Latik

Latík is a delightful and versatile ingredient in Filipino cuisine, referring to two distinct coconut-based products depending on the region.

In the Visayan region, Latík is a sweet, syrupy caramel made from coconut cream, perfect for drizzling over treats like kalamay and suman. Locally, it's often referred to as 'syrup' in Visayan languages and is known in English as "coconut caramel." You can even find a commercial version of this Visayan Latík sold internationally as coconut syrup, which differs from coconut sugar made from coconut sap.

In the northern Philippines, however, Latík takes on a different form. Here, it's the solid byproduct you obtain when you simmer coconut milk until the oil separates and the remaining curds turn golden brown. These tasty curds are used to garnish a variety of desserts, including maja blanca, sapin-sapin, and ube halaya. In the Visayas, these coconut curds have their own names: lunok in Cebuano and balutai in Karay-a.

It's worth noting that sometimes Latík is confused with another coconut treat called bukayo, which is caramelized coconut flesh. This confusion is particularly common in Bisaya.