If cornbread is a traditional part of your Thanksgiving, consider inviting this kissin’ cousin to the table.

Cornbread bibingka fuses the Southern staple with the Filipino dessert — cornmeal merged with coconut milk, baked on a banana leaf. It is a signature dish of The Park’s Finest, a barbecue restaurant in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, and gained fame when the restaurant was featured on a segment of “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.”

Amy Shimamoto caught the Food Network show and asked for a recipe for something like it.

This recipe is based on a viewing of the segment, in which chef Johneric Concordia threw all his ingredients into a giant tub and let host Guy Fieri pulverize them with an industrial-sized immersion blender. A couple of recipes listing specific proportions can be found on Filipino cooking websites. I studied those, as well as traditional recipes for cornbread and bibingka (which are all over the map but did provide guidance), and made two test batches.

Second time was the charm: Moist, chewy, yet distinctly cornbready, it was somewhere between cake and Japanese mochi.

Ingredient notes: This recipe uses rice flour, not mochiko (sweet glutinous rice flour), which is common to mochi and some bibingka recipes. It does not call for coconut flakes, so the flavor is not especially coconutty. If you’re after that taste profile, stir in a cup of sweetened coconut flakes.

Also, Concordia lined his baking pan with a toasted banana leaf to provide moisture during baking and a mild earthy flavor. I went with ti leaves from my backyard because they were handy. You could go either way.

Bibingka-Style Cornbread

» 1 banana leaf or 2 large ti leaves, rinsed and dried
» 2 eggs
» 1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk
» 1 cup rice flour
» 1 cup cornmeal
» 1 cup powdered sugar
» 1-1/2 tablespoons baking powder
» 1/4 teaspoon salt
» 1/4 cup softened butter
» 1 (15-ounce) can creamed corn

Glaze:
» 1 tablespoon butter
» 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with foil. Cut banana leaf or ti leaves to fit bottom of pan. Arrange in pan and place in oven 5 to 10 minutes to lightly toast leaves (if you have a gas stove, leaves may be toasted over the burner flame). Lightly grease leaves with butter.

Break eggs into large mixing bowl and blend until foamy with an immersion blender (you could also use a food processor or blend on high with an electric mixer). Add remaining ingredients except corn; blend again until ingredients are well incorporated. Add creamed corn and blend until smooth. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 30 to 40 minutes, until golden brown and a pick inserted into the center comes out clean.

To glaze, brush with 1 tablespoon butter and sprinkle with sugar. Return to oven 5 more minutes.

Let cool slightly. Lift edges of foil to remove cake from pan.

Nutritional information unavailable.

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