Mango sticky rice is the most famous Thai dessert, and for good reason! If you never thought fruit and rice would go together, this will blow your mind. Sweet sticky rice pairs unexpectedly well with sweet and juicy fresh mangoes. It's loved the world over, and is arguably the Thai national dessert.

The classic version of mango and sticky rice uses white sticky rice, but nowadays you can find it with other colours of rice based on natural dyes. In this post I'll show you how to make both the classic white and all the different colours you see here!

Ingredients and Notes

There are 4 components to Thai mango sticky rice, but the ingredients for each one is incredibly short! Here are important notes about them, and for amounts, see the full recipe card below.

1. Sweet Coconut Sticky Rice

• Thai white glutinous rice, also known as Thai sweet rice or Thai sticky rice. To make sure it is the right kind, ensure it is long grain and a product of Thailand.
• Coconut milk, a good coconut milk is important here. I like Aroy-D in the carton (not the can!) as shown in the pic. Also check out this post about how to choose good coconut milk. Do not use coconut cream for this recipe.
• Salt
• Granulated sugar. While you might be tempted to use palm sugar in Thai desserts, white sugar is used in this recipe to maintain the white colour of the rice. But if you're making a coloured rice, you can substitute half or all of the white sugar with palm sugar.

How to Make Mango Sticky Rice

Here's a bird's eye view of the steps involved, but if it's your first time, I highly recommend watching the full video tutorial to ensure success!

For the sweet sticky rice

1. Wash the glutinous rice about 4-5 times until the water runs mostly clear. Then soak the rice in plenty of room temp water for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
2. If you want to colour the rice, you can add the colour to the soaking water (see instructions in the section below).
3. Drain the rice very well and place it on a moist (not wet!) muslin or tea towel, then fold the edges of the cloth over the rice. You can steam different colours at once, as long as they don't touch.
4. Steam the rice for 20-25 minutes over boiling water. Make sure the rice doesn't cover the entire rack - there should be space around the rice to allow the steam to come up.

1. Prepare the coconut syrup. In a pot, combine the coconut milk, sugar, salt; and if you have a pandan leaf handy you can throw it in as well. Cook it over medium high heat, and at the first sign of bubbling, turn off the heat and keep covered until the rice is done. Do not let this syrup reduce.
2. Macerate the rice. Shortly before the sticky rice is done, reheat the syrup back up so it is piping hot. When the rice is done, immediately place it into a mixing bowl and pour the hot syrup over the rice. Stir to break up any lumps, then cover with a lid, a plate, or aluminum foil and let sit for 20 minutes. It's very important both the rice AND the syrup are very hot to ensure proper absorption.
3. After 20 minutes, fold the bottom of the rice up to the top to help redistribute the liquid, and let sit for at least another 20 minutes or until ready to serve.
4. The rice should've absorbed all the liquid and looks plump and shiny, but not mushy. There should be no pooling liquid remaining.

For The Salted Coconut Sauce

1. Stir the rice flour in some water until there are no more lumps.
2. Combine the rice flour slurry, coconut milk, and salt in a small pot. Cook over medium high heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil.
3. Pour into a bowl and let cool. It will not look like much has happened at this point.
4. After it has cooled it'll thicken to the perfect consistency. This will keep for up to a week in the fridge.

For the crispy mung beans

1. Rinse the beans, add them to a small pot and cover with 2 cups of water.
2. Bring the water to a simmer, and as soon as it simmers immediately remove from heat and cover the pot; let sit for 10 minutes. Watch the beans carefully and turn the heat off as soon as the water is bubbling. Do not let them simmer or soak too long or they will overcook.
3. Promptly drain and rinse the beans in cold water then dry them on paper towel.
4. In a lightly greased pan, toast the beans over medium high heat, stirring frequently, until the beans are dry, crunchy and slightly golden brown. Cool on a plate. These will keep in an airtight container for up to a month.

Assembly

Scoop the rice onto a plate, then drizzle the salted coconut sauce over the rice. Sprinkle the crispy mung beans on top and serve beside fresh mangoes. Enjoy!

Making Colourful Sticky Rice

There are 2 ways to colour the sticky rice: colour the soaking water OR colour the coconut syrup. If using natural dyes, I find it is easier to add the colour to the water than to the coconut syrup, because colours have a hard time infusing into fatty liquid.

If using food colouring, then it will be easier to just stir a few drops into the coconut syrup.

Here are the natural dyes Thai people like to use. The following are formulas for 1 cup of soaking water, which is enough to soak up to 1 cup of sticky rice. Tip: It is much easier to see the dying process in action in the video!

• Green - Pandan leaves + food colouring. Blend 50g pandan leaves with 1 cup of water until mostly fine. If you have a super blender like a Vitamix don't go max power and completely annihilate it as it will become bitter, and all of the fibers won't be caught in a sieve. The rice will not pick up that much green, so I find adding a couple of drops of green food colouring is necessary here for a bright colour.
• Blue - Butterfly pea flowers. Steep 20 dried butterfly pea flowers in ½ cup of hot water for 15 minutes. Drain, then add ½ cup of cold water to cool it down. Make sure the water is room temp before you soak the rice.
• Purplish blue - Butterfly pea flowers + lime juice. After you get the blue water from above, add about 2 teaspoons of lime juice to turn the colour purple. It will look quite purple now, but will turn more blue after steaming.
• Yellow - turmeric. Dissolve ½ teaspoon of turmeric powder in about ¼ cup of hot water and stir to extract the colour. Add ¾ cup of cold water to cool it down. Make sure the water is room temp before you soak the rice.
• Orange - red beets. Grate about ¼ of a beet into 1 cup of room temp water, then strain. The water looks red but the rice will turn orange after steaming.
• Pink - Food colouring. In Thailand we have a type of wood called mai faang that we use to extract pink colour, but since it's not availablee here, you will need to use food colouring.
• Dark purple - black sticky rice. Substitute 25% of the white glutinous rice with black glutinous rice (so if making 1 cup of rice, use ¼ cup black rice and ¾ cup white rice). Pour 1 cup of hot-off-the-boil water over the black rice and cover and steep for at least 30 minutes; or let it go until the water cools down to room temp. If the water is still hot add some ice cubes to cool it down, then add the washed white rice into it and let the two soak together for the required 4 hours. The initial hot soak is necessary for the black rice because it is a whole grain rice, and without the hot soak it will be too chewy.
  **You will need slightly less coconut milk in the syrup if making black sticky rice because the black rice does not absorb liquid readily.

Logistical Tip for making multiple colours: I recommend making the same amount of each colour to make the math easy on yourself. Make the syrup in one big batch, then measure the total volume and divide it by the number of colours you have, so you know how much syrup is needed for each batch.

Recipe Card

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Thai Mango and Sticky Rice

An iconic dessert of Thailand. Mango and sticky rice has it all: sweet, salty, fruity, crunchy...it is the perfect balance and explains why it is famous the world over!

Course Dessert

Cuisine Thai

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Rice Soaking Time 4 hours hours

Servings 6 servings

Author Pailin Chongchitnant

Ingredients

Coconut Sticky Rice

• 1 cup white glutinous rice see notes 1 and 2
• ⅔ cup coconut milk
• ½ teaspoon table salt
• ½ cup sugar

Salted Coconut Sauce

• ½ cup coconut milk
• ¼ teaspoon table salt
• 1 teaspoon rice flour
• 1 Tablespoon water

Others

• 2 Tablespoons shelled and split mung beans
• 3 sweet, ripe mangoes see note 3

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For the sweet sticky rice:

• *If you want to make colourful rice, first prepare the soaking water using instructions in the blog post above.

  Wash the rice by placing it in a mixing bowl and cover with cold water, then vigorously swish the rice with your hand to release loose starch. Pour off the cloudy water and repeat the process 4 more times or until the water runs mostly clear.
  1 cup white glutinous rice
• Soak the rice with room temp water for at least 4 hours and up to overnight. If you're using naturally dyed water to soak the rice, refrigerate the rice after 4 hours of soaking if you're not yet ready to steam.

  While the rice is soaking, make the salted coconut sauce and the crispy mung beans (below).
• Preheat the steamer by bringing it to a full boil over high heat. While you wait for the water to boil, drain the rice very well, shaking off excess water in a sieve until there is no more dripping. Line a steamer rack with moist muslin (not soaking wet!) or a thin white tea towel and place the rice on the cloth. Fold the edges of the cloth over the rice, making sure the rice doesn't cover the entire rack - there should be space around the rice to allow steam to come up. Cover the steamer rack with a lid.
• Steam the rice for 20-25 minutes over rapidly boiling water, until the rice is fully cooked through (it should not be crunchy in the middle).
• While the rice is cooking, make the coconut syrup. Combine the coconut milk, sugar, and salt in a small pot. If you have a pandan leaf handy, tie it into a knot and throw it in for extra aroma. Cook it over medium heat, and as soon as it starts to bubble, turn off the heat and cover. You will need to reheat this once the rice is ready.
  ⅔ cup coconut milk, ½ teaspoon table salt, ½ cup sugar
• Few minutes before the rice is done, reheat the syrup so it is steaming hot then keep covered. When the rice is done, immediately place the rice into a mixing bowl and immediately pour the syrup over the rice. Stir to break up any lumps, then cover with a lid, a plate, or aluminum foil and let sit for 20 minutes.
• After 20 minutes, use a rubber spatula to fold the bottom part of the rice up to the top to help redistribute the syrup, and let sit for at least another 20 minutes or until ready to serve. At this stage the rice will keep at room temp all day.

For the salted coconut sauce:

• Stir the rice flour into the water until there are no more lumps.
  1 teaspoon rice flour, 1 Tablespoon water
• Combine the rice flour slurry, coconut milk, and salt in a small pot. Cook over medium high heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat and pour into a bowl. Let cool completely before serving.
  ½ cup coconut milk, ¼ teaspoon table salt

For the crispy mung beans:

• Rinse the beans in cold water and add them to a small pot and cover with about 2 cups of water.
  2 Tablespoons shelled and split mung beans
• Over medium heat, bring the water to a simmer. Once simmering, immediately remove from the heat and cover the pot for 10 minutes ONLY. Do not over-soak.
• Drain off the cooking water and rinse the beans in cold water. Lay the beans on a paper towel to dry.
• In a lightly greased sauté pan, toast the beans over medium high heat, stirring frequently until the beans are dry, crunchy and start developing a light golden colour.
• Let cool on a plate. This can be kept in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

Assembly:

• Serve the rice beside sweet, fresh cut mangoes. Spoon some salted coconut sauce over the rice and sprinkle with the crispy mung beans.
  3 sweet, ripe mangoes

Video

Notes

1. White glutinous rice is also labelled as white "sweet rice". Make sure it is long grain and a product of Thailand.
2. If making the black sticky rice version, use ¼ cup black sticky rice, ¾ cup white sticky rice, and reduce the coconut milk for the syrup to ½ cup (120 ml). See black rice soaking method in the blog post above.
3. The quality of mangoes is so important for this dessert. I prefer Ataulfo mangoes (aka Manila or Champagne mangoes). See more mango tips in the blog post. 

The post Thai Mango Sticky Rice Recipe appeared first on Hot Thai Kitchen.

I grew up in Hat Yai, a small but bustling city in Southern Thailand with a rich food culture. While living there, my #1 favourite snack was something I have never seen anywhere else in Thailand. It was called kanom ko, a soft and chewy pandan infused dumplings, filled with a single piece of crunchy, caramelly palm sugar and tossed in grated coconut.

It always bought me so much joy, and after missing them for 30 years, I finally tried making them at home with surprising ease. I'm happy to share this rare part of Thai food culture with you - and by the way they're also naturally gluten free and vegan!

What is Kanom Ko ขนมโค?

Kanom ko ขนมโค are soft and chewy little marble-size dumplings made from glutinous rice flour flavoured with fresh pandan juice. They're filled with a crunchy piece of palm sugar, and tossed with salted grated coconut. If that sounds incredibly delicious, it's because they are!

Sometimes crunchy toasted mung beans are mixed in with the coconut for an extra crunch, but the one I grew up with did not have them. While they're quite rare in Thailand, a similar dessert exists in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia called ondeh ondeh or klepon.

During my search for these long lost childhood treats, I discovered that in Thailand it seems they are found only in Hat Yai. In fact, my searches led to only ONE vendor - an auntie who has been selling them for 40 years. (Though she doesn't seem like the same lady I bought from when I was a kid.)

They are always sold fresh, immediately after cooking as they're best eaten while still warm. Watching the vendor make these dumplings with impressive speed, while inhaling pandan-scented steam is such a joy.

Ingredients and Notes

Here are all the ingredients you'll need and important notes about them. As you can see it's a very simple dessert! For amounts, see the the full recipe card below.

• Glutinous rice flour. Use glutinous rice flour from Thailand, and make sure the bag says "GLUTINOUS", as regular rice flour is completely different and cannot be substituted. Glutinous rice flour is made from sticky rice and it's what gives the dumplings a chewy, stretchy, mochi-like texture.
• Pandan leaves. A key flavour of kanom ko. You can use fresh or frozen pandan leaves. Worst case, you can use pandan extract but the aroma won't be as good.
• Palm sugar. You will need solid pucks of palm sugar as you will need to chop them into cubes. If the palm sugar you have has been open in your cupboard for a while, I recommend getting a fresh bag because fresher palm sugar are softer and easier to chop. Older palm sugar that has dried out can be very hard, and nearly impossible to cut.
• Shredded coconut, unsweetened. In Thailand, we use freshly grated coconut, but if you can only find dried, you can simply rehydrate it with water.
• Salt.

How to Make Sugar Dumplings (Kanom Ko)

Here's a bird's eye view of the process. The full instructions are in the recipe card below, and if this is your first time, I highly recommend watching the video tutorial to ensure success!

1. Blend pandan leaves with water until there are no more big chunks - do not over blend.
2. Strain the pandan juice through a fine mesh strainer, then discard the fibers.
3. Add the pandan juice to the glutinous rice flour, little by little, kneading the liquid in each time.
4. Once the dough starts to come together, switch to using a teaspoon to add the pandan juice to prevent adding too much liquid by accident.

5. Once all the dry flour has been kneaded in, add more pandan juice, ½ - 1 teaspoon at a time to create a softer dough - the goal is to get the dough to be as soft as possible while still being able to hold its shape. This should require roughly half of the pandan juice. If you've accidentally made it too wet, simply add more glutinous rice flour to bring it back.
6. Wrap or cover the dough and let it rest for about 30 minutes while you prep other things.
7. Cut the palm sugar into cubes. Start by chopping it into big chunks, letting whatever flakes off flake off, then take the chunks and cut/shave them down into roughly ¼-inch cubes (best to watch the video tutorial for this part).
8. You need to have about 50 pieces of sugar for this recipe, so I recommend lining them up in rows of 5 for easy counting.

9. Prepare the coconut by dissolving the salt in the hot water, then drizzle the salt water over the coconut until all has been absorbed. Spread it onto a plate with a bit of depth; such as a pie plate.
10. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and meanwhile wrap the dumplings. Pinch off about a 4-g piece of dough (¾ teaspoon by volume) and press it down to flatten slightly. Place a piece of palm sugar onto it.
11. Bring the dough up around the sugar and seal the sugar completely.
12. Roll the dough between your hands briefly to make a ball.

13. Add half of the dumplings into the water, one at a time, and let them cook until they float; about 2 minutes.
14. Scoop them out with a wire skimmer and place them onto the coconut.
15. Roll/toss them in the coconut to fully coat. Take them out and repeat with the other half.
16. If all goes according to plan, the palm sugar should still be solid and crunchy in the middle. Enjoy while still warm!

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Pandan Sugar Dumplings (Kanom Ko)

An incredibly delicious, rare dessert from Southern Thailand. Chewy, mochi-like dumplings filled with crunchy palm sugar and tossed in coconut.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Thai

Prep Time 45 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 6 servings

Author Pailin Chongchitnant

Ingredients

• 1 cup chopped pandan leaves
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup GLUTINOUS rice flour NOT regular rice flour
• ¾ cup dried shredded coconut unsweetened
• ¼ cup hot water
• ¼ teaspoon table salt
• 7 oz palm sugar pucks you won’t use nearly this much, but you need to start out with more to get enough nice cubes from it

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Make pandan juice by blending the pandan leaves with water just until there are no more large pieces - do not overblend or it'll be bitter. Then strain the liquid through a fine mesh strainer, discarding the fibers. You will need only about half of the pandan juice, but it’s hard to effectively blend an amount less than this, so you can freeze the rest for next time.
  1 cup chopped pandan leaves, 1 cup water
• To make the dough, place the glutinous rice flour into a mixing bowl. Gradually add the pandan juice little by little, mixing with your hand after each addition, until you have a smooth and soft dough that doesn’t stick to your hands and no dry flour is left - you should need about half of the juice.

  Once all the dry flour is gone, knead in a bit more pandan juice ½ - 1 teaspoon at a time to increase the moisture content for maximally soft dumplings. The goal is to have the softest possible dough that can still hold its shape. If you’ve accidentally made it too wet, simply knead in more glutinous rice flour to bring it back.

  Allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes, covered or wrapped so it doesn’t dry out. Meanwhile, prep the coconut and palm sugar.
  1 cup GLUTINOUS rice flour
• For the coconut: Dissolve the salt in the hot water. Place the shredded coconut in a small bowl, then drizzle the salt water over and mix well until all the water has been absorbed. Spread the coconut onto a pie plate or a plate with a bit of depth; you’ll be placing the cooked dumplings on here.
  ¼ cup hot water, ¼ teaspoon table salt, ¾ cup dried shredded coconut
• Cut the palm sugar (best to see video tutorial for this part): Use a sturdy chef’s knife to chop the palm sugar first into big chunks, then take the chunks and cut them down into roughly ¼-inch cube-ish pieces. Much of the palm sugar will flake off into small bits that you can’t use; this is fine, just save them for your cooking. You need to end up with about 50 pieces of palm sugar cubes for this recipe.

  Tip: While the sugar pieces don’t need to be perfect cubes, you want to trim off any long, sharp points that stick out as this can poke through the dough.
  7 oz palm sugar pucks
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil while you wrap the dumplings.
• To wrap the dumplings (also best to see the video for this part), pinch off about ¾ teaspoon worth of dough (4 g) and press it down to flatten with your fingers so it’s between ⅛ - ¼ inch thick. Place one palm sugar cube inside and bring the dough up to wrap the sugar. Once the sugar is completely sealed, roll the dumpling between your palms briefly to make little balls. Make sure the palm sugar isn’t poking out through the dough. Place finished dumplings on a plate.
• Once the water is boiling, add about half of the dumplings, one at a time, into the boiling water (adding 1 at a time ensures they don’t stick together). Let the dumplings cook until they float to the surface; about 2 minutes.

  Once they float, use a wire skimmer to fish them out, shake off the excess water and place them directly onto the coconut. Roll the dumplings around in the coconut and/or toss with a spoon to coat them, then take them out onto a serving plate. Repeat with the remaining dumplings.
• Ideally you want to serve these while warm, or at least within 2 hours of making them. If you let them sit for a long time the palm sugar inside will dissolve into liquid, and you won't have that crunchiness that I think is the highlight of this treat. Do not refrigerate. See more in the Tips section in the blog post.

Video

The post Pandan Palm Sugar Dumplings (Kanom Ko) appeared first on Hot Thai Kitchen.

Many people go to Thailand, fall in love with the amazing street food, and then come home craving those flavours. While many Thai street food dishes are not easy to replicate at home as they require unusual tools, hard-to-find ingredients, or special skills, so many others absolutely doable!

All you need are the right instructions, and that's what I'm here for. Enjoy!

1. Thai Fried Chicken - Hat Yai Style

In Thailand, fried chicken is street food, not something you order in a restaurant. The best ones comes from unassuming carts. My goal for this recipe is to prove to you that Thai fried chicken is the best in the world, no exaggeration 😉. Specifically, Hat Yai style fried chicken; Hat Yai being my hometown in southern Thailand.

I’ve had fried chicken from all over the world, and I still haven't experienced one better than ours. Read on, then try the recipe (it's really quite easy) and see if you agree!

2. Authentic Thai Drunken Noodles - Pad Kee Mao

Pad kee mao ผัดขี้เมา or drunken noodles is stir fried noodles with holy basil and lots of chilies. It's a cult-favourite Thai street food. The combination of chewy fresh rice noodles, the epic savoury sauce, and the fragrance of holy basil ... there is nothing quite like it and it never gets old.

3. Easy Hainanese Chicken Rice - Khao Mun Gai

Khao mun gai is a serious contender for a last meat for me. This street food is ubiquitous in Thailand, and you can find it at just about any food court in any mall.

For this at-home recipe, I use chicken pieces instead of whole chickens that street food vendors use, so cooking time is greatly reduced without compromising the flavour at all. After discovering this weeknight-friendly method, I have not gone back to the whole-chicken method yet!

4. Easier & Healthier Pad Thai with Glass Noodles

Classic pad thai with rice noodles is not an easy dish - definitely not something that I would recommend beginners start with. First timers often end up with mushy, clumpy, broken, or undercooked noodles. But here's a variation of pad thai that uses a noodle that is easier to work with and healthier: glass noodles. It's a different texture, but I promise the taste is just like the classic pad thai!

5. Authentic Thai Pork Satay & Peanut Sauce

Thai satays can be found all over the streets of Thailand, and they're almost always made from pork. The peanut sauce in this recipe is so good you can put it on anything you like, however, few people know that in Thailand, this peanut sauce is only used on satays, and we do NOT put peanut butter in it (or in anything else for that matter!)

If you don't eat pork, I also have a recipe for beef satay, and for a weeknight friendly version, try my no-skewer chicken satay.

6. Authentic Thai Pad See Ew

Pad thai may have all the fame, but Thai food lovers know that pad see ew is where real noodle bliss is at. This pad see ew recipe is tried and true, and I promise it'll rival anything you've had at Thai restaurants! It's a quick and simple dish, but you need to know some tricks to achieve perfectly seasoned, not-broken rice noodles with that smokey wok char.

7. Thai Chicken Noodle Soup

The ultimate love child of street food and comfort food. If you like pho, this is very close to it but with Thai flavours! Well balanced flavours with lots of textures going on...topped with crispy garlic...this ain't your mama's chicken noodle soup! Haha, that is definitely true for my mama, although my GRANDmama would make something like this often. This is probably the easiest noodle soup you could make at home, especially once you've mastered the art of Thai style chicken stock.

8: Tom Yum Noodle Soup

When you go to Thailand, sitting at a noodle shop on the street somewhere, please order yourself a tom yum noodle soup if they have it. This is not the famous "tom yum soup" that you might know…the one with lemongrass, galangal, and shrimp. Nope, this is something else that's equally delicious.

9. Holy Basil Chicken Stir-Fry - Pad Gaprao (Pad Kra Pao)

This popular Thai dish has many English spellings: Pad Kra Pao, Pad Ka Prao, Pad Ka Pow, Pad Krapow...etc. No matter how you spell it, they all point to this same delicious, rustic, spicy stir-fry featuring the aroma of holy basil. For a truly classic way to serve this dish, pour it over rice and top with a fried egg!

If you want to make pad gaprao using different kinds of protein, check out my formula for turning anything into pad gaprao!

10. Sukiyaki Stir Fry - Suki Hang

Sukiyaki is obviously a Japanese dish, but this particular recipe is very much unique to Thai cuisine. Here's the story. Sukiyaki is a Japanese hot pot, and Thai people took the inspiration and started making our own sukiyaki hot pot served with a spicy, flavourful red sauce that's more suited to the Thai palate.

Over the years, people realized that the sauce for the hot pot would also make a great stir fry, and suki hang or "dry suki" was born!

11. Khao Soi: Thai Curry Noodle Soup

Regional Thai food isn't very well known, but khao soi, egg noodles in aromatic curry broth, is an exception. Because Northern Thailand is such a popular tourist destination, this Northern Thai curry noodle soup has become popular amongst foreigners.

Some might even say if you visit the North of Thailand and didn't eat khao soi, you didn't really make it there! It's a truly unique dish, and with this recipe you can recreate the experience of Northern Thailand at home.

12. Chinese BBQ Pork Rice - Kao Moo Dang

This dish is the epitome of "Thai street food". If you wanted kao moo dang you can walk into any food court and you're guaranteed to find a vendor. At the basic level it's just Chinese BBQ pork (char siu) on rice, but what makes this dish unique to Thailand is the savoury-sweet gravy studded with roasted sesame seeds.

13. Thai Banana Pancakes (Banana Roti)

Thai roti is one of THE most popular snacks/desserts amongst visitors to Thailand! You can see roti carts at many tourist attractions around the country, and nowadays, vendors offer so many different filling options like bananas, chocolate sauce, nutella, apples, etc. which, by the way, were not available when I was a kid. If you go to non-touristy parts of Thailand you may still see some old-school roti vendors that still don't offer many fancy fillings.

With this recipe, you can recreate this popular snack at home. It does require some technique, so I highly recommend you watching the video tutorial to ensure success!

14. Thai Coconut Pancakes - Kanom Krok

These famous little Thai coconut pancakes are one of the most popular street foods in Thailand. So much so that even Trader Joe's now sells frozen kanom krok, and Thai people all over the US are going crazy over them!!

They're so incredibly tasty that I seek them out every single time I go to Thailand...it's an absolute must-have for me. You do need to get a special pan for it, but it's not expensice, and the treat will be well worth it, I promise!

15. Thai Iced Tea

Thailand has one famous (non-alcoholic) drink, and this is it: Thai iced tea. The orange coloured sweet concoction is so good it feels like it should be dessert. A lot of times I find restaurants make it too sweet, so I actually prefer making my own so I can make it exactly how I want it. If you love Thai tea and you're a coffee drinker, you're also going to love this easy Thai iced coffee!

The post 15 Thai Street Food Recipes You Can Make At Home appeared first on Hot Thai Kitchen.

When Sago is NOT Sago

If you do a Google search of "sago desserts" you'll come across lots of recipes for mango and coconut sago puddings. But look into the recipes, and you'll notice that these puddings are actually made from tapioca pearls.

But if they’re made from tapioca, why are they called sago? WELL, "Breaking News" ... that is because these tapioca pearls have been used as a cheaper imitation of REAL sago pearls. And real sago pearls are made from a plant actually called sago palm.

What Happened to Real Sago?

So why did we need an imitation of sago in the first place? The problem with true sago is that they are precious. It takes sago palms at least 8-10 years to reach the right maturity, and then the harvesting and processing is super labour intensive.

This means that true sago pearls are limited in quantities and are much more expensive, so people started using tapioca pearls as a substitute, and the real stuff was forgotten for a long time. Only recently did it make a bit of a comeback thanks to social media spreading news of the original substance.

So What is the Fake Stuff Then?

The fake stuff is tapioca pearls, made from tapioca starch. Tapioca starch is made from cassava (pic below), a widely available root vegetable that's a staple in the diets of many cuisines around the world. Needless to say, harvesting a root vegetable is much easier than harvesting a 10-year-old tree, making it a much more accessible and cheaper product.

The sad thing is that in Thailand we actually call tapioca pearls "sakoo," our term for sago; which as we now know is categorically wrong. But there was no other name given to it, presumably because they were originally "snuck in", pretending to be the "real thing". So now we're having to call the real one "true sago" or "tree sago," when really it should just simply be "sago."

How is Real Sago Made?

So what is so hard about making sago? Why are they so precious? In a nutshell, here's the traditional process:

1. Cut down a massive tree (the sago palm) that's been growing for 8-10 years.
2. Chop it up into manageable chunks.
3. Grate the flesh of the trunk and pound or blend it into mush with water.
4. Squeeze the grated flesh to extract the starch, then strain.
5. Let the starch in this "tree juice" settle, then pour off the excess water.
6. Break the starch up into small clumps and roll into small beads.
7. Dry the beads completely for storage and packaging.

Video: How sago pearls are made in Thailand

To really appreciate the process, watch the video below to see sago harvesting and processing in Southern Thailand (the video is in Thai, but it's mostly visual.) In the video some machines are involved in the process, but as you can see it's still pretty basic. If seeing this doesn't make you want to savour every bite of real sago...I don't know what will!

But how different are they, really?

This is where I will direct you to my video to find out! In the video you will see how they cook up, and also my reaction to tasting real sago for the first time. I'll then give you my verdict and whether it's worth searching for.

But here is some further analysis regarding the differences between the two that I didn't include in the video:

1. Colour

Real sago is made from unrefined starch and therefore has a colour; they can be anything from brown to pink. The lighter pink ones are more "desirable", presumably because they're prettier, though I don't believe they are superior in flavour.

Tapioca pearls, however, are pure white because they are made from refined tapioca starch. This has implications on flavour because the refining process removes all the flavour from the original cassava plant.

Note: You can find tapioca pearls that are pink and green; those simply have food colouring added and are not flavoured.

2. Shape

Tapioca pearls are made in factories, which can turn them out in perfect little spheres.

Sago pearls are turned into beads manually by rolling around little clumps of damp starch in a flat bamboo tray until those clumps turn into little balls, as shown in this video. This manual process means that the pearls have uneven shapes and sizes. This has implications on texture, as you will see in my comparison video.

3. Density

I tried to eat these pearls raw (though sadly I did not do this on camera), and real sago instantly disintegrated into powder in my mouth, but the tapioca pearls were so hard they could've broken my teeth! This explains the volume difference between equal weights of the two pearls; 50g of real sago looks like a lot more than 50g of tapioca pearls.

This also explains the difference in cooking time as shown in my video; tapioca pearls took much longer to cook since the water takes longer to hydrate the denser pearls, while real sago cooked up almost instantly.

4. Flavour and Texture

This is where words don't suffice, and you'll have to watch the video below so you can see my reaction to get the full sense of how they differ. You'll also see how to cook them.

Watch My Verdict: Tasting Real vs Fake Sago

Where to buy real sago pearls?

Now that I've convinced you that real sago pearls are worth trying ... next I have to apologize for having to tell you that, if you DO want to try them, you'll have to go to Thailand or another country that produces them.

I've looked around the internet and could not find an online source for true sago pearls. When you do a search for "sago pearls" even "real sago pearls" all that comes up are listings for tapioca pearls. Even if you see some brown ones most likely they are large tapioca pearls made for bubble tea which get their colour from food colouring and/or brown sugar.

If you do go to Thailand, don't be looking for them at the supermarket though. Because these are produced in such small volumes, you'll instead find them at places that sell locally made, artisanal products.

The future of the sago

Real sago is making a bit of a comeback in Thailand thanks to the media which has made people become more aware of their existence. I am one of those "media"; and quite frankly I'm a bit concerned that if the demand for them increases, what will this mean for the environments where the sago palms grow?

On the one hand, it would create a new source of income for people in the villages that make these pearls. In fact, this has already started to happen with the increased demand in Thailand, and it has helped raise the standard of living for some people in the poorer areas.

On the other hand, over-harvesting is always a concern. So while I wrote this post as a source of knowledge to expand our awareness of where our foods come from and how they evolve, it's equally important to be aware of the vulnerability of these sources and helping to protect them.

Real Sago Pudding Recipe

I can't leave you without a recipe now can I? Should you be so lucky as to get a hold of real sago pearls, there's no need to do anything fancy to them. This simple pudding lets all of their natural flavours shine. The important part is to serve it while still warm for the best texture - don't refrigerate!

Some tapioca recipes you might like

I don't mean to offend our old friend the tapioca pearls here! They are great in their own right! Try them in this refreshing tapioca melon dessert, or use tapioca starch to make fun bubble tea noodles!

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Real Sago Pudding

Experience the real sago pearls, made from actual sago palm, in this most iconic dish - a simple pudding that allows the true flavours of the pearls shine.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Thai

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 3 servings

Author Pailin Chongchitnant

Ingredients

• 1.8 oz true sago pearls
• 1 ½ cups water see note 1
• 3 tablespoon sugar
• ½ pandan leaf optional, see note 2
• ½ cup young coconut meat, julienned optional

Salted Coconut Milk

• ½ cup coconut milk
• ⅛ teaspoon table salt

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• (If not using pandan leaf, skip to step 2). Tie the pandan leaf into a knot to shorten and help bruise the leaf and release the aroma. Add the pandan leaf into a small pot and add 2 cups (480 ml) of water; bring to a boil and let it boil for about 3 minutes to extract the aroma.
  ½ pandan leaf
• If not using pandan leaf, add 1 ½ cups (360 ml) of water to a small pot and bring to a full boil.
  1 ½ cups water
• Once the water is fully boiling, remove the pandan leaf, if using, then gradually sprinkle in the sago pearls while quickly stirring - then keep stirring constantly for about 1 ½ - 2 minutes; most of the pearls should be translucent on the outside, with the white center still visible. If it is too thick, add a little bit of water to loosen.
  1.8 oz true sago pearls
• Once cooked, turn off the heat and add sugar and young coconut meat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Let it rest and cool down a bit while you make the salted coconut milk.
  3 tablespoon sugar, ½ cup young coconut meat, julienned
• To make the salted coconut milk, combine the coconut milk and salt in a small pot and bring to a simmer to dissolve the salt and remove from heat. Alternatively, you can just heat it up in the microwave.
  ½ cup coconut milk, ⅛ teaspoon table salt
• To serve, while still warm ladle a portion of the sago pudding into a bowl and top it with about 2 tablespoons of the salted coconut milk. How much coconut milk to add is up to your preference, so feel free to add more or less.

Video

Notes

1. If using pandan leaf, you will need to increase the water to 2 cups (480 ml)
2. In the video I did not use pandan leaves because I wanted to taste the pure flavour of the sago, but traditionally pandan leaves are infused either into the pudding or the coconut milk.

The post Real Sago vs Tapioca Pearls + Sago Pudding Recipe appeared first on Hot Thai Kitchen.

What Makes a Great Waffle? The best waffles, to me, have a crispy exterior and a tender, moist and fluffy interior. They also need a great flavour that's good enough to enjoy even without any toppings. This recipe ticks all the boxes.

There are a few secrets, but most important of all, cornstarch. The cornstarch cuts down the amount of total gluten in the flour, making a super light and tender waffle. A good amount of oil keeps everything tender and crispy. And the perfect amount of sugar makes them just sweet enough so you're not relying completely on toppings to make them tasty.

