Homemade Coconut Ice Cream (Ice-cream Ga Ti)

This is classic rich coconut ice-cream, served in a Thai style. Thai ice-cream isn't really iced cream, it's often made from non dairy products. This recipe contains taro, a root vegetable whose starchiness gives the ice-cream a soft smooth texture. You can also use sweet potato if you cannot obtain taro.This recipe is much easier if you have a hand blender, during the preparation you will need to blend the ice-cream repeatedly as it freezes, this is done to break up the ice crystals that form. It is much easier to do that with a handheld blender or egg beater. Finally, the decoration is made from a gummy coloured mixture of cooked sticky rice flour, this is also very typical Thai, but you can use whatever toppings you like, although not strictly Thai, rum soaked raisins are popular in my house among the adults.
Ingredients 800 ml Coconut Milk200 gms Sugar5 gms Salt100 ml Skimmed Milk75 gms Taro or Sweet Potato5 gms Corn FlourIce-water To Rapidly Cool the Mixture
Preparation1. Chop the taro or sweet potato into large cubes and steam until cooked through.2. Heat the coconut milk in a sauce pan on a very low heat (about 55 degrees celsius, this is nowhere near boiling, it is simply hot to the touch).3. Mix the corn flour with 100 ml water and add to the coconut milk in the saucepan.4. Add the sugar, salt, and skimmed milk, to the saucepan and stir until everything is dissolve.5. Warm it to 65 degrees C and keep stirring it. Do not let it boil.6. Mash the taro cubes with a fork and add into saucepan and using a hand blender blender the contents of the pan until the mixture is completely smooth and the taro has disappeared into the liquid.7. Warm the pan a little higher to 80 degrees C for 4 minutes. Again it must not boil. This is to cook the flour through, without permitting it to become a thick sauce.8. The mixture should be cooled quickly and then put in the fridge, the best way to do with is to empty it into a containing that is sitting in ice water.9. Once it is cool enough, put it into the freezer until frozen.10. While it is freezing ice crystals will form, every few hours you should remove it from the freezer and blend it with a hand blender to break up the crystals.
Sticky Rice Ball Topping (Ruam Mid)
These are used as the topping, they have a gummy texture and a rose smell, if you prefer you can use vanilla essence in water for a vanilla smell or other fruit essences. You can use coconut essence if you really want to emphasize the coconut taste.
Ingredients Red, Green and Yellow Food Colouring9 Tablespoons Sticky Rice Flour (3 tablespoons for each colour)4 1/2 Tablespoons Rose Water (1 1/2 tablespoons for each colour)300 ml Cold WaterWater for boiling
Preparation1. The colours need to be made up separately, steps 2 - 4 should be repeated for the red, green and yellow shapes in separate cups.2. Drop the red food colorings into a cup and add 1 1/2 tablespoons of rose water.3. Add 3 tablespoons of sticky rice flour to the cup and mix to a paste.4. Pinch off small amounts of the paste and roll into tiny (corn sized) balls, or small sausages.5. Repeat steps 2-4 for yellow and for green food colouring.6. Boil water in a saucepan and drop the balls and sausages into the boiling water.7. They will swell slightly when cooked, it only takes a couple of minutes. One cooked, scoop them out with a sieve and drop into the cold water.8. Mix a few with the ice-cream just before serving.

Thai Sandwich Cake ( Ka Noom Pang Sungkayha )

This is literally a sandwich cake! In Thailand we often eat bread as a dessert with sweet sauces spread on it. For this recipe I've taken one of these sauces and made it into a layer cake. You can also make sandwiches of this and eat it as a picnic food or as a children's treats.
Ingredients for 2 Cakes 250 m Coconut Milk150 gms Sugar200 ml Evaporated Milk3 Eggs3 Tablespoons Wheat Flour1 Teaspoon Salt2-3 Drops Green Food Color8-10 Slices of BreadDesiccated Coconut for Garnish
Preparation1. Whip the eggs to mix them, add all the other ingredients and whip together for 1 minute.2. This needs to be cooked in a bain marie (a small pan sitting in a larger pan of boiling water so that it cooks gently). Cook slowly for 15 minutes, stirring continuously.3. Let it cool a little, for this cake, you can eat this topping warm or cold!4. Cut the crusts off the bread. Layer slices of bread, and sauce alternately, with a top layer of the sauce.5. Dust with dried coconut.

