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By Sofia Rays
The colours are amazingly vivid yet true to the real fruit or vegetable
they emulate. The green leaf added as the stem brings them even
closer to life. What separates them from their fleshy relatives
is size and of course, taste. These miniscule bananas, apples, oranges,
mangoes and any fruit that comes to mind are as if made for little
people, dwarfs of a forgotten kingdom. Yet, their taste is nothing
short of full. It is as complete as any sweet treat can be. This
is just a sample of the ways Thai express themselves through their
sweets.
Loog joob, like all Thai sweets, is made of ingredients found locally.
Just as grandma used to bake raspberry pie in the summer when the
distinctly red fruit was abundant, so Thais use whatever fruit is
seasonally available to satisfy their sweet cravings. However, ingredients
reach beyond fruit and the reason is clearly to be found in the
wooden trunk of this country's food culture.
Whereas coconut milk has recently been introduced to the West through
the ever-increasing number of East Asian establishments, not to
mention its use in cooking shows, it has been the 'alter ego' of
Thais since their birth. Inevitably, an item such as this is as
much a part of their life as it is of their culture. Coconut lends
itself to making another ingredient, this time acting as a sweetener
in the form of coconut sugar. Like other sweeteners such as cane
sugar and palm sugar, it adds a modest, health-conscious sweetness
to the desert.
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The simplicity of the ingredients put together to create Thai sweets,
or khanom as they are called in Thai, should not be looked down
on. Plain rice flour, sticky rice flour or legume flour of various
sorts act as the basis of some sweets, much the same as wheat flour
or semolina is used in Western cuisine. Pandanus leaves, renowned
for adding an unusual fragrance to whatever is wrapped within, are
also used to create the desired umpf to a khanom. A more familiar
staple, eggs, are responsible for the creation of an entire range
of khanom made of yolks, such as foi thong (meaning golden fibre),
thong yod (gold drop) or thong yib (pinched gold). There is, however,
a strange twist to the story. Apparently it was the Portuguese as
the first western people to reach Ayutthaya who introduced the use
of eggs in deserts, an ingredient the adventurous Thais readily
adopted.
Variety is the key in the realm of dessert, not only in terms of
ingredients but in the way khanom are prepared. Agar jelly khanoms,
which are really made of wholesome gelatine and other ingredients,
are put in molds and allowed to sit. Other sweets, like sangkayaa
fak thong, a whole pumpkin filled with coconut cream and egg custard,
are steamed. Egg yolk sweets are cooked in syrup, while other kinds
of khanom are deep-fried. Yet some, such as khanom krok -little
half circles of a layer of legume flour batter filled with another
layer of sweetened coconut cream with a few chopped scallions added
- are cooked on their own compartmented, tiny-muffin-like griddles
over heat.
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Some sweet treats do not need cooking at all, since they rely on
another indispensable ingredient of Thai life, ice! Shaved into
flakes, this is what lies under the interesting decoration of bright,
multi-coloured syrup that you sometimes see children and adults
holding in a plastic cup. Another favourite dessert in western countries,
ice cream, has its place in Thai tradition as well, with more exotic
variations competing against the traditional western import of strawberry
or vanilla. Coconut ice-cream is just as certain to win the battle
over the palate as its western buddies.
The meat of the coconut does not lag behind in giving equally perfect
taste to khanom. Khanom tom daeng, sticky rice flour and grated
mature coconut meat mixed with sugar and essence of jasmine resembles
the filling of a Bounty bar, but has the shape of a small ball and
is just as infectious. Grated coconut meat gangs up with mung beans
and condiments in a steamed sweet called thua paeb.
Mango, another star of the Thai fruit pantheon, makes one of the
most favourite deserts among Thais and foreigners alike in khao
niew mamuang, or mango with sticky rice. The soft rice, having been
cooked in sweet coconut milk, is then garnished with sweet coconut
cream and eaten with slices of fresh, ripe mango. When in season,
the custard-like, mushy flesh of durian, the king of fruit infamous
for its strong smell, can take mango's place next to the sticky
rice.
The banana, or kruay in Thai, although by some regarded as inferior
due to its abundance in the east and west, makes a perfect base
for khanom. Kruay khaopode buad, a kind of banana pudding in coconut
cream mixed with canned corn and served hot could not exist without
bananas. Banana friters, or kruay tawd, make tasty and filing snacks,
with vendors found everywhere, in front of schools and on the street.
Hand-wrapped homemade candies made of bananas are also abundant.
Kruay kloog ma-prao is a sweet made from bananas boiled with sugar
and coconut cream, while the steamed khanom kruay is a combination
of bananas, coconut cream, coconut meat and sugar held together
with rice flower and wrapped in leaves.
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Other fruit willingly accept the challenge to create a sweet treat
and are deliciously crafted into khanoms in the hands of expert
cooks, like the more exotic jackfruit, for instance, which compassionately
lends its distinct taste to the iced khong waan sai naam kaeng,
or the lichee and longan which accompany a sweet coconut cream custard.
The variety of Thai sweets is as large as the country that loves
to devour them. It takes a brave person to immerse themselves into
this realm, as mystical and unexplored as the most remote tropical
forest itself. Just as it is easy for some to thread into unmapped
territory, others have to familiarize themselves first before venturing
any further. In the case of Thai khanom, your best bet would be
to try the exotic and peculiar without prejudice. You might just
find the khanom that satisfies your sweet tooth!
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