Waffles Done Ahead of Time

These can totally be prepped in advance, and there are even a couple of ways to do it:

1. If you want to enjoy "fresh-off-the-iron waffles", you can mix all the dry ingredients the night before and leave them covered in the mixing bowl. Mix all the wet ingredients in another bowl and keep it covered in the fridge. In the morning you first preheat the iron, and while it's heating up mix the wet and dry ingredients together. This way you'll have waffles on the table in less than 15 minutes! I would not make all the batter in advance as batter with baking soda needs to be cooked shortly after mixing.
2. If you want to have them within 5 minutes of getting up, make the waffles and freeze them. To reheat, microwave them for about 15-20 second just until they're no longer frozen. Then pop them in the toaster or toaster oven until they're hot throughout and crispy!

Waffle Iron

For this you want to use a Belgian waffle iron. This is the one I use and it's great. Makes 4 slices at a time, which means you only have to cook the waffles in 2 batches, and it has been working for us for over 10 years!

Watch The Full Video Tutorial!

All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video below to ensure success - and if you enjoy the show, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. Thank you!

The BEST Waffles I've Ever Had!

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 18 reviews

• Author: Pailin Chongchitnant
• Prep Time: 10
• Cook Time: 30
• Total Time: 40 minutes
• Yield: 8 waffles

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Description

A mix of flours is the secret to this ultimate waffle recipe. Fluffy and moist on the inside, but decidedly crispy on the outside. It's a simple, straightforward recipe that requires no advance prep!

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Ingredients

• 225 g all-purpose flour, this is about 1½ cups (see notes on variations below)
• 60 grams cornstarch (you can also use regular rice flour)
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup plain yogurt (or use 1 ½ cups buttermilk and reduce the milk to only ½ cup)
• 1 cup milk
• ¾ cup vegetable oil (I use avocado oil)
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• Toppings of your choice: I like butter, yogurt, maple syrup and berries. Craig likes peanut butter, yogurt and jam/syrup on his 🙂

Variations: You can use whole wheat flour if you want to make it healthier, and it works just fine in this recipe. I have also tried substituting ½ cup of the flour with cornmeal which gave it a nice texture. 

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Instructions

1. If you have to finish the whole batch before eating (as opposed to eating as soon as they are done), preheat your oven to the lowest temp (around 150°F) so you can keep your waffles warm and crispy while you finish.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients together: flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder, baking soda. *If your baking powder/soda is clumpy, make sure you sift it or break up the lumps with your fingers.
3. In a small mixing bowl beat the eggs with a whisk, then add oil, yogurt, milk, vanilla and sugar; whisk everything until well combined. Tip: Use a 1 cup measuring cup to measure the oil first (you can eyeball ¾ cup if there aren't any graduated lines), then when you go to measure the yogurt, the oil-coated cup will help the yogurt slide right out with ease!
4. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingedients into it. Whisk everything just until combined, little tiny lumps are okay. Don't overmix.
5. Preheat your waffle iron while preparing a cooling rack to put the waffles on once they're done.
6. Fill the waffle iron, making sure the corners are filled, but also don't over fill. For my waffle iron I use about ⅓ cup of batter each. Cook them until golden (on my iron I use darkness level 3 out of 5, but this could depend on your iron).
7. Keep the finished waffles on a rack so they don't go soggy from condensation, and keep them in the low oven while you finish the rest.

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The post The BEST Waffles I've Ever Had! appeared first on Hot Thai Kitchen.

Deep fried ice cream is a wonderful oxymoronic recipe. A hot, crispy, chewy crust surrounding the creamy cold treat is just delightful. The method in this fried ice cream recipe is the way Thai people do it, which happens to be the easiest and most genius way I've ever seen.

I discovered this technique when I worked as a server at a Thai restaurant where it was a very popular dessert, and when I saw how they made it I was shocked how easy it was!

Ingredients

There are only 2 ingredients for the fried ice cream itself is very simple, so to help jazz it up I've also included a delicious pineapple caramel sauce that goes very well with it.

• Ice cream, any flavour will work, you can also mix ingredients in such as cookie bits to make it more interesting.
• Soft, white sandwich bread, square shaped and not too thick. Asian bakeries usually sell the perfect bread for this.

Pineapple Coconut Caramel Sauce

• Canned pineapple
• Palm sugar or granulated sugar
• Coconut milk
• Butter
• A dash of cinnamon for serving (optional)

Other Toppings/Sauce Suggestions:

Honestly, the fried ice cream is great as is, maybe with a little whipped cream on top. But you can turn it into an ice cream sundae with some of these ideas:

• Nutella or chocolate sauce, crushed nuts & sautéed bananas
• Chunky strawberry sauce or another fruit sauce
• Condensed milk with Ovaltine or Milo powder for an Asian style sundae!

How to Make Fried Ice Cream

Here are the steps, but if it's your first time I highly suggest watching the video tutorial for the technique as it is much easier to understand once you see it visually.

1. Scoop out ice cream into balls and place on a plate; freeze for at least 30 minutes to firm up.
2. Trim crust off of the bread, making sure you trim off enough that there aren’t any denser part of bread left on (see video). Roll the bread out with a rolling pin to flatten slightly. You may need to roll out the edges more to get them to flatten.
3. Have a 12-inch sheet of plastic wrap ready on the counter. Place a piece of bread on the plastic and then put the ice cream on the bread. Use your hand to bring the corners of the bread up around the ice cream.
4. Place the other piece of bread on top, matching corners of the top piece with “valleys” of the bottom piece. Press bread around the ice cream, making sure there are no uncovered areas (it won’t stay wrapped at this point, don’t worry).
5. Wrap the whole thing in the plastic wrap tightly, bringing corners of the plastic up and twisting the wrap to secure bread onto ice cream. You want this tight! Freeze for at least 6 hours.

To fry the ice cream:

1. Add enough frying oil to a small pot so that it will keep the ice cream ball submerged. Heat the oil to 375°F (190°C). If you're not using a deep fryer, I recommend using a thermometer because it's crucial that the oil is hot enough. Oil that's too cold will result in oil bread, and if it takes too long to brown and the ice cream will melt.
2. Fry the wrapped ice cream until golden brown, this should take about 30 seconds, and no more than 40 seconds. Serve immediately with sauce of your choice.

To make the pineapple caramel sauce:

1. Heat palm sugar over medium heat in a small pot until melted and caramelized into a dark amber colour, stirring frequently to even out the colour.
2. Add the coconut milk (it will bubble aggressively) and pineapple juice. Keep cooking until the sugar dissolves and sauce has reduced into a thin caramel sauce consistency. 
3. Add the pineapple pieces and cook for 2-3 more minutes in the sauce, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in butter until melted. Let cool before serving.

How Does Deep Fried Ice Cream Work?

How can ice cream be deep fried without melting? There are many ways to do deep fried ice cream, but the principles are all the same. You wrap or coat a scoop of ice cream in a crust of some sort, then you freeze the whole thing until it is as cold as it can possibly be. You then fry the ice cream in high heat for a very short time so the crust will brown and crisp before the ice cream has a chance to melt. Et voila!

So there are 3 keys to the success of deep fried ice cream:

1. The crust has to be something that browns very quickly.
2. The oil has to be hot enough to quickly brown the crust.
3. The ice cream has to be very cold.

If you got these 3 things, you will be able to have cold and creamy ice cream surrounded by a crispy, browned crust!

Other Methods of Deep Frying Ice Cream

A quick search through the internet will reveal a few other ways to make deep fried ice cream. Many people will do the egg-breadcrumb or egg-cornflakes crust, and I've also seen a recipe that use pound cake as the crust.

This bread method, however, is the easiest of them all, and it's easy enough that you can get kids to participate in as well. (But don't let them do the frying unattended!!)

*Extra Goodies for Patreon Members: In this episode's bonus content I share a quick recipe that turns the leftover bread crusts from this recipe into yummy little sweet treats! Also, I'll share an idea for another snack my mom used to make using plain sandwich bread. Click here to find out more about becoming a Patreon member!

Can I use different flavor of ice cream?

Yes, all flavours of ice cream will work for this, and you can even change it up by folding in ingredients such as cookie bits, chopped chocolate, or sprinkles right into the ice cream before you freeze the scoop.

Can I make this recipe in advance?

Obviously you need to fry the ice cream right before serving, but you can wrap the ice cream in the bread in advance and have them ready to go in the freezer, in a freezer bag, for up to 3 months.

Tips for Perfect Fried Ice Cream

• Use bread that is square shaped, not one with a rounded top, because it will make wrapping much easier.
• Trim off enough of the crust so that the denser part close to the crust is removed. You want to end up with bread that has the same density throughout.
• Sticky with bread that is soft and fluffy and not too thick (even whole wheat is fine), usually ones from Asian bakeries will be perfect for this.
• When scooping the ice cream, try your best to keep it round.

What to do with the leftover frying oil

You might feel uneasy with the amount of oil needed to fry the ice cream, BUT you can reused it all! Each scoop of ice cream only takes 30 seconds to fry, with no debris left in the oil, so your oil will end up in great, almost-new condition.

Once you're done frying, let it cool, then keep it in an airtight container in a cool dark place and reuse for cooking or frying anything else.

Watch The Full Video Tutorial!

All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video below to ensure success - and if you enjoy the show, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. Thank you!

Fried Ice Cream Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star No reviews

• Author: Pailin Chongchitnant
• Prep Time: 5 min
• freezing time: 6 hours
• Cook Time: 5 min
• Total Time: 6 hours 10 minutes
• Yield: 1 serving

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Description

The easiest recipe for fried ice cream you will find. It takes 2 ingredients, but the result is indulgent and satisfying. Try serving it with the pineapple caramel sauce to jazz it up!

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Ingredients

• 1 scoop of ice cream (see note)
• 2 pieces of soft, thin sandwich bread, square shaped (see note)
• Lots of frying oil

Toppings/Sauce Suggestions:

• Pineapple coconut caramel sauce with cinnamon sprinkles (recipe follows)
• Nutella or chocolate sauce, crushed nuts & sautéed bananas
• Chunky strawberry sauce or another fruit sauce
• Condensed milk with Ovaltine or Milo powder

Pineapple Coconut Caramel Sauce

(In the video I only made half this amount)

• 1 cup canned pineapple pieces (see note)
• 4 Tbsp pineapple juice (from can)
• ½  cup palm sugar
• ½  cup coconut milk
• 2 Tbsp butter
• A dash of cinnamon for serving

Ingredients & Kitchen Tools I Use

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Instructions

1. Scoop out ice cream into balls and place on a plate; freeze for at least 30 minutes to firm up.
2. Tip: If you want to fold other ingredients into the ice cream, such as chopped chocolate or cookie bits, scoop ice cream into a pre-frozen ceramic bowl, then quickly stir in mix-in ingredient and reshape into a ball. Freeze for at least 30 minutes or until firm.
3. Trim crust off of the bread, making sure you trim off enough that there aren’t any denser part of bread left on (see video). Roll bread out with a rolling pin to flatten slightly. You may need to roll out the edges more to get them to flatten.
4. To wrap ice cream: Have a 12-inch sheet of plastic wrap ready on a work surface. Place the firmed ice cream on top of a piece of bread and bring the edges up around ice cream.
5. Place the other piece of bread on top, matching corners of the top piece with “valleys” of the bottom piece. Press bread around the ice cream, making sure there are no uncovered areas (it won’t stay wrapped at this point, don’t worry).
6. Wrap the whole thing in plastic wrap tightly, bringing corners up and twisting the wrap to secure bread onto ice cream. You want this tight! Freeze for at least 6 hours. Note: You may be able to get away with less time, but I have never tried frying ice cream that has been frozen for less than 6 hours, so I don’t know what the true “minimum” is. This will also depend on how cold your freezer is.
7. While ice cream freezes, prep sauce and toppings.

To make the pineapple caramel sauce:

1. Heat palm sugar over medium heat in a small pot or a saute pan until melted, stirring frequently. Once melted, keep heating and stirring until it caramelizes into a dark amber colour.
2. Add coconut milk (it will bubble aggressively) and pineapple juice. Keep cooking until the sugar dissolves and sauce has reduced into a thin caramel sauce consistency. 
3. Add the pineapple pieces and cook for 2-3 more minutes in the sauce, stirring occasionally.
4. Remove from heat and stir in butter until melted.
5. Let cool before serving. It will thicken a bit more once cooled.

To fry the ice cream:

1. Add enough oil to a small pot so that it will keep the whole ice cream ball submerged.
2. Heat the oil to 375°F. It is important that you are sure the oil is hot enough. If the oil is too cold the bread won't brown fast enough and the ice cream might melt. Too-cold oil would also result in an oily crust. I recommend using a deep fry thermometer.
3. Fry the ice cream just until golden brown, this should take about 30 seconds only, and no more than 40 seconds.
4. Serve immediately with sauce of your choice.

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Notes

• Any flavour ice cream will work for this. Also, you can mix in other ingredients to create more interesting flavour combinations, for example: red bean paste in matcha ice cream, cookie pieces in vanilla ice cream, or cheese cake pieces in strawberry ice cream.
• Choose bread that is not too thick (see thickness in video) and make sure it is a square shape. I find bread from Asian bakeries work best for this as they tend to be square shaped and has the right thickness. Avoid bread with a "mushroom top" shape, as the irregular shape will make it harder to wrap.

The post The Best Fried Ice Cream appeared first on Hot Thai Kitchen.

There are no better gifts than ones that are handmade with love and care, and this recipe is just the perfect one to make for friends and family! I made these date truffles (some people call them bliss balls) a couple of years ago and gave them to all my friends for Christmas, and everyone loved them. They also last a long time, so you can make them well in advance.

These date balls are made with only dried fruits and nuts, with no added sugar, fat or flour, so if you don't want to indulge in too many Christmas cookies, tame your sweet tooth with these instead! Customize these with your choice of nuts, fruits, spices, flavourings, etc. You can make them more chocolatey by adding more cocoa powder along with a bit of extra hot water (cocoa powder dries up the balls). Enjoy!

Watch The Full Video Tutorial!

Date Truffles (a.k.a. Bliss Balls) DIY Gift

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 1 review

• Author: Pailin Chongchitnant
• Yield: Makes about 24-26 1-inch balls

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Ingredients

• 300 g pitted dates (see note)
• ¾ cup your favourite mix nuts or seeds, roasted and chopped so the pieces are no larger than ¼-inch
• ⅓ cup your favourite mix of dried fruits, chopped into ¼-inch pieces (choose ones that are tart such as dried cherries)
• 3 Tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
• ¼ tsp nutmeg (optional)
• Other flavourings/spices of your choice (optional)
• A pinch salt
• Coating: Finely shredded coconut, finely chopped nuts, cocoa powder, or even sprinkles!

Note: I prefer medjool dates which tend to be softer and more moist, making them easier to process, but other dates would work just as well. I usually buy whole dates and remove the pits myself (it's easy to do), I just find that these ones tend to be better quality than ones already pitted. 

Ingredients and Kitchen Tools I Use

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Instructions

Remove pits from dates, if any, then process them in a food processor just until they gather into a ball. If your food processor is small, process half at a time so as to not wear out the motor. If you find that the dates are too dry and they're not coming together into a ball, add a splash of very hot water (1 tablespoon at a time) and let it soak into the dates for a minute to soften them. (What I have done in the past when I use dryer dates is soak them in hot water first for just a couple of minutes to soften them. If you do this, the dates can become too moist and will be hard to shape, and you will have to add more cocoa powder to absorb the moisture, which is not necessarily a bad thing!)

In a large mixing bowl, combine all your nuts and dried fruit. Sift the cocoa powder and spices into the mixing bowl, add salt, and then stir everything together, making sure all the dried fruit pieces are well separated.

Add dates, and with CLEAN hands, knead everything together until there are no more dry cocoa. You can add more hot water if the mix seems too dry, or add more cocoa powder if the mix seems too wet. Once mixed, taste the mixture and at this point feel free to add more fruit, nuts, spices, salt or cocoa powder. If you want to add more cocoa powder for a more chocolatey taste, you may need to add more water as well because cocoa absorbs moisture.

Using a disher or a spoon, portion out the dates into desired size. Wet your palms with water then roll the dates into round balls. Toss the balls into your coating of choice and press the coating onto the balls slightly. You can now serve or pack them into a package!

Storage: These will keep at room temperature for a several days in an airtight container, and they are better served at room temp, but I recommend putting them in the fridge for longer term storage.

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There's a reason why this mango jelly recipe has over 3 million views on YouTube. This refreshing treat is as delicious as it is beautiful; not to mention easy. It's also a great party dessert as it's vegan and gluten-free. If you're want something more exciting than ice cream, this is the perfect warm weather dessert that won't melt!

This mango jelly uses agar agar powder as the setting agent, not gelatin; which is why it is vegan-friendly. Agar agar jellies, or woon in Thai, are hugely popular in Thailand. Buying colourful woon from a street cart is one of the most memorable food-related highlights of my childhood.

This mango coconut version is not common however; and I came up with it myself as I wanted to make a jelly version of the famous Thai mango sticky rice. But if you want to try a traditional agar jelly recipe, try this classic: layered coconut jelly recipe.