Coconut Candies ( Ma-Pow-Gew )

For this recipe you will need middle aged old coconut. Not quite young coconut, not old coconut, just middle aged. You can find this frozen in your Asian supermarket, as medium old coconut Mapow How or Mapow Roy Kanom.
Ingredients 500 gms Shredded Coconut Meat300 gms Sugar150 waterFood colouring
Preparation1. Mix the sugar and water together. Heat and bring to the boil.2. Boil the water off to a thick sugar syrup.3. Add the shredded coconut, lower the heat and continue stiring until all the liquid has gone.4. Let them cool a little, taking two teaspoons take out ball shaped lumps on the mixture and let them cool on a drying try.

Sweet Shrimp on Yellow Rice ( Kao Niew Moon Na Gung )

This recipe may sound a little strange. It is a dessert made from shrimp on a base of (non-spicy) curried rice. A common Thai dish, but the ingredients are not common to desserts!
Ingredients for Yellow Rice100 gms Sticky Rice1-2 Teaspoons Tumeric200 ml Coconut Milk150 gms Sugar1 Teaspoon Salt
Ingredients for Sweet Shrimp100 gms Shrimps2-3 Garlic Cloves1 Teaspoon White Pepper10 gms Coriander Root or Seeds100 gms Desiccated (Ground) Coconut150 gms Sugar1 Teaspoons Salt2 Tablespoons Oil2-3 Drops of Orange Food Colouring10 gms Sliced Kaffir Leaves for Garnish
Preparation1. To make the yellow rice, soak the sticky rice in warm water, and tumeric and leave for 4-8 hours.2. Steam the rice until cooked, (approximately 15 minutes).3. Place the rice in a bowl, mix with the sugar, salt and coconut milk. Leave it to soak up the coconut milk.4. Now to the shrimp topping. Clean the shrimp, remove the shell and cut down the back to remove the black thread 'gut'.5. Chop the shrimp into a fine mince.6. Pound the garlic and coriander root/seeds and white pepper together until well ground up.7. Fry the shrimp and pounded mixture in a frying pan with a little oil until part cooked, 30 seconds or so is fine.8. Mix the ground coconut with the orange food colouring, add to the frying pan, add the sugar and salt and fry for a further 2 minutes. The sugar will slightly caramelize.9. Serve a small bowl of the yellow rice with the sweet shrimp on top and garnish with some slices of kaffie lime leaves.

Black Rice Pudding Cake ( Kao Niew Dum Gurn )

The taro gives a soft bread like texture, the coconut cream a smooth creaminess and the berris give a contrast tartness. I used red berries for this, but sour strawberries or raspberries would also work well.
Ingredients 500 gms Taro Root140 gms Tapioca or Cassava Starch Flour60 ml Hot Water250 ml Coconut Milk175 gms Sugar1 Teaspoon SaltYoung Coconut Meat (Available in cans)Bitua LeavesSour Berries for Garnish (Optional)
Preparation1. Peel the taro root, cut into half, steam until it is cooked through and leave it to cool. Mash it.2. Take half the flour, add to the mashed taro, add the hot water and mix. Add the remaining flour and mix well to form a smooth paste.3. Cover the bowl the paste is in with a damp towel to stop a skin forming.4. Into a blender, blend the Bitua leaves with 2 tablespoons of water to form bitua juice, sieve the leaves out leaving just the juice and add that to the taro dough. If the dough is too wet, add more flour.5. Roll out the taro and cut into square (if you prefer you can pinch off pieces and roll them to form balls).6. Into a saucepan, place coconut milk and bring to the boil, add sugar and salt and stir to dissolve then remove from the heat and leave to cool. Adjust the seasoning of this sauce to your tastes, it should be a little salty and slightly sweeter than you like.7. Cook the tarot squares in boiling water for 3 minutes, remove and cool in cold water.8. Serve the taro, berries and warm sauce immediately

