresh corn cake. Ncuav means cake, pob kws means corn. Since fresh corn is in season I wanted to see how she makes her ncuav pob kws and it was simply simple! 🙂 It’s basically just fresh grated corn mixed with glutinous rice flour and cooked in banana leaves. Yes, that’s it! 🙂 I love learning as much as I can from Grandma and sharing the knowledge with you all as well. I’ll be showing you two versions of corn cakes today: Grandma’s version and my version. Grandma’s version is super simple, fast, and very nostalgic. She doesn’t use any sugar in hers since she doesn’t like her ncuav to be super sweet. She says that if the corn is sweet enough, that’ll be good enough for her. For my version, I’ll be adding sugar and coconut milk for those interested in those flavors. So if you are making ncuav pob kws for someone who doesn’t like sweets as much, try out Grandma’s version. If you’re on the sweeter side, then try out my recipe. Both are equally good. Oh the memories.
Let me know what you like to add into your ncuav pob kws and if your grandparents likes eating it the way my grandma makes it. Happy Cooking!
Hello Grandma!
Teaching us her ways
Using fresh corn to make our ncuav today. Fresh corn is best for this recipe since it’s more sweet. Frozen or canned corned can be used but the flavor is not as good as fresh corn.
The flour I used: Rice flour, Glutinous rice flour and coconut flour. Grandma uses only glutinous rice flour and regular rice flour. I like the coconut flavor in mine. So the option is yours to decide.
Mixing 
Using fresh banana leaves to cook the corn cakes in. It gives it a nice flavor
Grandma cutting the banana leaves into squares
Putting the mixture in the banana leaf before cooking
Cook on a pancake griddle. You can also steam it before cooking it on the pancake griddle. My grandma says cooking it straight on the pancake griddle is her way of doing it faster and yes…. a little more lazier hahaha
Once cooked, enjoy! Or wrap it plastic wrap and keep it in the fridge or freezer to enjoy later in the year 🙂
Grandma’s version
Pancake version 
Left to right: Pancake version, steamed version, and cooked in banana leaf version
So PRETTY! All about that crispy browning. YUM!
Happy Cooking!
Ingredients
- ---GRANDMA'S VERSION--- [makes 20+]
- 15 corn (grated)
- 2 ½ bag glutinous rice flour (2 lbs 8oz)
- 1 (16oz) bag rice starch
- Sugar is optional
- Banana leaves
- ---CINDY'S VERSION--- [makes 12-15]
- 3 lbs corn (6-7 corn)
- 1 lb 8oz glutinous rice flour (705g)
- ½ cup coconut flour (65g)
- ½ cup rice flour (56g)
- ½ tsp salt (4g)
- ⅔ cup sugar (148g)
- 1/2 cup coconut cream (125ml or 113g)
- Banana leaves
- Butter
Instructions
GRANDMA'S VERSION
- Using a grater, grate the corn over a big bowl. Then add in the glutinous rice flour and regular rice flour. Mix well until you get a pliable dough. You can add sugar if you desire. Get your banana leaves ready and cut them into big enough squares for filling. For each square place a good scoop of the corn dough on one side. Flatten it well and fold with the other banana leaf end. Place each cake on a pancake griddle set to 250' and cover with foil. Let it steam and cook for about 15 minutes each side. Cook until the cake is fully cooked and both sides has good browning. Once cooked, let it cool. Then take the banana leaves off and wrap each cake in plastic wrap. Put it in a ziplock bag and store it in the fridge for 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Reheat when you want to eat it again.
- You can also steam the cakes and then pan fry them to get the golden color. Steam for 30 minutes, let it cool and then pan fry them if you desire.
CINDY'S VERSION
- With a knife over a bowl, cut the corn kernels. Add the kernels into a blender and blend them well. It may take 3 cycles to get them blended. If you have a food processor it will work best. Blend the corn to your desire texture and pour it into a big bowl for mixing.
- Mix in the glutinous rice flour, regular rice flour, coconut flour, sugar, salt, and coconut cream. Mix well.
- Wash and cut the banana leaves to be ready to fill. Fill with about 1/3 cups of the corn batter and wrap well.
- FOR STEAMING: Place the wrapped corn cakes in steamer and steam for 30 minutes. Let it cool and then pan fry to get both sides crispy and brown.
- COOKING IN THE BANANA LEAVES: On a pancake griddle set to 250', place the wrapped corn cakes on. Cover with foil and let it cook for about 10-15 minutes on each side. Once it is fully cooked in the center, let it cool and peel off the banana leaves. Wrap in plastic wrap to retain the moisture and store.
- PANCAKE VERSION: On a pancake griddle set to 250', spread some unsalted butter on. Scoop about 1/3 cups of the corn batter and flatten it like a pancake. Let it brown up for about 2-3 minutes. Flip it and then add in about 2-3 Tbsp of water and cover with foil to allow it to steam and cook the cakes all the way though for about 3-5 minutes. Keep flipping them to brown evenly on both sides and to cook it all the way through. Once cooked, let it cool and enjoy! 🙂
- For storing, wrap each cake individually in plastic wrap and place in a ziplock bag. Put it in the fridge for 1 week or in the freezer for about 3 months. Reheat in the microwave or in a pan when you want to eat it again.
Notes
Frozen corn and or canned corn can be used. HOWEVER, the flavor may be a little off. You may also need to add more or less liquid/flour since the moisture content is slightly off when using frozen/canned. Sugar level may also need to be adjusted. Using fresh corn is highly suggested 🙂 Best of luck! Let me know how you like to make corn cakes.
3 comments
I just made these today following your version of the pancake and they are super tasty! I was worried at first that I’d get too much of a coconut taste but you get just a slight hint which is just fine for me! Thank you for your recipe!
I made Cindy’s version today and turned out perfectly! It was delicious!
I am diabetic. I need to know how many carbohydrates are in a cake?