What is agar agar?

Agar agar is the most important ingredient in this recipe, and it's crucial that you buy the right one or the recipe will not work.

Agar agar is made from seaweed, and it has the ability to gel up liquid. It's similar to what gelatin does, but the resulting jelly has a firmer, less bouncy texture - and it does not melt at room temperature, even in the hottest Thailand temperatures! This is very useful because it means agar agar jelly can be left out at room temp with no issues.

Buying the right agar agar: it's important!

Only buy 100% PURE agar agar powder. Some brands have sugar and/or flavouring added, and it's not always easy to tell, so you must check the ingredient list. These versions are instant mixes much like Jell-O powder, so we cannot use them in this recipe.

Agar agar also comes in non-powder forms: flakes, strings, and a few others. I highly recommend using powder because it is the easiest one to deal with. Agar flakes would be my second choice; but know that they measure differently, so you have to weigh them to get the right amount. If using bigger pieces of agar agar, such as strings, weigh it out, and then blitz it in a coffee grinder before using so that it dissolves quickly.

Below are some common options available on the market:

• The one on the left, Telephone Brand, is what I use. It's a Thai brand that can be found at many Southeast Asian grocery stores. It's inexpensive, a few dollars a packet, so this is ideal if you can find it.
• The NOW Real Food agar powder is what you can find at health food stores. As you can see it is advertised as a vegetarian substitute for gelatin, so naturally the price for this is much higher than the Thai one. Not ideal, but it'll work.
• If you have access to Japanese grocery stores, look for "kanten," the Japanese term for agar agar powder. The price should be a little more than the Thai one but still reasonable.

If you've got more question about agar agar, check out my in depth Agar Agar FAQ video.

FAQ

Mango Coconut Jelly Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.5 from 4 reviews

• Author: Pailin Chongchitnant
• Yield: One 8-inch square pan

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Ingredients

Mango Layer

• 250 g mango flesh (for purée), roughly cubed (from about 1 ½ - 2 mangos, scant 2 cups)
• Flesh of 1 mango, 1-cm cubes
• ½ cup orange juice
• 1 ¼ cups water
• 2 tsp (5.2 g) agar agar powder (see note)
• ⅓ cup sugar
• Lime juice, to taste
• 15 small mint leaves, optional

Coconut Layer

• ⅔ cup water
• 1 tsp (2.6 g) agar agar powder (see note)
• 4 Tbsp sugar
• ⅛ tsp salt
• ⅔ cup coconut milk

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Instructions

For the mango layer:

In a blender, blend the mango cubes (for the purée) and orange juice until smooth. In a small pot, add water and agar agar powder and stir to distribute the powder. Bring to a full boil, stirring frequently, making sure that all the agar agar powder has dissolved. Add sugar and mango purée and whisk until smooth. Remove from the heat and taste, adding more sugar and/or lime juice as needed.

Pour the mango mixture into a mould. You can use whatever mould you like; I used a square pan, but you can also make individual ones using cups, glasses, etc. Add the 1-cm mango cubes into the mango base, distributing the cubes evenly throughout, and pushing them down to make sure they are submerged. If desired, you can add mint leaves as well, pushing them into the mango base. Note: Agar agar jelly sets at room temperature, so work quickly especially if you are making small ones. 

Let the jelly set until the surface is firm enough to pour on the next layer (if you touch it gently and your fingers are not poking through, it's ready). You CAN put it in the fridge to make it go faster, but do not let this get cold! (see note)

For the coconut layer:

In a small pot, combine water and agar agar powder and stir to distribute the powder. Bring to a full boil, stirring frequently, making sure that all the agar agar powder has dissolved. Add sugar, salt, and stir until dissolved. Add coconut milk, stir to mix and remove from heat. You can use this immediately if the mango layer has set, if the mango layer has not set, keep this mixture hot, covered, over the lowest heat setting on the stove to prevent it from setting and becoming clumpy.

Once the surface of the mango layer has set, gently pour the coconut layer over the back of a spoon on to the mango base (if you pour too hard it will break or cause dents in the mango layer). Refrigerate for a few hours until cold.

Close to serving time, cut into cubes with a sharp knife and enjoy!

Important Note on Unmolding: Do not unmold or cut agar jelly until close to serving time. When agar jelly is uncontained, water will slowly seep out because it's an unstable gel. A small amount of water loss will not affect how it tastes, and if it has to sit for a couple of hours unmolded that's fine, but you want to avoid it when possible. If you want to give it away to people, I recommend making it in clear heat-proof plastic or glass cups that you're willing to part with.

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Notes

Make sure you're buying pure agar agar powder with no sugar or any other ingredients added (you'll need to check the ingredient list.) Also if measuring by volume, you'll need to use agar agar POWDER. If using flakes, use the weight in grams.

A few people have reported that their coconut layer is not sticking to the mango layer and it slides off when cut. This happens because the bottom layer has set too cold, and the top layer isn't hot enough. The layers will stick when the heat from the coconut mixture dissolves a tiny bit of the surface of the mango layer. So if the bottom layer is too cold and/or the top layer isn't hot enough, they won't stick together. See my coffee agar jelly video where I talk more about this.

More Agar Agar Jelly Recipes

Fresh mangoes not in season right now? No problem, try these jelly recipes. One for the coconut lover, and the other for the coffee lovers in your life!

More Mango Dessert Recipes

If you're here for the mangoes, definitely check out these mango dessert recipes. The mango pudding uses gelatin, so perfect if you can't find agar agar. And the mango royale is a frozen treat that is easy, yet impressive and totally indulgent.

The post Mango Coconut Jelly Cubes วุ้นมะม่วง appeared first on Hot Thai Kitchen.

Upside Down Tako = "Crystal Pudding"

Tako ตะโก้, (also called kuih tako in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore), is a coconut pudding with 2 layers. Traditionally, the top is always the same: a white, creamy, salty-sweet coconut pudding (pic below). The bottom, however, can be made with a variety of ingredients and determines the flavour of the tako. Think of it as different flavours of cake using the same frosting - they all look the same...the real flavour is a surprise!

But for this recipe I wanted to turn it upside down, revealing the side that is more colourful and shiney. Upside-down tako is a recent trend in Thailand, and during my last trip home, my cousin brought me some ... and I didn't even recognize them as tako at first! The glossy beauties immediately reminded me of gemstones, so I came up with the nickname "crystal pudding." I thought it was brilliant and became inspired to make it the "wrong" way myself!

Tako is the perfect party dessert. Here's why

Bold claim, but let me explain. These little creamy pudding cups are:

• Vegan, gluten-free, and most allergen-free
• Require no baking or any special equipment
• Easy and quick, no dessert experience required
• Endlessly adaptable - a great recipe for creative minds!
• Can be prepped ahead
• Are super tasty!

Now that you're intrigued, let's see how they're made.

Ingredients

There are 2 components to tako: the creamy coconut pudding (usually the top, but for us it is the bottom), and the glossy pudding which can be made into any flavour you can dream up. I have given you 3 options for the top layer, but feel free to come up with your own ideas as well!

Bottom Layer - The Coconut Pudding

• Rice flour
• Water
• Coconut milk, being dessert it is important to use good quality full-fat coconut milk as it will make a difference. See my post here on how to choose good coconut milk.
• Sugar
• Salt

Top Layer Option 1 - Green Pandan Young Coconut

Pandan with young coconut are a classic dessert combination in Thai cuisine. The flavour will give you the most traditional flavour profile, and it is my personal favourite of the bunch.

• Pandan leaf, fresh or frozen will work fine. If not available you can substitute a combination of coconut and vanilla extract.
• Water
• Green food colouring (optional)
• Mung bean starch (more on this below)
• Tapioca starch
• Sugar
• Young coconut meat, I use one that's canned in syrup, but if you have it fresh from a young coconut, even better.

Top Layer Option 2 - Red Water Chestnuts

Water chestnuts are another popular tako filling, but I have made them red here as inspired by another classic Thai dessert, "red rubies". If water chestnuts are not your thing, switch them out for young coconut, cooked taro cubes, or sweet corn!

• Water
• Beet, for colour, food colouring is okay too.
• Jasmine extract, coconut extract, vanilla extract, or another flavouring of your choice
• Mung bean starch
• Tapioca starch
• Sugar
• Cooked water chestnuts, canned

Top Layer Option 3 - Golden Pineapple

This is an unconventional tako flavour that I created, but it works super well because...pina colada, anyone? This also goes to show you that the sky's the limit when it comes to creating your own flavours! Anything that goes with coconut will work, (and a LOT of things go with coconut)!

• Coconut water (pineapple juice will also work for a more pronounced pineapple flavour)
• Gold dust, optional, just for some flare!
• Mung bean starch
• Tapioca starch
• Sugar
• Pineapple, canned

How to Make Crystal Tako

The instructions are incredibly simple, and can be summed up in just one word: stir. That's it, folks. That's all you need to do! Here's a bird's eye view of the process, but I strongly suggest watching the full video tutorial to get a better idea of how it comes together and the texture that you are looking for - especially if you've never made it before!

For the Coconut Layer:

1. In a small or medium saucepan, combine the rice flour with water and whisk until the flower is completely dissolved.
2. Add the coconut milk, sugar, and salt and stir to combine.
3. Stir the mixture over medium high heat, and once it starts to steam, turn it down to medium heat and cook until it's fully thickened. About 5-8 minutes.
4. Immediately spoon into cups until they are about half full. Do this while the pudding is hot, as it stiffens up once cooled; but if it does cool, simply reheat it on the stove to soften. Let cool while you make the topping.

For the Glossy Layer:

1. Blend the pandan leaf with room temp or cold water until fine, then strain through a fine sieve.
2. Combine the pandan leaf juice with the mung bean starch, tapioca starch, and sugar; then stir until the starch is dissolved.
3. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with the rubber spatula until the mixture becomes thick and translucent; about five minutes.
4. Once fully translucent, stir in the young coconut and cook for another minute to heat it up.
5. Immediately spoon this over the coconut pudding, aiming for roughly the same amount for each layer. Do this while the pudding is hot as it stiffens up once cooled; but if it does cool, simply reheat it on the stove to soften.
6. Let cool to room temp before serving. You can also garnish them with a little toasted coconut or coconut flakes to let people know of the presence of coconut if you like.

Want to try other flavours? The process for cooking the top is the same, you simply need to switch out the liquid and the mix-ins. You may need to reduce the amount of sugar if the liquid is already sweet, so do use some judgement as you make changes. Detailed instructions for the water chestnuts and pineapple versions are in the recipe card.

What is Mung Bean Starch?

Let's talk about our main ingredient, mung bean starch, which is responsible for the "crystal" quality of our pudding.

You know those bean sprouts in noodle soups and pad thai? Those are mung bean sprouts. And mung bean starch, is extracted from those beans. Mung bean starch is used in many Asian countries, but in Thailand it is used only in desserts and for making glass noodles.

Mung bean starch is used in tako because it has a tender texture, and the magical quality of being clear when cooked (hence, "glass" noodles!). So whenever clarity and translucence are required, mung bean starch comes to the rescue.

If I were to use cornstarch or rice flour for the top layer, for example, I would get a pudding, but it would be cloudy and not nearly as pretty as the ones you see here. Not to mention the mix-ins will not be clearly visible.

Tapioca starch also cooks up clear and has a chewier texture, so I add a small amount for added elasticity, but I want the mung bean starch to be our primary starch to maintain tenderness. You can omit the tapioca starch and replace it with the same amount of mung bean starch.

Once you have mung bean and tapioca starch, try making these bubble tea noodles and these no-churn Thai tea ice cream bars!

Where to buy mung bean starch and tapioca starch?

My preferred brand of mung bean starch is Pine Brand (sponsored), a popular Thai brand who also make my favourite glass noodles! You can look for it wherever you get your Thai groceries, check out this map of Asian grocery stores to find one near you.

Korean grocery stores also carry mung bean starch as it is also used in Korean cuisine; and any store that sells a lot of Southeast Asian groceries is a good place to look as they also use it in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia as well.

Tapioca starch is much easier to find and is usually available at any Asian grocery stores, or even some health food stores. Arrowroot starch can also be used instead of tapioca starch.

IMPORTANT: Do NOT buy "mung bean flour" or "tapioca flour" (vs "starch"). These are not pure starches and will not work as a substitute.

What if I can't find mung bean starch?

If you can't find mung bean starch at all, there are a few options. First, you can use rice flour or cornstarch BUT...you will end up with a cloudy pudding that isn't as pretty. In that case, consider sticking with the traditional version with the coconut side on top. If making the traditional version though, reduce the amount of rice flour in the coconut pudding to 30 g.

Or, consider doing something entirely different. Take a look at these colourful tako that I had in Thailand!

• You can make a tapioca pudding. The blue tako in the pic above is topped with tapioca pudding coloured with butterfly pea flowers (any food dye will also work). You can then stir in any of the mix-ins I've mentioned. See my video here for basic instructions for how to make tapioca pudding (as part of my "Is Your Sago FAKE or REAL?" video).
• The black one on the top left was my favourite of this bunch. It's a black sticky rice pudding, and you can simply use my black sticky rice pudding recipe here! The orange threads on top is just a garnish of candied egg yolk threads, which you don't need.
• FYI: The pink one is similar to the red water chestnut one I shared in my recipe, and the white one is the traditional tako, with candied water chestnut garnish on top to indicate that the bottom has water chestnuts inside.

Tips for Advance Prep

There are many ways to prepare tako in advance, but there is only 1 thing to keep in mind: the mung bean starch becomes cloudy when refrigerated, but the pudding will still taste great. So if the translucent look is important to you, it's best not to chill them. The pudding will last all day at room temperature, and here are ways to get lots done ahead of time:

• Make the bottom coconut pudding layer and fill the cups up to one day ahead. Keep them covered in plastic wrap and refrigerate until serving day.
• Prep all your ingredients for the top layer ahead of time. The top layer only takes a few minutes to cook, so once you have the bottom done and the ingredients for the top prepped, you can finish it really quickly in the morning.
• If you have a dinner party, finish the pudding in the morning and they will last well into the evening without refrigeration.
• If you NEED to refrigerate them, that's fine! You will lose the clarity, but they will still taste great, and some people even prefer them cold. You can also consider making the traditional version with the coconut layer on top, and you won't have to worry about chilling them.

Storage

If you have tako leftover, keep them covered in the refrigerator and they will last at least 3 days. The top will turn cloudy as mentioned above, but they will still taste great. I find they even taste a bit better the next day because the ingredients have had time to mingle - especially the water chestnuts one.

You may find that a small amount of water pools around the top after a few days. This is normal and is totally fine; it's just water seeping out of the pudding, and you can eat it or use paper towel to dab it.

They do not freeze well.

Other Flavour Ideas

I have given you a few different options to choose from, but here are some more ideas in case you want to branch out.

• Taro. I don't always like taro, but I LOVE taro in tako. It will work as a sub for the young coconut in the green version. Simply peel and dice taro, and steam it for about 10 minutes or until tender (check often as you don't want them turning into mush).
• Sweet corn. Another classic tako mix-ins. The canned stuff is fine here, and it would also work well with the green pandan base. I would even add it in addition to the young coconut for something prettier.
• Longans. Longans are a cousin to lychee, and you can find them canned at many Asian grocery stores. They are flavourful and juicy in themselves, so they'll work with a neutral base of just water, coloured with whatever your heart desires.
• Fresh mango (or other sweet fresh fruits). I have not personally tried this, but I KNOW this is going to be so delish. This doesn't even need to be cooked. Simply top the coconut pudding with some sweet, ripe mango pieces that are slightly mashed to get that creamy effect as done in this mango royale recipe. Sweeten it a little with honey as needed, and you're good to go.

Choosing Containers for Tako

Tako is traditionally served in individual banana leaf cups, but any kind of small cups such as sauce cups, mini ramekins, mini foil tart pans, or silicone cupcake liners will work. The ideal volume, for me at least, is 2 oz (60 ml) or smaller.

Do not use paper muffin liners as they will just flop open and eventually the moist pudding will soak through. You need something that can hold their shape and is waterproof.

How to Make Your Own Banana Leaf Cups

If you're feeling ambitious and want to make the traditional banana leaf cups, it's not hard. Here are the supplies what you'll need:

• Banana leaves, frozen or fresh
• A wet kitchen towel and a dry one.
• a round pattern about 3.5-4 inch in diameter. This can be a bowl, a jar lid or a cardboard cutout. Larger is okay, but not smaller.
• A small stapler
• Scissors
• A chef's knife

1. Tear the banana leaves into 4-inch wide strips along the grain of the leaves. You may need to use scissors to snip off the end if it's stuck to the rib. Each tako cup will take 2 pieces, but cut a few extras in case of tears.
2. Wipe both sides of each leaf clean with a wet towel, and dry them off again with a dry towel.
3. Stack the banana leaf strips, lining them up along the short edge. Place your round pattern on top of the stack, then use a sharp chef's knife to chop off excess around the pattern, so you will end up with a stack of round banana leaves in the end.
4. Take two round pieces and place them on top of each other, making sure the grains of the leaves are perpendicular to each other. This will make them less likely to tear. (See pic below)
5. Fold a small pleat about 1 inch long and use a small stapler to secure the pleat together. Make another pleat on the opposite side of the first pleat (pic step 3). Then make two more pleats in between the first 2 pleats (pic step 4). Your cup is done! These will last a few days in the fridge in a covered container.