Fruit Pork Fat Roses ( Ka Noom cho Morng )

These roses are a typical Thai recipe from the Krua Klai Baan recipe forum, that I thought was worth translating into English for you. The filling is mainly pork and candied (glacé) fruits, a little sweet and a little savoury with excellent presentation, typical of Thai snacks. To make the flowers use a set of flat bladed small tongs, but if you don't have them, you can just make round balls instead.In the following photographs you can see the filling used inside the roses:
Ingredients for Filling30 gms Pork With Fat & Rind50 gms Chopped Candied (Glacée) Fruits30 gms Chopped Peanuts20 gms Sesame Seeds1 Teaspoon Salt1-2 Tablespoon Oil
Ingredients for Dough130 gms Rice Flour1/2 Teaspoon Cassava Starch1/2 Teaspoon Tapioca Flour250 ml Water2 Tablespoon Oil2-3 Drops of Food Color
Preparation1. Boil the pork in water 10 minutes.2. Chop the pork to tiny tiny pieces.3. Drain and place in a frying pan with a little oil4. Fry for 30 seconds then add finely chopped candied fruits, sesame seeds, salt and fry again for 30 more seconds, then turn the heat off.5. Add the chopped peanut in and leave to cool.6. Make the dough by mixing the 2x flours & starch together, add the oil and the water and mix.7. Place into a saucepan, over a medium heat and stir until the mixture cooks and thickens, this will take 8-10 minutes. Remove it from the heat and cover with a damp cloth to keep it moist.8. Rub your fingers lightly in tapioca flour to stop the dough sticking.9. Pinch off small pieces of the dough, about 30gms worth and roll it in your hands to form a ball. Repeat this until all the dough is used up.10. Take each ball and press them flat in the palm of your hand.11. Spoon some of the filling into the middle, fold up the edges and seal it.12. If you wish, you can make roses at this point, this is explained below.13. Steam for 5 minutes.
Making The RosesUsing the flat bladed tongs, pinch a triangle into the dough. Next go around spiralling and pinch out a leaf. The leaves form interlocking spirals around the triangle, they start near the triangle and spiral downwards. You repeatedly pinch the dough until the leaf is wide enough.

Yellow Soya Coconut Sweets ( Tou Goun )

Another Thai 'candy' that's more like a snack than a sweet. This one is made with a pureé of yellow soya bean and sugar. When I was a child I would spend my money on these sweets whenever I could. When you buy these in Thailand they have a pretty pattern stamped into the top, but you can also make them the same way I do, in an ice-cube tray. You will need either yellow soya beans for this, or green soya beans. If you have green soya beans, soak them in warm water overnight and peel them in the morning.
Ingredients 100 gms Green Soya Beans500 ml Warm Water300 gms Sugar300 ml Coconut Milk50 gms Grated Coconut
Preparation1. Soak the soya beans in warm water overnight.2. Remove the green skins from the soya (you can simply squeeze them between your fingers to do this) then steam for 15 minutes.3. In a blender, take the soya beans, add the sugar and coconut and blend until smooth.4. Place it in a saucepan and cook over a low heat until it becomes very thick.5. Form into cubes, leave to cool in the fridge and they're ready to eat. I use a ice-cube tray dusted with icing sugar for mine.

