Cambodia

Desserts in Cambodia and its uniqueness in Southeast Asia

Khmer food is tasty and cheap and is invariably accompanied by rice. Cambodians love a stronger sour taste in their dishes. Khmer desserts, pong aime (sweets) are available in most khmer towns. Tuk-a-loc, a blended drink of fruits, raw egg, sweetened condensed milk and ice is also popular in Cambodia. Herbal tea and Cambodia-style desserts are sold in specialty shops. Both are consumed as refreshments between regular meals. To the southern Cambodia, herbal tea, chrysanthemum tea and other plant extract drinks are vital for their healing functions like relieving internal heat and helping digestion. A bitter-tasted specialty called "Tortoise Jelly" is even said to be able to detoxify our body. On the other hand, Cambodia-style desserts, often creamy and slightly sweet soups, are loved for their nourishing functions. With main ingredients like beans, nuts, seeds, fruits, eggs and milk, etc., it is believe that desserts can enhance our health by maintaining a high level of body fluid and moisturizing our internal organs as well as the hair and the skin.


The traditional Cambodian desserts are:

1. Kuay Namuan
2. Banana Rice Pudding
3. Mung Bean Pudding
4. Taro Root Pudding
5. Sticky Rice and Mango
6. Baked Coconut Rice Pudding

Baked Coconut Rice Pudding

Ingredients

• 90g3oz scant 1 cup short or sround-grain pudding rice
• 600ml/1 pint/2.5 cups coconut milk
• 300ml cups milk
• 1 large strip lime rind
• 60g/2oz cup caster sugar
• stick of butter (40z)
• pinch of ground star anise
• fresh or stewed fruit

Method

1. Mix the rice with the coconut milk, milk, lime rind and sugar.
2. Pour the rice mixture into a lightly-greased 1.4 litre shollow ovenproff dish and dot the surface with a little butter.
3. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes.
4. Remove and discard the strip of lime.
5. Stir the pudding well, add the pinch of ground star anise, if using, return to the oven and cook for a further 1-2 hours or until almost all the milk has been absorbed and a golden brown skin has baked on the top of the pudding.
6. Cover the top of the pudding with foil if it starts to brown too much to wards the end of the cooking time.
7. Serve the pudding warm or chilled with fresh or stewed fruit.

Boua Loy

Ingredients

• Glutinous rice flour
• Brown sugar
• Healthier sweetener
• An egg
• Coconut milk
• Salt

Method

1. Make some dough from the rice flour.
2. Start out with some of the flour that you mix with some water in a big bowl and mix it well until you have something that resembles a dough.
3. Start to knead it by adding small amounts of the flour, until the dough transforms into a big blob that you can knead without it sticking to your fingers any longer.
4. Now form little balls of about half an inch from the dough.
5. Now boil some water and put the little dough balls into it.
6. They will magically float up when they are done.
7. Take them out, drain them, and put them into some boiling coconut milk.
8. Add sugar and a little salt till it's just right for your sweet tooth.
9. Add an egg or two into the boiling coconut milk without stirring so that they are poached.
10. That's it for this little mouth teaser - the feel of the little balls in your mouth is really unusual and - yes - funny.
    
    
    
    

Mung Bean Pudding

Green mung bean pudding with palm sugar is a delicious Khmer Krom dessert. One of many fine products made by Khmer Krom is palm sugar,the best palm sugar is from Mott Chrouk (Chau Doc) province.

Ingredients

• 2 Cups already cooked green mung bean
• 1 Package 3.5 oz of dried tapioca pearl, peas or shredded tapioca
• 4 Cups of water
• ½ Cup of palm sugar
• ½ Cup of sugar
• ½ Teaspoon of salt
• 1 Teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

Method

1. Soaked dried tapioca peas in hot water for 15 minutes.
2. Drain and set a side.
3. Place water in a soup pot, when the water boiled add cooked bean and tapioca peas.
4. Cook till tapioca is tender.
5. Seasoning with palm sugar, sugar, salt, and vanilla extract.
6. Serve hot or warm.