Thai Crystal Coconut Pudding Recipe - Tako

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Crystal Coconut Pudding (Tako)

These traditional Thai layered coconut puddings have a creamy coconut base and a glossy "crystal" top that you can make into all kinds of flavours. They're naturally vegan, gluten free, no-bake, super easy, and of course totally tasty - perfect for the holidays! I've given you 3 flavour options, but feel free to experiment!

Course Dessert

Cuisine Thai

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 12 muffin size cups

Author Pailin Chongchitnant

Equipment

• Small cups such as sauce bowls, espresso cups, mini aluminum tart pans, or silicone muffin cups. You can also make it in a big casserole dish or cake pan and scoop or cut to serve. Ideal volume for 1 cup is about 2 oz (60 ml) but it can be any size you want.

Ingredients

Base Layer - Coconut Pudding

• 1.5 oz rice flour (about ⅓ cup + 2 Tbsp) (see note 1)
• ½ cup water
• 1 ½ cups coconut milk
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ¾ teaspoon table salt (see note 2)

Top Layer Option 1 - Green Pandan Coconut

• 1 pandan leaf about 18 inches
• 1 ⅓ cups water
• Few drops green food coloring optional
• 3 tablespoon mung bean starch (see note 1)
• 1 tablespoon tapioca starch (see note 1)
• ⅓ cup sugar
• ¾ cup julienned young coconut meat canned in syrup or fresh

Top Layer Option 2 - Red Water Chestnuts

• 1 ¼ cups water
• A quarter of a beet or sub red food colouring
• ¼ teaspoon Jasmine extract or coconut extract optional
• 3 tablespoon mung bean starch (see note 1)
• 1 tablespoon tapioca starch (see note 1)
• ⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 cup cooked or canned water chestnuts small dice (see note 3)

Top Layer Option 3 - Golden Pineapple

• 1 ¼ cups coconut water no added sugar see note 4)
• ¼ teaspoon edible gold dust optional
• 3 tablespoon mung bean starch (see note 1)
• 1 tablespoon tapioca starch (see note 1)
• ⅓ cup sugar
• 1 cup canned pineapple rings cut into small pieces

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Prepare the containers and have them all ready, lined up on a tray. You will need to fill them as soon as the pudding is done.

Bottom Layer - Salted Coconut Pudding:

• In a small pot, combine the rice flour with water and stir until completely dissolved. Add coconut milk, sugar and salt and stir to mix.
  1.5 oz rice flour (about ⅓ cup + 2 Tbsp), ½ cup water, 1 ½ cups coconut milk, ¼ cup granulated sugar, ¾ teaspoon table salt
• Cook the mixture over medium high heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula or a whisk, scraping the bottom as you go. Once the mixture starts to steam, lower the heat to medium and keep stirring. You will notice the mixture gradually getting thicker - keep stirring until it doesn’t look like it’s getting any thicker for at least 15 seconds - this means the mixture has fully thickened. If you stop stirring, the mixture should be bubbling. For this amount the process should take 5-8 minutes, depending on your heat. The final consistency should look like greek yogurt (I highly recommend watching the video to see what it should look like).
• Right away, while the pudding is piping hot, spoon into your containers until about half full. Work quickly, as the pudding will stiffen as it cools, but if becomes too stiff simply heat it back up while stirring constantly over medium heat to soften it. If it’s hot and still feels too stiff, you can add a splash of water or coconut milk to loosen it up.
• Let these cool at room temp while you make the top layer.

Top Layer option 1 - Green Pandan Coconut

• Blend the pandan leaf with the water until fine. Strain into a liquid measuring cup and discard the fiber. Check to see that you have at least 1 ¼ cup of pandan juice; a little more is okay, but if you have less, add more water to make up the shortfall. If you want, add a few drops of green food coloring to intensify the colour.
  1 pandan leaf, 1 ⅓ cups water, Few drops green food coloring
• Pour the pandan juice into a small pot, then add the mung bean starch, tapioca starch, and sugar; stir until all the starch has dissolved.
  3 tablespoon mung bean starch, 1 tablespoon tapioca starch, ⅓ cup sugar
• Turn the heat on medium and stir constantly with a rubber spatula. As the mixture heats up, it'll gel up bit by bit. Keep stirring constantly until the whole mixture has become thick and translucent. Once the mixture doesn’t look like it’s changing for a good 15 seconds, the pudding has fully cooked. Add the coconut meat and stir for a minute or so to allow the mixture to heat back up before turning off the heat.
  ¾ cup julienned young coconut meat
• Right away, spoon the pudding over the coconut layer, aiming for roughly the same amount for each layer. If for some reason the mixture has cooled down and become too stiff to spoon, simply heat it back up while stirring constantly over medium heat to soften it.
• Allow the pudding to cool to room temp before serving. (See storage notes in the blog post.)

Top Layer option 2 - Red Water Chestnuts

• If you have a flat grater, grate the beet directly into the water until the colour intensity is the way you like it. If you have a box grater, grate about ¼ of a medium beet and put it into the water. Stir to extract the colour and strain the liquid into a small pot, pressing out all the water.
  1 ¼ cups water, A quarter of a beet
• Stir in mung bean starch, tapioca starch, sugar, and flavouring of your choice, if using; stir until the starch is all dissolved.
  ¼ teaspoon Jasmine extract or coconut extract, 3 tablespoon mung bean starch, 1 tablespoon tapioca starch, ⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
• Turn the heat on medium and stir constantly with a rubber spatula. As the mixture heats up, it'll gel up bit by bit. Keep stirring constantly until the whole mixture has become thick and translucent. Once the mixture doesn’t look like it’s changing for a good 15 seconds, the pudding has fully cooked. Add the water chestnuts and stir for another minute to allow the mixture to heat back up before turning off the heat.
  1 cup cooked or canned water chestnuts
• Right away, spoon the pudding over the coconut layer, aiming for roughly the same amount for each layer. If for some reason the mixture has cooled down and become too stiff to spoon, simply heat it back up while stirring constantly over medium heat to soften it.
• Allow the pudding to cool to room temp before serving. (See storage notes in the blog post.)

Top Layer option 3 - Golden Pineapple

• In a pot, combine the coconut water and the gold dust (if using) until it looks the way you like it, adding more gold dust if desired. Then add the mung bean starch, tapioca starch, and sugar; stir until the starches have completely dissolved.
  1 ¼ cups coconut water, ¼ teaspoon edible gold dust, 3 tablespoon mung bean starch, 1 tablespoon tapioca starch, ⅓ cup sugar
• Turn the heat on medium and stir constantly with a rubber spatula. As the mixture heats up, it'll gel up bit by bit. Keep stirring constantly until the whole mixture has become thick and translucent. Once the mixture doesn’t look like it’s changing for a good 15 seconds, the pudding has fully cooked. Add the pineapple pieces and stir for another minute to allow the mixture to heat back up before turning off the heat.
  1 cup canned pineapple rings
• Right away, spoon the pudding over the coconut layer, aiming for roughly the same amount for each layer. If for some reason the mixture has cooled down and become too stiff to spoon, simply heat it back up while stirring constantly over medium heat to soften it.
• Allow the pudding to cool to room temp before serving. (See storage notes in the blog post.)

Video

Notes

1. I recommend weighing the starch and flour in this recipe (use the metric toggle at the top of the ingredient list to show weight in grams), but if measuring by cup/tablespoon, fluff the starch to lighten it, then gently scoop without compacting and level it off with a straight edge. If you scoop into densely packed starch, or compact it as you scoop, you will end up with more than you need.
2. If making the pineapple flavour, reduce the salt to ½ tsp. The salt is there to balance the sweetness of the top layer, but the acidity in the pineapple will also help balance the sweetness.
3. Water chestnuts are rather plain tasting, so if you'd like to sweeten them soak them in hot simple syrup while you prep and make the bottom layer. You can also soak them a day ahead.
4. You can also use pineapple juice instead of coconut water for a more pronounced pineapple flavour. If using, you will need to reduce the sugar to just 2 Tbsp; or omit it altogether if the juice is very sweet. If unsure, you can taste the cooked mixture and add more sugar as needed.

Want more delicious vegan coconut desserts?

Thai cuisine is filled with naturally vegan desserts, and almost all of them include coconut and are gluten free. So check out all of my dessert recipes, but I've highlighted a few vegan ones here:

The post Thai Layered Coconut Pudding - Tako appeared first on Hot Thai Kitchen.

It's not a hack or a new science trick, but old school wisdom at its best. This is how ice cream used to be made in Thailand before ice cream churning machines were widely used. It's a brilliant technique that I think deserves a comeback.

For more Thai style ice cream treats, try this fried ice cream or coconut ice cream sandwich!

Traditional Thai "cut" ice cream

A while ago I came across an image of these rectangular ice cream bars in Thailand, with skinny wooden skewers as the "stick". It reminded me of my childhood, yet I don't have a memory of eating them ... it's definitely something I've seen though. It's so rare these days that I have a hard time trying to remember where I last saw them.

These are not popsicles. They are not icy refreshing treats, but a soft and creamy sweet that eats almost like churned ice cream, but denser and totally satisfying. Upon further investigation I was fascinated by how simply they are made, and I was intrigued by the use of starch.

So here's how the ice cream is made, and then read on to find out the fascinating science of how it all works.

Ingredients You'll Need

Here are all the ingredients you'll need. I'm making Thai tea flavour here, but the basic concept can be applied to other flavours. More on that below.

• Evaporated milk
• Sweetened condensed milk
• Whipping cream or heavy cream
• Tapioca starch (sponsored by Pine Brand)
• Salt
• Thai tea leaves
• Water for brewing tea (not pictured)

Step-By-Step:

Here's a bird's eye view of the process, but also be sure to check out the full video tutorial in the recipe card below to ensure success!

1. Steep Thai tea leaves in hot water for 5 minutes and strain.
2. Dissolve tapioca starch in a little bit of evaporated milk.
3. Pour the starch slurry into a pot.
4. Add condensed milk, evaporated milk, whipping cream and salt.

5. Add the Thai tea, holding back the last little bit where the tea dust has settled.
6. Cook until the mixture is fully thickened and bubbling.
7. Pour into a mold lined with parchment paper for traditional cut ice cream bars.
8. Or pour into a popsicle mold. Let cool to room temp before freezing.

9. Remove from the mold, trim off the edges and cut into bars.
10. Insert wooden skewers or sticks.
11. Peel it off the paper; and that's the old-style ice cream!
12. Alternatively, you can cut into cubes for smaller snack size ice cream.

Pro Tip: Customizing Creaminess

In this recipe I use whipping cream which has the highest fat percentage for that maximum creaminess. If you prefer something lighter, you can use whole milk or "half and half". But without the fat the result will be a noticeably "icier" ice cream (though still soft and sliceable because of the starch), which isn't necessarily a bad thing if you want something more refreshing!

What does starch do to ice cream?

So how does the ice cream base not freeze into a hard icy block? In a word, the starch. If you didn't add the starch, it would indeed freeze into an icy block that you couldn't bite through easily.

How it works is that the starch essentially absorbs some of the water in the ice cream base, and as it gels up while cooking, this water is prevented from becoming frozen into big, hard ice crystals. So in a way, the ice cream is only partially frozen.

Adding starch also has the added benefit of slowing down the melting. Because of the starch, the ice cream base starts out as a very thick liquid. So when it melts, it doesn't just liquefy and drip as quickly as normal ice cream. It softens, but can still hold its shape much longer. Great for kids if you ask me!

What else keeps the ice cream soft and creamy?

But it's not just the starch that does the work. The fat and the sugar also work to prevent the ice cream from freezing solid. Sugar suppresses the freezing point of water, and the fat in the cream lowers the total amount of freezable water present and creates a creamy mouthfeel.

So if you were to substitute the cream in this recipe and use milk, your ice cream would be noticeably icier. Again not necessarily a bad thing if you're looking for something more refreshing as opposed to creamy.

Use tapioca starch for "chewy" ice cream

Tapioca starch is actually not the only starch you can use. Cornstarch will work as well. But what I like about tapioca is that it adds chewiness. If you think about tapioca balls in boba and how chewy they are, that's the idea. Here, it makes an ice cream that you can bite through and then chew - which is an oddly satisfying experience that I love about this treat!

No Churning = Denser = More Flavour

Typical churned ice cream will have air incorporated into it. The more air is whipped into it, the lighter the ice cream. Sounds good, right? But actually, it also means there is less ice cream in every mouthful, and it's in fact less flavourful. This is how cheap ice cream gets away with being cheap; they're selling you a ton of air in a pint.

This is another reason gelato is more expensive than ice cream. Gelato is less airy, so a scoop of gelato has actually more "stuff" in it than a scoop of ice cream.

So these ice cream bars are not churned at all. They have essentially no air incorporated into them, which makes each bite dense and full of flavour. You get hit with a lot of Thai tea flavour in every bite. And it also adds to the chewiness we talked about.

Starch in ice creams in other cultures

Though I have not come across another culture that cuts their ice creams into bars like we do, the use of starch to help improve ice cream textures isn't unique to Thailand.

In Italy, specifically in Sicily, cornstarch is used in their gelato. And in the Middle East, a starch called salep (also spelled sahlep or sahlap) is added for similar effect.

Starch is also added to commercial ice creams, because you better believe the ice cream industry knows all about the magic of starch. In Thailand, mung bean starch is added to some commercial sorbet to increase softness for a better bite and added stability so that it won't melt as quickly.

But wait, what exactly is Thai tea?

You can make this ice cream whatever flavour you like (more on that in the FAQ) but Thai tea is one of my favourites.

If you've never had Thai iced tea, well, you're missing out and you really need to check it out! It's popular both inside and outside of the country, and you could call it our "national drink". If you prefer non-milky teas, you might try Thai lime tea, which is really my preferred version because it's much more refreshing.

Thai tea leaves are made from assam tea, and the iconic orange colour is made from...drum roll....food colouring! Surprise! (Sorry, probably not the mysterious ingredient you were hoping for.) But wait, it also has an added flavour. And that flavour is...drum roll again....vanilla! (Sorry again.)

The unique flavour that you recognize as Thai tea is but the combination of assam tea and vanilla, plus the creamy condensed milk and evaporated milk added later.

Frequently Asked Questions

Before you start, be sure to watch the video tutorial to ensure success! I always include little tips and tricks not mentioned in the blog post. The video is in the recipe card below, but you can also watch it on YouTube!

Like this recipe? You'd also love these!

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No-Machine Soft Ice Cream Bars - Thai Tea Flavor

Soft and creamy ice cream bars without needing a machine but instead adding tapioca starch. It's an old-school treat in Thailand and a brilliantly easy way to make ice cream at home!

Course Dessert, snacks

Cuisine Thai

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Freezing time 6 hours hours

Servings 8 servings

Calories 334kcal

Author Pailin Chongchitnant

Equipment

• Popsicle molds and sticks or a heatproof rectangular dish such as a 9x5 loaf pan
• Some sturdy bamboo skewers for using as sticks if making bars

Ingredients

• ½ cup Thai tea leaves
• 1 ½ cup hot off-the-boil water
• ¼ cup tapioca starch
• 1 can evaporated milk (354 ml)
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk (300 ml)
• 1 cup whipping cream (see note 1)
• ¼ teaspoon table salt scant (see note 2)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Prepare your molds. If using a dish, grease the bottom and sides with oil.

  Cut a piece of parchment paper so it's as wide as the longest side of your container. Line the dish with the parchment, leaving plenty of overhang on two sides. Press the parchment into the oil so it sticks, and use a bulldog clip to secure the overhang onto the edge of the dish to prevent the paper from moving around. For easier removal, you can line with another piece of parchment, going across the first piece so you have overhang on all 4 sides.

  Tip: I recommend using good quality, sturdy parchment paper for this. Cheap filmy parchment might tear as you try to pull the ice cream out (as I found out the hard way!)
• Steep the tea leaves in hot-off-the-boil water for 5 mins, then strain using a fine mesh strainer, pressing out most of the liquid. You should end up with a little more than 1 cup of tea (1 cup exactly is fine, but it should be less than 1 ¼ cups.) Allow the tea dust to settle to the bottom for a minute.
  ½ cup Thai tea leaves, 1 ½ cup hot off-the-boil water
• Meanwhile, put the tapioca starch into a small mixing bowl, add about ⅓ cup of the evaporated milk and whisk to dissolve the starch - making extra sure there are no lumps. Pour the starch slurry into a medium size pot, followed by the remaining evaporated milk.
  ¼ cup tapioca starch, 1 can evaporated milk
• Add the sweetened condensed milk, whipping cream, and salt to the pot. Then pour in the tea, holding back the last little bit so as to not pour in too much of the tea dust. Stir until the condensed milk is dissolved.
  1 can sweetened condensed milk, 1 cup whipping cream, ¼ teaspoon table salt
• Turn the heat on medium and stir constantly with a rubber spatula, scraping the bottom. The mixture will slowly start to thicken, and once the mixture starts to bubble and is no longer getting any thicker, it is fully cooked. (To check for bubbling you'll have to stop stirring for a few seconds and watch for movement.)