Thai Breakfast Cereal ( Nam-Tao-Hu Song-Crueng )

This is the Thai equivalent of breakfast cereal. It's made from tapioca pearls, grass jelly and warm sweetened soya sauce. For the photograph I only put a little liquid into the bowl, so you can see the cereal better, but normally you put a lot more.
Ingredients 200 ml Soya Milk (Normally for Drinking)1 Tablespoon Sugar30 gms Tapioca Pearls30 gms String Tapioca (a zig-zag tapioca style)30 gms Sliced Grass Jelly
Preparation1. Soak the all tapioca in warm water overnight.2. Boil the tapioca until cooked.3. Boil the soya milk with the sugar until the sugar is dissolved.4. To serve, slice the grass jelly, spoon on some of the tapioca and pour on warm soya milk.

Thai Sticky Soya Sweets ( Made Ka Noon )

These are Thai sweets, so they're not what you might expect. Made from sweetened soya beans, then dipped in egg yolk and cooked in hot sugar syrup. You can also use yellow soya for a totally yellow 'candy', but I prefer to use soaked green bean soya, I think it has more fibre.
Ingredients for 4 People100 gms Green Soya Beans300 ml Warm Water500 gms Sugar (100gms + 400gms)5 Egg Yolks
Preparation1. Soak the green soya beans in warm water for at least 10 hours (overnight is best). They will become soft.2. Steam for 15 minutes to cook them.3. Grind it in a food blender, or in a Thai mortar to a paste.4. Put the paste into a saucepan, add 100gms (keep 400gms back!) of the sugar into the same pan and cook over a low heat until the mixture thickens, stirring all the time. Once it thicken after a few minutes, leave it to cool.5. Roll pieces of the soya paste in your hands to form small sausages 4cms long.6. Boil the remaining 400gms of sugar in a saucepan with just enough water to dissolve it all, this is to form a hot sugar syrup.7. Whip the egg yolks together.8. Take the soya sausages, dip them in the egg yolk until they're well covered with egg, then drop them into the simmering hot sugar syrup to cook. 9. The egg will cook giving them a yellow sweet glaze, remove them after 3 minutes or so, and place on a serving dish. 10. They can be eaten warm or cold.

Thai Rice Flour Muffins (Kanom Tui Fu)

This is the Thai version of muffins, they are made with rice flour, scented very gently with rose or other flower water and steamed rather than baked. To cook this you will need foil or paper cups, the dough mixture is runny and needs to be held in a cup during cooking. You can see from the pink muffin sliced in half in the picture above, that the mixture forms light moist muffins.
Ingredients for 4 Muffins125 gms Rice Flour125 gms Sugar125 ml Rose Water1 Teaspoon Fresh Yeast1 Teaspoon Baking SodaFood Colouring (Optional)
Preparation 1. Mix the yeast with the rice flour, add the rose water little by little and mix until the flour is soft.2. Add sugar, and the remaining rose water and the baking soda.3. At this point you can add 5 drops of food colouring. Or even divide the mixture into sections and colour each section separately.4. Stir the mixture well and place in a covered bowl, leave for 1-2 hours for bubbles to form.5. The mixture should be thick but still fluid. Fill each paper or foil cup to just below the top, the mixture will expand during cooking.6. Place in a Chinese steamer for 10 minutes. You can check they are cooked by sticking a tooth pick or fork into the centre and if it comes out clean it is cooked inside.7. Serve cold.

Mini Yellow Bean Fruits ( Kao Noom Look Choup )

