Monday, October 25, 2010

Cooking method for Khao Lam (Northern Thai Dessert)


Khao Lam makes a good snack in winter time in particularly when the rice is harvested. The rice is filled into a bamboo joint. Common folks make it plainly from rice mixed with water and salt. The more elaborate recipes use coconut milk and black beans or frutescenes seeds. Lanna people have a tradition of making Khao Lam to give to monks on the full moon day of January in the same time as presenting Khao Chi and Khao Lon Bat to the monks. (Manee Phayommyong, 1999, p. 828; Montri Athan, personal communication, July 10, 2007)
Ingredients
1. Glutinous rice 1.5 Liters 
2. Sugar 400 Gm. 
3. Coconut milk 3 Cups 
4. Boiled Black beans 2 Cups 
5. Salt 2 Tbsp. 
6. Pandan leaves 12 Leaves 
7. Bamboo 12 
8. Coconut inner husks 12
Cooking method
1. Cut bamboo 12” long above the joint. Clean the inside and outside and turn them upside down to dry.
2. Mix coconut milk, sugar and salt to dissolve.
3. Clean the rice grains several times. Drain and mix with boiled black beans.
4. Fill the bamboo cylinders with rice mixture and tamp down by bumping them on the floor a few times. Leave about a 2-inch space on the top.
5. Pour the coconut mixture in gradually until it covers the rice.
6. Fold pandan leaves into a square and stuff them to cover the top part of the tubes. Roll the coconut husks and stuff the tubes tightly. Let set 5-6 hours.
7. Roast the bamboo on a charcoal stove. Turn them around evenly until the bamboo becomes brown (about 35-40 minutes).
8. Set aside until it cools down some. Then peel the outside skin of the bamboo to make it thinner and easier to crack and strip off when ready to eat.
Tips on selecting ingredients
Select high quality grains, freshly harvested and not broken.
Only certain kinds of bamboo can be used; specifically the kinds that have a thin membrane inside.
References
Manee Phayomyong. (1999). Khao Lam. inSaranukrom Wattanatham thai phak nuea (V. 2,p. 828).Bangkok: Foundation for Thai Cultural Encyclopedia, Siam Commercial Bank.

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