  Remove from heat and, while still hot, pour or ladle it into your molds. Pop any big buggles with a toothpick, then allow the ice cream to cool to room temp before freezing for at least 6 hours before unmolding.
• To unmold, I highly recommend watching the video to see how this is done so you have a better idea.

  If using a cake pan or a dish, use a thin knife or metal offset spatula and run it along the edges that don't have parchment paper. You can dip the knife in hot water if you're having a hard time inserting. Carefully lift the parchment overhang to remove the ice cream from the pan. If you're having a hard time removing, try running the knife around the edges one more time, especially around any rounded corners, or wait a minute; resisting the urge to dip the mold in hot water as this ice cream melts quickly.

  Once it's out, place it on a cutting board and use a knife to trim the edges if you wish, then cut into blocks of your desired size. If making bars, insert a sturdy bamboo skewer into the ice cream, using a knife or something sturdy to push against the top to hold the ice cream steady. Peel it off the paper and enjoy!
• To store: wrap each piece in parchment paper to prevent them from sticking to each other.
• Tip: Because of the added starch, these are soft and creamy but also melt quickly, so work quickly when unmolding the ice cream.

Video

Notes

1. For a lighter treat, you can use half and half or whole milk. Keeping in mind this will make your ice cream icier.
2. Scant ¼ teaspoon means just a little less than ¼ teaspoon. Sorry for this imprecise measurement but I found that ⅛ is not enough, and ¼ is too much! 

Nutrition

Calories: 334kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 64mg | Sodium: 192mg | Potassium: 347mg | Sugar: 32g | Vitamin A: 682IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 276mg | Iron: 1mg

The post No-Machine Soft Ice Cream Bars - Thai Tea Flavor appeared first on Hot Thai Kitchen.

If you love bubble tea, you are going to love this too. "Lod chong Singapore" is made from chewy tapioca noodles in refreshing iced coconut milk and coconut water flavoured with pandan leaves! Similar to cendol, this is a popular dessert in Thailand, especially in open air markets as a sweet cold treat while you peruse. It's vegan, gluten free, and easy to make; much more so than homemade bubble tea!

Why is it called Lodchong Singapore?

Lod chong is our term for cendol, the green dessert noodles popular all over Southeast Asia that are pressed and extruded rather than rolled and cut like these. For a long time I thought that this was the Singaporean version of cendol; but turns out, the reason for "Singapore" in the name is because the shop that popularized it was situated in front of a movie theatre called "Singapore Theatre." So, no relation to Singapore the country here! (*I believe they not only popularized but actually invented the dessert, though I am not 100% sure on this.)

What You'll Need

Here are the ingredients you'll need to make lod chong Singapore:

Step-By-Step: How to Make Lod Chong Singapore

Some FAQs about ingredients

Advance Prep & Storage

This part is a bit tricky because the noodles don't keep well. I've detailed how to store each component below, but here is my general "best practice": Make the syrup and coconut milk in advance. Make the dough the day-of, and don't refrigerate. Roll out and cook the noodles within a few hours of serving. Do not freeze anything.

Syrup & Coconut Milk. Make the syrup and the coconut milk well in advance to allow enough time for them to cool before using. The syrup will last indefinitely in the fridge, and the coconut milk at least a week.

The Dough. Unfortunately the dough does not keep well. In the fridge the starch will stiffen and become brittle, making it hard to work with. You can, however, make the dough up to 4 hours in advance, keep it tightly wrapped at room temperature until you're ready to roll (pun totally intended!).

The Uncooked Noodles. Once the noodles are cut, you should cook them as soon as possible. Left out they will dry and become brittle and break; and they might also stick together, especially if you have them sitting on top of each other in a big pile. But if you need to leave them for a bit, keep them covered with plastic wrap.

Cooked Noodles. Once the noodles are cooked, the clock starts ticking! It's a little tricky, but here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Once you drain the noodles, serve or assemble the dessert right away or they will start to clump together.
• If not serving right away, assemble the dessert with the jackfruit, syrup and coconut milk, but add ice only when ready to serve. The liquid will prevent the noodles from clumping, and even though they will slowly swell up, they will still be good for a few hours.
• Do not refrigerate the cooked noodles or the texture will harden and lose that soft chew.

Tips for Optimal Deliciousness

Once you've cooked the noodles, even if you're ready to eat, hold off for a bit. Assemble and let the noodles sit in the syrup and coconut milk "broth" for about 15 minutes. The texture will still be perfect, but the noodles will have had time to absorb some sweetness from the syrup and taste better. Again, the noodles will be good for a few hours in the broth, but they will continue to swell and become less chewy as time goes by. Do not refrigerate to maintain the best noodle texture.

When ready to eat, add lots of ice and stir really well to allow everything to completely chill and to dilute the coconut milk; the resulting liquid should be light enough to drink.

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Bubble Tea Noodles in Coconut Milk (Lod Chong Singapore / Cendol)

Chewy tapioca noodles and sweet jackfruit in chilled pandan-scented coconut milk

Course Dessert

Cuisine Thai

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Servings 6 servings

Calories 270kcal

Author Pailin Chongchitnant

Equipment

• Rolling Pin

Ingredients

Lod Chong Noodles:

• 4.2 oz Pine Brand tapioca starch plus extra for dusting about 1 cup
• 0.9 oz Pine Brand mung bean starch about 3 Tbsp
• ⅔ cup water
• 5 drops green food colouring

Pandan Syrup:

• 1 ¼ cup coconut water or water
• ¾ cup sugar (see note)
• 1 pandan leaf

Coconut Milk:

• 1 cup coconut milk
• ½ cup coconut water
• ⅛ teaspoon table salt
• 1 pandan leaf

For serving:

• 5 pieces sweet jackfruit, fresh or canned julienned against the grain (see note)
• Lots of ice

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make the syrup:

• Add coconut water or water into a small pot. Tie the pandan leaf into a knot or two until it’s short enough to fit nicely into the pot and add it to the coconut water. Cover and simmer on low heat for 5 minutes to infuse.
• Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Cool completely.

Make the coconut milk:

• Combine coconut milk, coconut water, and salt in a small pot. Tie the pandan leaf into a knot or two until it’s short enough to fit nicely into the pot and add it to the coconut milk. Cover and simmer on low heat for 5 minutes to infuse. Cool completely.

Make the noodles (please watch the video for technique!):

• Whisk the starches together in a large, heat-proof mixing bowl.
• Bring the water to a full boil, and once boiling, turn off the heat immediately (I do this in the microwave in a glass measuring cup). Add the food colouring and stir to mix.
• Working with the water right away while it's still hot, drizzle roughly 3 tablespoons of the hot water over the flour, then quickly toss with a spoon to distribute the hot water. The parts where the flour touches the water will clump up immediately. Repeat with more hot water, again 3 tablespoons at a time, until all of the flour starts to look clumpy. You should use MOST of the hot water, but you may not need all of it.
• Use your hand to squeeze the flour into a ball. It should be very rough but it should come together easily. If there is still dry flour, add a little more water. If it is too wet and sticks to your hand too much, you can add a little more tapioca starch, 1 tablespoon at a time.
• Once a rough dough forms, transfer it onto a clean work surface dusted with tapioca starch. Dust the top of the dough lightly with more starch and then knead until a smooth dough forms, adding more starch if the dough sticks to your hands. If there are little lumps of flour in the dough, do not worry, this will all cook away.
• Separate dough into 2 pieces, and cover one with a tea towel while you work with the other. Re-dust the work surface and roll the dough out into a rectangle about 2mm thick (1/16 inch). Don’t worry too much about the dimensions.
• Once you have the right thickness, cut down the sheet so you have long strips that are 2-3 inches wide. Then generously dust the strips and cut them into noodles, about 3-4 mm wide.
• Toss the cut noodles with a little extra tapioca starch to ensure that they do not stick together. Repeat with the remaining dough.
• Bring a large pot of water to a full rolling boil, and meanwhile prepare a large bowl of very cold water. Once the water is boiling, “sprinkle” all of the noodles into the pot. Once the noodles float, keep them boiling for another 1-2 minutes or until cooked through.
• To check doneness, put a piece of noodle into the cold water; it should be translucent all the way through and it should be nice and chewy with no starchiness left in the centre. If you find it too chewy, you can cook it a bit longer.
• Once done, scoop the noodles out with a wire skimmer and put them immediately into the cold water. Once cool, drain them immediately and place them into a bowl. Do not let them linger in the water unnecessarily or they will swell up.

If serving right away:

• Divide the noodles into a serving bowl or cup, add jackfruit, then add syrup to your liking (start with 2 tablespoon per serving), and about 4 tablespoon of the coconut milk. If possible, let it sit for 15 mins or so and the noodles will absorb some of the sweetness and will taste better overall.

  Add a lot of ice and stir well, allowing it to really chill before you eat. Eat with a big bubble tea straw or a spoon. Put out extra syrup for people to add more if desired.

If not serving right away:

• Once the noodles are cooked, you need to keep them in liquid or they will eventually stick together into a big clump. So place the noodles into a large bowl, add the jackfruit and pour all of the coconut milk over them. Add the syrup to taste, but make it a little sweeter than you like because the ice will dilute it some. Stir to mix and keep at room temp until ready to serve, ideally no longer than 2 hours. The longer they sit the more they will swell up with liquid and the texture will be less chewy.
• When ready to serve, portion the noodles out into bowls or cups and add a lot of ice and stir well, allowing it to really chill before you eat. Eat with a big bubble tea straw or a spoon. Put out extra syrup for people to add more if desired.

  For advance prep and storage: please see post above for details!

Video

Notes

1. If using water for the syrup instead of coconut water, use 1 cup of sugar.
2. Canned jackfruit has more persistent fibers, so it's best to cut against the direction of the fibers. If using fresh jackfruit, you can cut it in any direction.

Nutrition

Calories: 270kcal | Carbohydrates: 50g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 131mg | Potassium: 267mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 27g | Vitamin A: 1IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 25mg | Iron: 2mg

The post Bubble Tea Noodles in Coconut Milk (Cendol) appeared first on Hot Thai Kitchen.

Adding Asian Flavours to Your Cookie Swap

These cookies are buttery and almost melt in your mouth, with the iconic aroma of toasted black sesame seeds, and a slight crunch from cashews.

There may be no in-person cookie swap this year, but Redpath Sugar is hosting a “Share the Sweetness” Virtual Cookie Exchange instead! So rather than sharing actual cookies, you can share cookie recipes that you want friends and family to try. And you can even enjoy them together over video chat, which I think is a brilliant way to still celebrate together while staying safe!

So here’s one I made using Redpath’s snowball cookie recipe as a base and adding my own Asian twist. The original recipe uses almonds, but I made mine with toasted black sesame with chopped cashews for some added texture. Black sesame seeds (well-toasted ones) are so flavourful in and of themselves so you don’t need any other flavourings which simplifies things.

Shortbread-type cookies like these are also great in that they stay fresh-tasting for up to a week, so you can make them in advance and even package and gift them!

Black Sesame Snowball Cookies

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 1 review

• Author: Pailin Chongchitnant
• Yield: 40 small cookies

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Description

Here's the original recipe from Redpath from which I based this one.

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Ingredients

Cookies

• 1 cup (227g) butter, unsalted
• ½ cup (60g) Redpath Icing Sugar
• ¾ tsp salt
• 1 ½ cups (200g) all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup (25g) cornstarch
• ¾ cup (75g) black sesame seeds
• ¼ cup (35g) whole roasted cashews, finely chopped (or sub another nut of your choice)

Coating:

• 1 - 1 ½ cups (120g - 180g) Redpath Icing Sugar

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Instructions

1. Toast the sesame seeds in a dry saute pan over medium heat, stirring constantly. Listen for the popping. Once the popping is fast and quite aggressive, let them continue to pop for another 15 seconds and remove from heat.
2. Grind the sesame seeds using a coffee grinder by pulsing and shaking the grinder frequently until they are finely ground. Be careful not to over grind them as they will start releasing the oil and become wet and clumpy.
3.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter on medium speed until light and fluffy; 2 minutes, scraping the sides once in between.
4. Sift the Redpath® Icing Sugar into the creamed butter and beat on medium-low speed until smooth and pale in colour, scraping once in between. 
5. Whisk together the flour, cornstarch, salt, ground sesame seeds and chopped cashews until thoroughly combined.
6. Add half of the dry ingredients into the mixer bowl and blend on low until just combined. Add the other half of the dry ingredients and mixed until just combined. Transfer into a bowl, cover and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
7. While the dough is chilling, preheat oven to 325°F (163°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
8. Using a small ice cream scoop (I use one that has a 10mL/2 teaspoon capacity) and scoop even-sized balls of dough. Roll the dough into balls, using the warmth of your hands to help shape the dough, and put them on a plate or container (you can stack them at this point). Place into the fridge to chill until firm; 20 minutes.
9. Place cookies onto the prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart, and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until bottoms are light golden in colour. 
10. Allow to cool slightly on pan; 5 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the icing sugar for coating in a shallow dish.
11. Gently roll the still-warm cookies in the Redpath® Icing Sugar. Place onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
12. Roll or dust the completely cooled cookies again with icing sugar and they’re ready to be enjoyed! Cookies can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

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The post Black Sesame Snowball Cookies appeared first on Hot Thai Kitchen.

What is Mango Royale?

Mango royale, also known as mango float, is a classic Filipino mango dessert made with layers of sweet whipped cream, Manila mangoes, and graham crackers. It's then frozen and served slightly thawed. It's a version of another popular Filipino dessert called crema de fruta, which is similarly layered, but uses fruit cocktail instead of mangoes, and sponge cake or ladyfingers instead of graham crackers.

I first became aware of mango royale listening to a Good Food podcast episode featuring Isa Fabro, a Filipino-American chef who is well-known for her sell-out mango royale popups in Los Angeles. But instead of making it in a cake pan or a casserole dish, as is more commonly done, she makes hers in a pie plate, which I think is brilliant. This recipe is based on one she has shared publicly, with a few of my own modifications.

Ingredients You'll Need

You really need only 5 ingredients; the lime is optional but I like the acidity and brightness that it adds. Because it is so simple, the quality of your mangoes is of utmost importance. More on that below.

• Graham cracker crumbs. You can buy the crumbs, or grind up whole crackers.
• Butter, unsalted (though salted is fine, too)
• Sweetened condensed milk
• Heavy whipping cream
• Manila mangoes
• Lime juice (optional)

How to Make Mango Royale

Here's a bird's eye view of the process, but be sure to check out the full video tutorial in the recipe card below to ensure success!

1. Melt and brown the butter until very dark and nutty
2. Pour into the graham cracker crumbs and mix
3. Press about ⅔ of the crumbs into a pie plate which has been sprayed with nonstick spray, and chill.
4. Score mango cheeks into cubes and scoop into a bowl.

5. Squish the mangoes with a gloved hand until it looks like half-chunks, half-purée.
6. If the mango tastes like it could use a little extra acidity to brighten up the flavour, add some lime juice.
7. Combine the condensed milk and whipping cream.
8. Whip on medium to medium-low speed until firm.

9. Spread half of the cream onto the chilled crust.
10. Spread half of the mango on top of the cream.
11. Sprinkle on half of the remaining crumbs (or however much you like; I like only a little bit of crumbs here.)
12. Repeat the layers one more time.

13. Once completed, freeze the pie for at least 8 hours.
14. Before serving, thaw for about 1 hour at room temp or overnight in the fridge.

Pro Tip: Slow-Whip the Cream

Chef Fabro stresses that the cream should be whipped slowly for more stability. You can whisk it by hand if you're looking for an arm workout, or if using an electric mixer, use medium or medium low speed. Using high speed creates a lot of air bubbles which makes the cream less stable. Think about the aerosol whipped cream, it's whipped instantly and is the flimsiest whipped cream ever...yeah, we want the opposite of that!

Choosing the Best Mangoes

This pie is so simple, so your mangoes have to be very good. Remember: your pie is only as good as your mangoes! You want them ripe, sweet, juicy, and erring on the side of overripe. If they're wrinkly with black spots on them, even better. This is partly because once the mangoes are frozen, their flavour and sweetness will be dulled slightly.

What type of mangoes should you use? You should use Manila mangoes of course, which in North America are in season around April. If that's not available to you, you can use Ataulfo mangoes which are very similar, and in N. America these are sometimes both labeled as “Manila” mangoes. Ataulfo are also known as champagne mangoes. If neither is available, go with whatever is sweet, fragrant and juicy, but not fibrous.

What are Manila Mangoes?

Manila mangoes are teardrop-shaped, bright yellow mangoes that are native to the Philippines. When ripe they should be very sweet with very little acidity (which is why I like to add a little lime juice to the pie) and are not at all fibrous. The seeds are also wonderfully thin, so they're a good bang for your buck! Ataulfo mangoes (aka champagne mangoes) are descendants of Manila mangoes and are very similar so can also be used.

How to tell if Manila mangoes are ripe

If you want to eat Manila mangoes fresh, wait a few days after they have turned completely yellow. If there's still any green on the skin, they are not ready to eat and will be sour. They should also feel soft when gently squeezed.