Everyone of these miniature fruits are made from sweetened yellow bean paste, and food colourings. The shine comes from a glaze made of agar. Don't be put off, they are not as difficult to make as they look, and you can have a lot of fun with your children making them.Make each one small, 10-15gms of yellow bean paste is perfect, if you make them too big, they are difficult to dip in the agar later and will not hold their shape. A good way to hold the fruit is to skewer them on toothpicks as you paint and dip them.
Ingredients 200 gms Yellow Bean150 gms Sugar1 Teaspoon Salt100 ml Coconut MilkFood Coloring
Ingredients for Glaze5 gms Agar Jelatin150 Water50 gms Sugar
Preparation1. Soak the yellow beans obernight, steam for 45 minutes.2. Pound or blend the bean to a paste, add mix with the sugar, salt and coconut milk.3. Place into a saucepan and heat gently, stirring continuously until the paste thickens, then leave it to cool.4. Now comes the artistic stage, take small pieces of the yellow bean paste, about 10gms each and form them into fruit shapes.5. I find it's a good idea to use toothpicks and a block of foam to hold the shapes while I paint them with the food colouring.6. Now to glaze, mix the agar with water and heat until the agar has fully dissolved.7. Leave it to cool slightly, but be careful not to let it set.8. Dip the fruit into the agar and stand them up by pushing the toothpick into foam or polystyrene. Let the agar set on the fruit, then repeat the process and coat the fruit again with another layer of agar. You may have to reheat the agar in the pan to melt it again each time.
Hints for Each FruitBanana - Bananas are slightly oblong, with 4 stripes running down the sides.Chom Pu - These are a Thai fruit, a little pink yellow and orange on the base and make the top slightly green.Cherries - The stalk I made from a stalk of coriander.
Chillies - I rolled out the basic shape and used a blunt knife to make the leaf shape at the top. Then skewer them with a toothpick and paint with food coloring.Man Cud - the leaves on the top are made by pressing in the top of a pen to give the round leaf shape.Melon Slices - I found it is easier to not paint the bottom edge of the melon.
Mini Orange - One of my favourites, make the leaf separately and be careful when dipping this one in agar because the leaf can come off.Mini Sweet Corn - Make a tapering sausage shape, cut a grating into the soya with a sharp knife, then paint with yellow food colouring and green edging.Mini Tomato - A blunt knife is used to make the star shaped leaves, by pushing down the soft yellow bean paste.
Mini Pears - I made these pears too big, and as you can see one of them bent when I was coating them in agar.

Thai Mini Pancakes ( Kanoom Krang )

These sweet rice pancakes with spring onions, are a tradition in Thailand. Normally made on a big iron plate, you can make them at home if you have a mini pancake pan like the one shown below and a lid to cover it. They are made from 2 halfs stuck together with a binding topping. The lower layer contains spring onions and salt, and the topping layer is sweeter. In future recipes we'll reuse the pan to make other desserts, so if you want to buy one you can reuse it for many things.Ingredients For Base 120 gms Rice Flour230 ml Water230 ml Water (Again)80 gms Cooked Fragrant Rice60 gms Shredded Fresh Coconut1/2 Teaspoon Salt1 Chopped Spring Onion
Preparation for Base1. Mix the rice flour and 230ml water and leave overnight to sour a little.2. The next day, mix the cooked rice, salt, shredded coconut, and the other 230ml water and blend to smooth out the rice, and add mixture this to the other rice mixture.Ingredients for Topping 230 ml Coconut Milk225 gms Sugar1/2 Teaspoon Salt
Preparation for Topping1. Mix all ingredients together and stir until the sugar and salt have completely dissolved.
Cooking1. Put the pan on the heat.2. Chop the spring onions finely.3. Spread a little oil on the surface by rubbing it down with oiled kitchen paper.4. Spoon the base mixture into each indent in the pan up to the top, sprinkle a few onions on it. 5. Cover and leave to cook for 2 to 3 minutes.6. Spoon just a little of the topping mixture over each pancake, let it set a little, but not too much.7. Take a spoon, turn each pancake over onto it's neighbor, you can see this in the photograph bottom right. Cover and just let the last of topping mixture set for a few seconds.

