Khao niao sangkhaya

A steamed coconut custard set over sticky rice, with the custard strained and steamed low.

Egg. Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains egg.

Ingredients

the rice

400 g glutinous rice
200 ml coconut milk
40 g caster sugar
0.5 teaspoon salt

the custard

5 eggs
200 g palm sugar
300 ml coconut cream
0.25 teaspoon salt
2 pandan leaves

Method

STEAMED LOW AND SLOW, AND STRAINED FIRST. Coconut custard is egg and fat and nothing else holding it; over a hard boil it curdles into sweet scrambled egg in about four minutes. A bare simmer under the steamer and 35 to 40 minutes gives a set you can cut.
Soak the rice at least 4 hours, better overnight, then drain and steam it in a cloth 25 minutes, until translucent and tender with a slight chew.
Warm the 200 ml of coconut milk with the caster sugar and salt, pour it over the hot rice, stir once and cover. 20 minutes, during which it takes all of it up. HOT RICE AND WARM MILK -- cold milk on cool rice sits on the surface.
Press the rice into a lined tin, 2 cm deep, firmly with a wet spoon.
Custard: bruise the pandan leaves and squeeze them through the coconut cream, then discard them.
Whisk the eggs, palm sugar and salt by HAND, not with a beater, until the sugar has dissolved. Whisked hard it foams, and the foam sets as a layer of bubbles across the top.
Coconut cream in, then STRAIN THE WHOLE LOT through a fine sieve, twice. That removes the chalazae and any cooked specks, and it is the difference between smooth and slightly grainy.
Pour it over the rice. Skim off any bubbles with a spoon.
Steam 35 to 40 minutes over the gentlest heat, with a cloth under the lid so no drip lands on the surface.
It is set when the middle wobbles as one piece. Cool completely, then chill before cutting into squares.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Thailand · All recipes