If you want to make Mango Royale, however, wait longer until the skin starts to get wrinkly. As mentioned, for a frozen dessert you want them overripe for maximum flavour, fragrance, and sweetness.

How to Store Mango Royale

Mango royale is a frozen dessert, so obviously you need to keep it frozen. The only problem is, what if you thaw it to serve, and then have leftovers? Can you refreeze the thawed dessert?

Freezing and thawing most foods multiple times is never a good idea. In the case of creamy things such as this, the multiple freeze-thaw cycles cause the texture to become more icy and less creamy. So if you're not going to eat the whole pie at once, here's my suggestion:

1. Freeze the whole pie initially as per the recipe.
2. The first time you serve the pie, and after it has thawed just enough for you to cut into it (about 30 minutes at room temperature), cut the entire pie into slices. Do not let it thaw any more than necessary, so check it early.
3. Put the pieces that you will save for later into a container with a lid and put them straight back into the freezer. Try not to let the pieces touch each other so they will not stick together; you can also put pieces of parchment in between them.
4. With the pieces that you will be eating today, now that they are cut, they will take only a few more minutes to get to that ideal semi-thawed serving temperature.

With this method, you will have pieces of mango royale cut and ready to serve anytime, and while the whole pie can take an hour to thaw at room temp before it reaches a good serving temperature, each small piece will only take 10-15 minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Other No-Bake Mango Desserts for Mango Lovers

If you've got more mangoes after making mango royale, here are a few other desserts you should try.

• Mango and sticky rice. If you only made one dessert form my site, this famous Thai dish should be it.
• Mango Coconut Jelly Cubes. This was my first viral recipe, and for good reason! See what the hype was all about!
• Hong Kong Mango Pancake. If you love the combination of mangoes and cream, try this dim sum classic. Your mango also has to be very good for this.
• Mango Pudding. Soft, silky, luscious mango pudding is a dream. Light and not too sweet, perfect for a sweet ending to a big meal.

Before you start, be sure to watch the video tutorial to ensure success! I always include little tips and tricks not mentioned in the blog post. The video is in the recipe card below, but you can also watch it on YouTube!

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No-Bake Mango Cream Pie - Filipino Mango Royale

One of the simplest mango desserts you can make - yet one of the best. This Filipino classic frozen treat combines sweet, juicy Manila mangoes with fluffy whipped cream, sweetened condensed milk, and a nutty brown-butter graham cracker crust.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Filipino

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes minutes

Freezing time 8 hours hours

Servings 8 servings

Calories 522kcal

Author Pailin Chongchitnant

Equipment

• 9-inch pie plate
• Nonstick cooking spray
• Parchment paper (optional)

Ingredients

• 5.5 oz butter unsalted
• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 25 oz very ripe manila mango flesh see note 1
• 1 tablespoon lime juice optional
• 4.5 oz sweetened condensed milk see note 2
• 1.5 cups whipping cream cold

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Spray the pie plate with non-stick spray, and if you want you can line bottom with parchment. (The parchment isn't totally necessary but it does make it easier to remove.)
• For the brown butter graham crust, place the graham cracker crumbs into a large mixing bowl.
  2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• Brown the butter by melting it in a stainless steel pot or skillet over medium heat. Once melted, keep stirring until the butter becomes very dark brown and looks almost burnt, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. (Note: There will be a lot of foam on top of the melted butter, this is normal, but if you keep stirring you will be able to see the colour of the butter through the foam.)
  5.5 oz butter
• Pour the brown butter over the graham crumbs and mix well.
• Put about ⅔ of the graham crumbs into the pie plate and spread it around, then press the crumbs up the sides of the plate making them a little less than ¼ inch thick. Then press them into the bottom of the pie plate firmly. You can take more of the reserved crumbs to fill the crust as needed, as it's most important that you have an even, sturdy bottom crust. Chill the crust in the fridge while you make the filling.
• For the mango filling: Slice mango cheeks off the fruit, then use a paring knife to score the flesh into ½-inch cubes and use a spoon to scoop them out into a large mixing bowl. You can remove the flesh around the seeds, or just snack on them - as long as you have at least 700 g (25 oz) of flesh.
  25 oz very ripe manila mango flesh
• Use a gloved hand to squish the mangoes until it looks like a chunky mango sauce (about half chunks half puree). Taste, then add lime juice if it feels like it could use a little extra acidity.
  1 tablespoon lime juice
• For the condensed whip: Combine condensed milk and cold whipping cream in a medium mixing bowl and use a hand mixer to beat them on medium to medium-low speed until firm peaks form. To check for doneness, lift your beater, and whatever sticks to your beater should be able to hold its shape against gravity with gentle shaking. Be careful not to over-whip; once your beater starts leaving clear trails you're almost there, so pay attention and check often.
  4.5 oz sweetened condensed milk, 1.5 cups whipping cream
• Build the pie: The layers are built in this order: cream -> mango -> crumbs -> cream -> mango -> crumbs.

  Spread about half of the cream into the chilled crust, then spoon half of the mangoes over the cream, followed by about half of the remaining crumbs. Repeat the layers with the remaining filling, and if you don't end up using everything, that's fine. You can use whatever's left to make a mini version.
• Freeze overnight (at least 8 hours), then allow to thaw for 1 hour at room temp or thaw in the fridge overnight before serving. If your schedule will allow, you can also serve it after 5-6 hours of freezing. Essentially you want to serve it semi-frozen or partially thawed.

  Tip: If freezing for more than 1 night, to prevent it from drying out and absorbing freezer smell I recommend covering it with a double layer of plastic wrap after the exterior has firmed up.

Video

Notes

1. This is about 5 medium-sized manila mangoes. Manila mangoes are also known as ataulfo or champagne mangoes. If they are not available you can use other varieties as long as they are very sweet and juicy. Your pie is only as good as your mangoes, so make sure they are super sweet and ripe, even overripe, as the flavour will be dulled slightly when it's frozen. 
2. By volume this is about 100 ml of sweetened condensed milk, ⅓ cup + 1 ½ Tbsp, or ⅓ of a can.

Nutrition

Calories: 522kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 36g | Saturated Fat: 22g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 98mg | Sodium: 319mg | Potassium: 147mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 34g | Vitamin A: 3322IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 106mg | Iron: 12mg

The post No-Bake Icebox Mango Pie (Filipino Mango Royale) appeared first on Hot Thai Kitchen.

My Quest for Real Coconut Ice Cream

Growing up in Thailand, coconut ice cream was THE base flavour. It was our "vanilla"; our default. It tasted of nothing but pure coconutty goodness. As sweets in Thailand became modernized, milk and dairy products became "trendy." So ice cream vendors started incorporating dairy, making it taste more like Western ice cream because that was the cool thing to do.

Fast forward to my years in Canada, and I've started seeing coconut ice cream in stores over the past few years. "Dairy free" they all say. But still somehow it doesn't taste much like real coconut - and what's with the added vanilla and guar gum? I soon realized that its real purpose is not to be coconut ice cream, but to be a vegan substitute to regular vanilla ice cream. Not what I was looking for.

I realized that the only way to have the true stuff of my childhood is to make it. And turns out ... it's much simpler than I would have thought. Several years ago I shared my first coconut ice cream recipe, which is wonderfully light thanks to a generous amount of coconut water. It has a sorbet feel to it, perfect for the summer. But this time, I wanted something richer and creamier for when I'm feeling more indulgent. This is it.

Ingredients: Very few, but very important

There are only 4 basic ingredients; plus the pandan leaves which are optional but nice to have. Because of the simplicity of this recipe, it is extremely important that you use good quality ingredients; especially the coconut milk. Here are a few pointers:

• Choose coconut milk in a UHT carton, and with no more than 2 ingredients on the label. Here's my video on how to choose a good coconut milk.
• Choose coconut water that is 100% pure with no added sugar and with no flavour additives. You should try a few of the brands that are available to you, and see which is more flavourful. Here's an article on why some brands are better than others, EVEN if they all say 100% coconut water.
• Choose palm sugar that has a smooth, not-grainy texture. It's not as important as making sure you have good coconut milk, but good quality palm sugar will definitely help. Here's more on how to choose good quality palm sugar.
• Extra Credit: If you want to learn more about how coconut milk is made, and why the UHT carton is better than canned, check out this short documentary that I filmed in Thailand!

Step-By-Step:

Here's a bird's eye view of the process, but be sure to check out the full video tutorial in the recipe card below to ensure success!

How to eat ice cream, Thai street style

Cup VS cone? No, cup VS bun!

Though not always available, most traditional, old-style ice cream vendors give you the option to have your ice cream in a fluffy bun, similar to a hot dog bun. You can use any fluffy buns or rolls for this, though ideally from an Asian bakery where the buns tend to be fluffier and softer.

If not serving in a bun, you can also cut up some fluffy bread cubes and use them as toppings. Makes it easier to eat!

Sticky rice

My favourite part of eating ice cream Thai style is the sticky rice! It is optional, but I highly recommend it. It's easy to make but it takes a bit of time. The good news is it's the same sticky rice that we use for mango and sticky rice or durian and sticky rice, so you can get 2 desserts out of 1!

Sweet sticky rice also goes well with many ice cream flavours, even non-Asian ones! So make a bunch and try it with any other ice cream you have! Sticky rice also freezes well, so you can make a bunch; and more on how to freeze sticky rice in the FAQ below.

I've included how to make the coconut sticky rice in the recipe card below, but check out this video for 7 different ways to make sticky rice to see all your options in terms of equipment. However, for making sweet coconut sticky rice I don't recommend using one of the no-soak methods, as they tend to yield softer rice, that then might become mushy when mixed with the coconut milk.

Toppings

As with any ice cream, toppings are optional, but where you get to have some fun! I show a few toppings below, but feel free to experiment with other things. I'd say the roasted peanuts (or some sort of crunchy nuts/seeds) are a must, but the rest are all optional.

• Roasted peanuts. A must!!! To me, it's not the same without the peanuts. If you can, roast them from raw, as it does make a biiiiiig difference. I always roast mine from raw for all kinds of cooking. Simply spread them out on a sheet pan and roast in a 350°F oven for 15-20 minutes, stirring halfway through. Timing will depend on the size of the peanuts.
• Toasted mung beans. A good substitute for peanuts for those who are allergic; see how to make them in the mango and sticky rice recipe.
• Sweet corn.
• Pineapple, canned or fresh.
• Taro or sweet potato. In Thailand they usually simmer the sweet potato cubes in syrup to sweeten them, but I think simply cubed and steamed is fine for either of these.
• Attap palm seeds. Not super common but I love these. They come in cans at some SE Asian markets. Simply rinse them in water to remove the gooey syrup before using.
• Nata de coco. If you like jelly-like toppings, these are great and available at most Asian markets where they're sold in glass jars. You can use them straight out of the jar.

Pro Tip: Creamiest Ice Cream

The faster ice cream freezes, the creamier, less icy it will be. So make sure you pre-freeze the container you'll use to freeze the ice cream, and if you can, use something wide and flat to maximize surface area.

Also, note that if you decide to reduce sugar or coconut milk in the recipe, it will result in ice cream that is harder and is less creamy, because sugar and fat helps keep ice cream soft when frozen.

Frequently Asked Questions

No machine? Try these no-churn ice cream recipes!

Before you start, be sure to watch the video tutorial to ensure success! I always include little tips and tricks not mentioned in the blog post. The video is in the recipe card below, but you can also watch it on YouTube!

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Thai Coconut Ice Cream Sundae

Authentic coconut ice cream that really lets the flavour of coconut shine. Enjoy this vegan ice cream just like on the streets of Thailand by serving with sticky rice inside a fluffy bun! Be sure to plan ahead and make the ice cream base 1 day before serving, and if making sticky rice, soak it at least 3 hours in advance.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Thai

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes minutes

Chilling time 1 day day

Servings 1 quart

Author Pailin Chongchitnant

Equipment

• Ice cream machine

Ingredients

For the Ice cream:

• 16.5 fl oz good coconut milk
• 4 fl oz coconut water
• 4.2 oz chopped palm sugar
• ⅛ rounded teaspoon table salt
• Half a pandan leaf optional

For serving (all optional, see more options in blog post)

• Freshly roasted peanuts highly recommended, see note
• Coconut sticky rice recipe follows
• Fluffy bun hot dog bun, dinner roll, or thick-sliced white sandwich bread
• Sweet corn

Sweet Sticky Rice (any leftover can be enjoyed with mangoes!)

• 1 cup Thai glutinous rice
• ⅔ cup coconut milk
• ⅓ cup sugar
• ½ teaspoon table salt

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For the ice cream:

• Place the coconut milk, coconut water, palm sugar, salt and pandan leaf (if using) into a pot and bring to a boil. If not using pandan leaf, you can cook just until the sugar is dissolved without having to bring it to a boil.
  16.5 fl oz good coconut milk, 4 fl oz coconut water, 4.2 oz chopped palm sugar, ⅛ rounded teaspoon table salt, Half a pandan leaf
• Allow the mixture to cool to room temp, then put it in the fridge until completely chilled, preferably overnight. Also place the container you will use to store the ice cream in the freezer, preferably something shallow and wide for faster freezing.
• Churn the ice cream in your machine, following the manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer the ice cream into the pre-chilled container and freeze for at least another 2 hours to firm up before serving.

For the sweet sticky rice:

• Wash the sticky rice 4-5 times until the water runs clear and place into a heatproof mixing bowl. Pour hot off-the-boil water into the rice until it is about 1-1.5 inch above the rice. Give it a stir and soak for 20 minutes - do not oversoak. Once the rice is done soaking, pour off most of the soaking water and rinse the rice under cold tap water and drain well.

  (If you prefer, you can also soak the rice in room temp water for at least 3 hours and up to overnight; no need to rinse after a cold-water soak.)
  1 cup Thai glutinous rice
• Fill a steamer pot with about 2 inches of water and bring the water to a boil over high heat. Wet a clean muslin or thin tea towel that you'll use to wrap the rice to prevent the rice from sticking, and then line the steamer rack with the wet cloth (do this off the heat).
• Place the rice into the steamer rack and fold the edges of the cloth over it, and steam over the boiling water for 20-25 minutes or until the rice is cooked through and no longer crunchy in the middle.
• While the rice steams, make the coconut syrup by combining the coconut milk, sugar and salt in a small pot and bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat and cover while you wait for the rice.
  ⅔ cup coconut milk, ⅓ cup sugar, ½ teaspoon table salt
• Place the cooked rice in a heatproof mixing bowl and pour the coconut syrup over; stir to mix well making sure there are no rice clumps. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes, then come back to give it a stir, folding the bottom up to the top, and let sit for another 20 minutes before serving.
• To store extra sticky rice, separate the rice into 1-portion sized clumps and freeze them. When you want to use them, take out the number of clumps you want, cover in a moist paper towel and microwave for about 30 seconds or until steaming hot and soft. Allow to cool to room temp or lukewarm before putting ice cream on it!

To serve

• You can serve the ice cream in a bowl by placing a little sticky rice in the bottom and then top this with the ice cream and toppings. To serve in a bun, place the sticky rice in the bottom of the bun and top with the ice cream and toppings. Enjoy!
  Freshly roasted peanuts, Fluffy bun, Sweet corn, Coconut sticky rice

Video

Notes

It makes all the difference to buy raw peanuts and roast them yourself. Roast them in the oven at 350°F for 15-20 minutes depending on the size, stirring them half way through. If you can, buy peanuts with skin on; it’s a lot of work to remove the skins afterwards but for reasons I can't explain they roast up tastier!

The post Street-Style Thai Coconut Ice Cream appeared first on Hot Thai Kitchen.

I got the idea for this recipe because I realized that we have a Thai dessert called kanom maw gaeng that is structurally very similar to pumpkin pie - a baked custard with a mashed vegetable mixed in. Typically we would use mashed taro or mung beans mixed with coconut milk, palm sugar and pandan leaves.

So I wondered how it would turn out if I replaced the taro or mung beans with pumpkin puree and then bake it into a pie. 🧐

Well, it turned out delicious beyond expectation. You get the flavour, creaminess and richness of the coconut, the caramel notes of palm sugar, and the floral aroma of pandan leaves, all with the silky, soft texture of pumpkin. And the crust adds an element of crunch that kanom maw gaeng doesn't have but certainly would benefit from!

What Makes This Recipe Work

• Reducing the coconut milk by half concentrates its flavour and richness, so you can squeeze more coconut flavour in without more liquid than the pie can handle.
• The ratio of pumpkin, coconut, and eggs is designed to create a soft, luscious, creamy custard that just holds together well enough to slice, but melts in your mouth instantly. No dense, solid, cloying pumpkin pie here!
• Topping the pie with toasted coconut adds texture and complimentary flavour to the pie. The key is to make sure you toast the coconut DARK to develop a nutty flavour, then mix in a little untoasted coconut for better colour contrast.