Black Sticky Rice Pudding ( Kao Niew Dum Pack )

This is the Thai version of rice pudding made with black sticky rice and coconut milk. I like to serve it, as in the photograph above, by pressing the rice into a decorative mould and pouring the coconut milk over the top. But you can also just spoon it into a bowl and pour the coconut over it.
Ingredients 150 gms Black Sticky Rice250 ml Water2 Tablespoons Sugar1 Tablespoon Corn Flour or Cassava Starch1/4 Teaspoon Salt100 ml Coconut Milk
Preparation1. Soak the sticky rice in water overnight.2. Drain and rince twice.3. Steam for 15 minutes in a Thai rice steamer.4. Place into a saucepan with the water, and boil for 12-15 minutes until the rice is soft.5. Stir in the sugar and salt, mix the corn flour with a little water and stir that in to thicken the rice.6. Continue heating and stirring the rice until it is thick, then spoon it into the moulds, or simply spoon into bowls.7. Turn the moulds out onto plates.8. Warm the coconut milk through and pour a little over the rice.

Rice Pancakes : pak moh

If you are wandering around the market, you might spot a hawker cooking little delicate rice pancakes on a steamer. These are called 'pak moh' or ?ҡˁ鍠in Thai. The steam cooker usually has at least one cone-shaped cover which is used in the cooking process. As you can see in the pictures, a piece of white cloth, either cotton or muslin, is stretched over the opening. A gap is left for the steam to escape. The batter is then spread thinly over the cloth. This batter is made from rice flour and tapioca. The cone-shaped cover is then placed over the top. She then turns her attention to the other steamer where the pancake is ready. She spoons in a small portion of a filling and then folds it together. This is then scooped up and put into the foam tray. She then spoons more of the batter on the now vacant cloth. By this time, the other rice pancake is ready and she moves across the cone-shaped cover and starts again with the other filling. The fillings vary from store to store. It can be shrimp or pork, beansprouts, chopped parsley, long green beans and sweetcorn. The woman in this photo was working very fast going back and forth between the two steamers. It was fascinating to watch. It seemed popular as there was quite a crowd of people waiting.

Khanom Hmor Ling Mor Khang

Mor Ling Mor Khang is a carnivourous plant that eats insects by trapping them in it's jug-like protuberances. It is to be found on Koh Lanta ever more rarely.It was a traditional sweet that previous generations on Lanta island ate often.Before the advent of tourism, the locals of Koh Lanta (or Ko Lanta as an alternative spelling),did not have many shops on the island to buy premade products, such as coockies etc.Instead they made their specialities from the things they found from the natural enviroment around them.Mr. Baw, best friend of the author of kohlantakolanta.com, is a perfect example of how a Kohlanta-islander survives without the need for money exchanging hands too often.Trade and barter is a common occurence, and many tasks are completed using the things one has at hand from Mother Nature."Khanom Mor Ling Mor Khang" is a wonderful example of how simple Thai people are able to make luxurious and enjoyable things to consume without the need to go to great expense. The simple people of Kohlanta can teach us how a quality lifestyle can be lived without the need for unthriftiness. Khanom Morling Morkhang is the name given to the sweetmeat that is made from this carnivourous plant that is still being collected prepared and eaten by Mr. Baw and his family (including the author of this website - this sweet is so delicious it is unimaginable that anyone might not like it).A type of "Khanom" (meaning "sweets"), made from freshly grated coconut flesh and coconut-milk made by passing the inside of a half-nut over a round shaped grinding machine.The machine scrapes the flesh off the inside wall of the shell leaving itextremely finely grated.This is then simmered with sugar and mixed with sticky rice, which is stuffed into the inside of the jug-like like nodule of the plant.Lots of coconut milk is poured into each one till full to the brim.Then the sweets are steamed slowly, until the soft chewy coconut-cream tasting sticky rice filling, and crispy light green-yellow container wrapping the sticky rice is ready to be eaten.The plants found for the Photos in this article were found and prepared by Mr. Baw and his family.Please read Mr. Baw's diary elsewhere on this website.