Important Notes on Ingredients 

• Pandan leaves are key to the Thai flavour of this pie, and they're the most common flavour added to Thai desserts. You can find the leaves fresh or frozen at Asian grocery stores that carry a good selection of Southeast Asian ingredients (Thai, Vietnamese, etc.). You can also use pandan extracts, though it's not as good as the real thing. If you really cannot find them, substituting a teaspoon of vanilla will do.
• Palm sugar. Not all palm sugars are created equal, and if you have a choice of a few different brands I always suggest going with the most expensive one as it's a sign of a more pure palm sugar with less white sugar mixed in. For more on how to choose the best palm sugar, watch this video: The Ultimate Guide to Palm Sugar
• Coconut milk. Quality of coconut milk varies significantly between brands on the market, and you'll want to choose the best one, especially for desserts. Watch my video on The Ultimate Guide to Coconut milk to see my recommendation on brands and also how to identify "good" vs "bad" coconut milk. While we're on the subject of coconut milk, check out my mini documentary on How Coconut Is Made: From Farm to Can!
• Pumpkin purée. For this recipe I used E.D. Smith brand (not sponsored), which is widely available in Canada. I want to caution you though that when you buy the pumpkin make sure you're buying "pure pumpkin" and NOT "pumpkin pie filling"! I didn't really pay attention when I was shopping and grabbed the wrong one because the packaging looks so similar. Pumpkin pie filling already has sugar and spices mixed in, so it will NOT work for this recipe.

What To Do With Leftover Pumpkin Purée

It's inconvenient, but this recipe does not use whole cans of pumpkin puree, so you're bound to have some left over. Here are some ideas on what to do with it:

• Soup. You may not have enough left to make pumpkin soup, but you can add it into any other soup (like chicken soup) and it'll act as a thickener.
• Smoothies. Pumpkin is nutritious and high in vitamin A - so after you feel guilty about eating pie, go make yourself a healthy smoothie with the remainder.
• Pasta sauce. Stir it into your regular tomato-based pasta sauce for something richer and creamier. This works especially well for lasagna.
• Thai curries. Yes! It's a perfect addition to this red curry with chicken and squash recipe and vegan red curry recipe. Just add it to the sauce and it will make a richer, creamier curry. Totally not traditional - but it works!
• Have young kids? I mix pumpkin puree into my 20-month-old son's yogurt but you can mix it into many other foods your kids are eating, especially ones that are saucy like mac and cheese or casseroles. For younger babies you can just feed it to them straight up as baby food.
• Don't want any more pumpkin? Freeze it! It'll last in the freezer for a few months.

Watch the full video tutorial!

All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video below to ensure success - and if you enjoy the show, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. Thank you!

Coconut Pumpkin Pie

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.6 from 5 reviews

• Author: Pailin Chongchitnant
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hour
• Total Time: 1.5 hours + 2 hours cooling time
• Yield: 8-10 servings

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Description

This recipe takes the traditional Thanksgiving pumpkin pie and combines it with some of the iconic flavours of Thai desserts: coconut, palm sugar, and pandan leaves. The result is an incredibly tasty pie with a unique touch that still gives you the rich, creamy, silky pie experience you want for the holidays.

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Ingredients

• 1 single pie crust, unbaked (see this recipe for my easy pie crust)
• 1 ½ cup coconut milk 
• 1 pandan leaf (18 inches), cut into 1-inch pieces
• 225g finely chopped palm sugar 
•  ¾  teaspoon fine salt
• 2 cups pumpkin puree, canned
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• ~¼ cup shaved coconut for garnish, or another garnish of your choice
• Optional: whipped cream or coconut whipped cream for serving

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Instructions

Parbake the Crust: 

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and set the rack on the lowest rung. 
2. Line the pie plate with your pie dough, dock (poke) it all over with a fork to prevent puffing, and then chill for 2 hours or freeze for 30 minutes. 
3. Cut a piece of parchment paper so it’s at least 2 inches bigger than the pie plate on all sides. Crumple it up well and then smooth out and place it on top of the pie crust. Fill the parchment / pie crust with your "pie weight" of choice (ex. sugar, dry rice, or dry beans) and then place the pie plate onto a baking sheet.
4. Bake for 20-25 mins or until the edges look cooked but have very little to no colour on them (make the filling while this bakes).
5. Remove from the oven, grab the parchment on all corners and lift the pie weight off and rest it in a bowl. Then put the crust back into the oven for another 4-5 minutes to dry up the bottom. (If using rice or beans for weight you can save them up for future pie crusts, but they will not cook up the same otherwise. If using sugar, you can cook with it again, though some of the sugar at the bottom might harden a bit due to the absorbed moisture. )

Make the Filling:

1. Add coconut milk and chopped pandan leaf to a pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for about 10 minutes or until reduced by exactly half (you will need to measure it). Keep an eye on it so it does not boil over (if the sides are burning your flame is too high and is licking the sides of the pot).
2. Once reduced, strain the coconut milk into a measuring cup and see if you have ¾ of a cup (180 ml) left. If you have a little less, that’s okay. If it’s a lot less just add a bit of water back in to get it to ¾ cup. But if you have more you want to keep reducing it, otherwise your filling might be too soft.
3. Discard the pandan leaves and return the ¾ cup of coconut milk to the pot. Add salt and palm sugar and cook over medium heat for 1-2 more minutes, just until the sugar is dissolved.
4. Remove from heat and whisk in pumpkin puree until combined.
5. Add the eggs and stir until well combined, making sure to scrape the edges and bottom of the pot with a rubber spatula to ensure everything is mixed in.
6. Pour the filling into the parbaked crust and bake on the bottom rack for about 1 hour, or until it reaches an internal temp of about 170°F. It should look puffed up, and when you jiggle the pan the center should jiggle a bit like jello but it should not “ripple” like liquid. You can always stick a knife into the center and pry it open slightly to see whether it has set.
7. Let cool completely (at least 2 hours) before garnishing and slicing. 
8. While the pie cools, you can toast the coconut for garnish by spreading it out on a sheet pan, leaving an empty space in the middle for more even baking. Bake in the same oven (350°F) for 5-7 minutes or until the coconut has a deep golden brown colour. (It may take less time if using a different shape of coconut - and keep an eye on it as the coconut burns quick!). If you want you can mix the toasted coconut with a little bit of untoasted for a more colourful garnish. 
9. Once the pie is cool, sprinkle the toasted coconut on top of the pie. This pie will keep at room temp for 1 day, but will keep in the fridge for up to a week.

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The post Thai Coconut Pumpkin Pie appeared first on Hot Thai Kitchen.

Not gonna lie these are a LOT of work, but the end result is so rewarding, and it can be a fun family activity if you've got kids! You can also get creative and turn them into whatever shapes you like. I remember making simple geometric shapes as a kid when I made them with my mom, and delighting in the fact that I made "unique" look choop!

Want beautiful Thai fruit desserts but don't want to spend a lot of time? Check out my coconut water fruit jelly cubes or my "viral" agar jelly fruit cake!

What You'll Need

Here are the ingredients and equipment you'll need to make look choop. Please see below for substitutions.

Step-By-Step

Equipment Notes

Skewers or toothpicks? Toothpicks are fine, but personally I find skewers easier to work with because it's just easier to maneuver with more room for your hand. I also find the fruits are less likely to slide down a skewer compared to very thin toothpicks.

But stick with the smallest skewers you can find so as to not create giant holes in the fruit. Also if the skewers are longer than 6 inches, cut them down so they are less likely to tip over.

Styrofoam or cucumber? You will need something to hold the skewers up as you paint and glaze the look choop. If you've got styrofoam lying around from delivery packaging, great; if they're thin pieces you can stack them so they're at least 1.5 inches thick for more stability. Otherwise you can use a firm vegetable like cucumber, daikon radish or zucchini, halved lengthwise and placed cut side down.

Paint brushes. If you are making fruits that have multiple colours, use clean paint brushes (that have never been used with actual paint). No need to go to an art supplies store; drug stores (in N. America) usually sell cheap paint brushes next to crayons and other kids craft supplies.

How to Steam the Mung Beans Instead of Boiling

A more traditional way to cook mung beans for look choop is to steam them, which offers the benefit of having no excess water to evaporate, thus reducing the active cooking time.

The downside is you have to soak the beans in advance, which is why I prefer boiling. You also won't have an opportunity to infuse the pandan leaves if you're using them, but that's a really minor point.

Here's how to steam the beans:

1. Wash the beans till the water is no longer yellow or foamy, then soak the beans for at least 3 hours or overnight.
2. Line your steamer basket with muslin or a double layer of cheesecloth. Place the drained beans in the steamer basket and clear a hole in the middle, making a doughnut shape with the beans, to allow steam to come up and cook them more quickly and evenly. Fold the edges of the cloth over the beans and steam on high heat for 30 minutes or until the beans are very easily mushed between your fingers.

After this you would just add them to the blender along with the coconut milk, sugar and salt and proceed with the recipe as written.

FAQ About Ingredients

Other Beautiful Treats You Might Like:

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Edible Mini Fruit Sculptures

Traditional Thai desserts made from mung beans and coconut milk, shaped into fruits and glazed with agar agar jelly.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Thai

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Shaping, painting and glazing 2 hours hours

Servings 50 pieces

Calories 12kcal

Equipment

• Blender
• Toothpicks or small skewers (see note)
• Paint brush (only needed if making multi-colour fruits)
• Styrofoam or hard vegetables like a cucumber halved lengthwise for holding up the skewers

Ingredients

For the Mung Bean Paste

• ½ cup dried shelled mung beans
• 2 cups water
• ⅓ cup sugar
• ½ cups coconut milk
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• 1 pandan leaf optional

For the Coating

• 1 tablespoon agar agar powder
• 1 ½ cups water

For Decorating

• Food colouring
• Small leaves

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

MAKING DOUGH:

• Rinse mung beans in cold water. If the rinsing water is yellow this is due to added food colouring; keep rinsing until the colour is gone.
• Add the beans and pandan leaf (if using) into a medium sized pot and add 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to medium and simmer for 20-25 minutes until the beans are fully cooked and mushy. If the water dries up before the beans are cooked, add only a little bit more water at a time; you want as little excess water as possible when the beans are done. (Note: See post above if you want to steam rather than boil.)
• Once the beans are fully cooked, remove the pandan leaf if you used it, and if at this point there is a lot of water left, keep cooking and stirring until it looks like thick porridge.
• Add the coconut milk, sugar, and salt, and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Transfer to a blender and blend until completely smooth.
• Pour the bean “smoothie” into a large skillet or wok, preferably non-stick, but stainless steel will do. (Do not use a seasoned carbon steel or cast iron pan as we do not want any of the seasoning oil or smoky flavour in the paste.)
• Cook the bean mixture over medium low heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, until it looks like dough and no longer sticks to the spatula. Reduce the heat to low once the mixture starts to look like a paste. Once the dough no longer sticks to the spatula, keep stirring for another 5 minutes to further dry out the dough. This step will take at least 20 minutes for this amount.
• Transfer the bean paste into a bowl, cover and allow to cool completely.

  *From this point on everything that touches the dough needs to be very clean because we are not cooking it further.

SHAPING:

• With very clean hands, knead the dough a bit to even out the texture and keep the dough covered if you're not working with it to prevent drying out.
• Test the dough consistency by making a few shapes with it, poke the dull side of the skewer or toothpick into the non-presentation side of the "fruit", going halfway through, then stick the skewer into the foam or vegetable. If you can make smooth shapes without any cracks, and the fruits stay on the skewer without sliding down, you're good to go.

  If the fruits are sliding down, the dough is too moist and you will need to cook the dough more to dry it out (this is a pain, so err on the side of dough being too dry).

  If the fruits are cracking, the dough is too dry; sprinkle the dough with more water little by little, and knead it in until you can form smooth shapes.
• Once you're ready to go, cut the dough into pieces, about 7-8 grams each, then roll them into balls. Each ball should be no bigger than ¾ inch in diameter. Keep the balls covered with a tea towel to prevent them from drying out.
• Shape each ball into whatever fruit shape you are making, I recommend starting with the lightest coloured fruits first. Poke the non-presentation side of the fruit with the dull side of a toothpick or skewer, going halfway up the fruit. For some fruits, such as the magosteen and orange, the non-presentation side is the bottom; for others, like the mangoes and chilies, it'll be the "stem" side. Stick the skewer into the styrofoam or vegetable to stand it up. Repeat with the remaining dough.

  *If the fruits are cracking AFTER you've formed them, you're leaving them out too long and they are drying out. Make sure there is no draft where you're working, and you may need to do them in smaller batches and move on to the colouring step quickly to prevent the formed fruits from drying out.

COLOURING:

• Put food colouring you're going to use in small but wide bowls (dipping sauce bowls are great for this). Add water to the colour to achieve the desired colour intensity; the amount of water depends on the colour, the type, and the brand of the food colouring, so you will need to experiment. Gel-based colours will a need more water, but water-based colours do not need as much, or none at all for lighter shades like yellow. Err on the side of adding too-little water as you can always add more if the colour is too intense.
• Starting with the lightest colour fruits, "roll" the fruits in the colour (dip them sideways and spin the skewer to coat all sides), or paint them with a clean paint brush if the fruits have 2 or more colours. If you are dipping, gently dab the bottom with paper towel afterward to absorb excess colour and then put them back on the styrofoam.

  *Do not let them hang out for too long after painting, as they are still unglazed and can dry out and crack.

GLAZING:

• While the paint dries, make the agar agar solution for the coating. Add the agar agar powder and cold water to a small pot. Bring to a full boil over high heat, stirring constantly until it is dissolved. Turn off the heat and check that there are no longer any specks of agar. Allow to cool for a few minutes before using.
• Before dipping, scoop off any bubbles or foam on the surface. Starting with the first fruits you coloured, dip them into the agar agar and quickly tip it upward, allowing the excess to drip down the skewer. Rest the fruit back on the styrofoam while you finish the rest.

  *If the paint is leaching into the agar solution, it needs to dry longer. This is why we start with the lightest colour; so any colour contamination in the glaze will not be as visible on darker fruits.
• Once you're done with the first layer of glaze, repeat until you have 3-5 layers. The glaze should dry within just a minute or so as agar agar sets at room temp.

  After 3 layers, taste one and see if you’re happy with the thickness of the glaze. You can always keep going as needed.

  *If the agar agar is getting too cool it will become clumpy and the coating will be uneven; simply reheat to thin it out.

FINAL TOUCHES:

• Once the final coat is done and dry, remove the skewers and use small scissors or a paring knife to remove the “tail” from the bottom. Decorate the top with some leaves if you wish, and they’re ready to eat!
• Storage: They can be left out at room temp for several hours, but if keeping beyond the day, wrap them tightly and refrigerate. Put the same colours next to each other as the colours will bleed into one another over time. These will last a few days in the fridge.

Video

Notes

Note: I find skewers a bit easier to handle than toothpicks because there's more room to grab, but use small, thin skewers that are no longer than 6 inches. 

Nutrition

Calories: 12kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 6mg | Potassium: 4mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 3IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 2mg | Iron: 1mg

The post Edible Mini Fruit Sculptures ลูกชุบ (look choop) appeared first on Hot Thai Kitchen.

Special thanks to the Thai Trade Center Vancouver for sponsoring this livestream.

Follow Chef Farm on Instagram at https://instagram.com/farmminggo

IF YOU LIKE THIS VIDEO, ALSO CHECK OUT:

• Part 1, LIVE Fruit Carving Demo by Chef Farm: https://youtu.be/gx1S-ETzIWk
• Watch the Full Length Livestream: https://youtu.be/I1lvjsopgW4

 INGREDIENTS FOR KANOM SOD SAI:

Filling:

• 250 g grated coconut
• 200 g palm sugar
• ¼ cup jasmine water
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Wrapper for filling:

• ½ cup Glutinous rice flour
• ½ cup black glutinous rice flour
• Water, as needed

Coconut cream:

• ¾ cup rice flour
• 3 cup coconut milk
• ½ teaspoon salt

INGREDIENTS FOR BIRD DUMPLINGS:

Filling:

• 260 g minced pork
• 15 g paste of garlic, cilantro root, white peppercorn
• 100 g palm sugar
• 25 g fish sauce
• 5 g oil

Dough:

• 1 cup rice flour
• 1 cup glutinous rice flour
• 1 tablespoon potato starch
• 1 tablespoon arrowroot starch
• 280 g coconut milk
• 10 g coconut oil
• Extra for kneading: ¼ cup potato starch ¼ cup rice flour

The post LIVE Royal Thai Cooking Demo! appeared first on Hot Thai Kitchen.

Note: This probably makes about 12-15 of the little pies I used in the video...although I'm not sure cuz I ended up using the rest of it as ice cream topping!

LIVE COOKING! Pai Makes Pie on Pi Day!

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• Author: Pailin Chongchitnant
• Yield: 12-15 of the little pies

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Ingredients

Cherry Filling:

• 1 ½ cup frozen sweet cherries, thawed
• 2 - 3 tablespoon sugar (or more depending on the sweetness of your cherries)
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice

Cream cheese Filling:

• 60 g cream cheese, room temp
• 2 Tbsp butter, room temp
• A little lemon zest
• ⅓ cup icing sugar
• A dash of lemon juice, to taste

Ingredients and Kitchen Tools I Use

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Instructions

Beat butter and cream cheese together until smooth, add lemon zest, icing sugar and lemon juice and beat until smooth.

Place a teaspoon of the cream cheese mixture into the bottom of cooled tart shells, then top with the cherry filling (filling should be no hotter than lukewarm).

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The post LIVE COOKING! Pai Makes Pie on Pi Day! appeared first on Hot Thai Kitchen.