Evaporated Milk Sweet Pancakes ( Kanom Tokyo )

These pancakes are a Thai favorite and very very rich. There are many types of fillings, for the photograph I've made two, taro filled ones at the back and cream filled ones at the front. Another common fillings is shredded young coconut. Prepare the filling before you start the pancakes, as you make each pancake you will fill them and roll them up.
Ingredients 100 gms Wheat Flour3 Teaspoons Bicarbonate of Soda1 Teaspoon Salt1 Egg4 Tablespoons Sugar300 ml Evaporated Milk2 Tablespoons Melted Butter1 Teaspoon Vanilla Essence
Preparation1. Sift the flour mix and bicarbonate of soda together.2. Whip an egg until fluffy, add the sugar, salt and blend. Add the evaporated milk, flour, butter, and vanilla essence and continue blending. Leave 20 minutes to rest.3. You will need a good clean flat non stick frying pan for this, a little butter while frying can help, but these pancakes are very soft and need to be fried carefully.4. Heat the frying pan. Pour a small amount of the mixture onto the pan and use a spoon to shape it into a circle and fill any holes. For this recipe you want small pancakes, no more than 8cms across.5. Fry gently until the pancake is brown, then turn it over. While the other side is cooking, spread some of the filling onto the pancake, then roll it up and set it on a serving plate. Serve warm.Ingredients for Cream Filling1 Egg3 Tablespoons Sugar1 Teaspoon Salt100 ml Water100 ml Evaporated Milk5 Tablespoons Butter2 Tablespoons Corn Flour
Preparation for Cream Filling1. Whip the egg with the sugar and salt.2. Add the water, evaporated milk, butter, and corn flour and put into a saucepan and cook over a low heat until the cream is mixed and thick, then leave to cool.
Ingredients Taro Filling50 gms Taro2 Tablespoons Sugar1 Tablespoon Oil
Preparation for Taro Filling1. Steam the taro until cooked.2. Purée the taro in a blender together with the sugar.3. Heat the taro in a saucepan over a low heat, to drive off excess water and thicken it. Once it's thickened, leave it to cool.

khanom chan - layered gessert

The other day, I was having a conversation with one of the teachers in the lift. As usual, she had bought some Thai desserts from the market to share with her fellow teachers. She asked what my favourites were and I had to admit that I had only eaten a few. What sprang to mind, were the delicious desserts khanom mor gaeng and also the equally delicious khao nieow dtut. Now, most people at the school know I am writing Thai Food blogs, so she immediately volunteered to educate me in Thai desserts! And so today, she came up to me with a bag full of Thai desserts for me to photograph and taste! She explained which ones I had to eat straight away and which ones I could save for a later day by putting in the refrigerator. I can tell you, I was really stuffed today. But, it was a really good introduction.
Today I am going to introduce you to khanom chun, or layered dessert. It is named like this because it has nine layers. As you may know, this is an auspicious number. So, it is often used for important ceremonies such as job promotion (representing going up levels) and at weddings. In the above example, each layer is a shade of green. I have seen ones before where it was green/white stripes. If you have read my previous blog about khanom thuay you might be able to guess where the green comes from. Yes, it is from the pandanus leaf. You make the liquid by putting it in a blender and then straining it though muslin.
To make this dessert, mix the coconut milk and sugar. Bring to boil and then set aside. Mix the topioca flour with the plain flour and add coconut milk. Knead the mixture. Add the coconut milk and sugar which you had set aside. Now separate them into two containers. in one add the green water from the pandanus leaves. Leave the other white. (In the case above, some pandanus water was added to the coconut milk before boiling. Then later, more was added to the second container to make a darker shade of green.) Grease the mould with some coconut milk and then heat it in a steamer. First, add some of the white mixture and steam for 5?10 minutes. Then repeat this with the green mixture, white mixture etc. Finish with a green layer. Leave in the mould for 3?4 hours before removing it. Sounds quite labour intensive, especially as they only sell for 10 baht! The result is quite tasty. I would eat it again for sure.