Taro Rice Flour Balls in Coconut Milk (Bua Loi Phueak)

Happy New Year! We're already five days into the new year, but I'm still going to say "Happy New Year" since this is my first post in 2010.

This little blog has been around for three years now, and this year I resolve to give it a little more attention than in years past. From now on, you may see posts without recipes (gasp! - I'm still getting used to this), posts that deal more with entertaining and hosting food parties, and more recipes that explore my Thai and Chinese heritage. This has always been a self-expression project of mine, so I'm excited for the new things to come for this blog.

While I spent the holidays in Houston with my family, I spent some quality time with my mom in the kitchen. She wanted to make a Thai dessert for us, so I jumped at the chance to help her. She gave direction to make taro balls out of mashed taro and glutinous rice flour, and I followed. The dessert we made is actually a mix of bua loi pheuak (taro rice flour balls in coconut cream) and pheuak kaeng buat (taro in coconut milk), but I will simplify and call it by the rice flour ball name. I plan on making this again on one of those cold, cold nights to come. And I'm sure we'll be having plenty of those this winter.


Taro Rice Flour Balls in Coconut Milk (Bua Loi Pheuak)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups taro, steamed and mashed
1/2 cup taro, chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
2 cups glutinous rice flour
4 cups coconut milk
1 cup palm sugar (regular sugar will substitute fine)
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. Either by hand or using the dough hook on an electric stand mixer, knead the rice flour with the mashed taro to form a soft dough, for about 5 minutes.
2. Use your hands to form small balls out of the taro dough, making them approximately 1/2 inch in diameter.
3. In a saucepan, heat coconut milk on medium-high. Once the coconut milk boils, add in sugar and salt.
4. Turn down the heat and add taro pieces to coconut milk and boil for 5-7 minutes or until taro is cooked, stirring continuously.
5. Gently add in taro balls to coconut milk and stir occasionally. Once the balls float atop the coconut milk, they are done. Serve warm.

Thai Pumpkin Custard (Sankaya)

The holidays are quickly approaching, and that makes me one happy camper. There are a couple reasons why. First, well... do I really have to say it? All the food! It'll be my chance to bake like crazy for all the people I love, and I'll also be eating like crazy among the people I love. Second, this year I will be spending Christmas and New Year's in Asia! That's right, Tim and I are traveling east to visit all the extended family that couldn't attend our March wedding, as well as finally taking our delayed honeymoon. I know you're jealous, because we'll be feasting on Taiwanese and Thai delicacies for two and a half weeks.

Lately, I've been honing my skills to learn to cook like both my mom and Tim's mom. I want to carry on the recipes passed down from our grandmothers because it helps us keep them close by when they live so far away. This time I got the idea to make sankaya, a Thai custard, when we visited Bayview Farm last month. Among the gorgeous apples and pumpkins, this particular green pumpkin caught my eye. It instantly reminded me of the Thai custard, and that's when I added it to my always-growing list of things to make.

I have a few things to note about this recipe. I didn't bake this custard, but that would certainly work as another method to cook this. My mom said it's usually steamed, so I was good and listened to her. Also, the recipe calls for a Japanese pumpkin, but regular pumpkins may be used. In fact, I found another blogger who just posted a similar recipe using one! There you can find a nice picture to help you visualize what it's supposed to look like if you've never had it before. Lastly, the custard is put in the pumpkin because you can eat them together. Another way this custard is served is over sticky rice with more coconut milk. Delicious either way.

Thai Pumpkin Custard (Sankaya)

Ingredients:
1 medium Japanese pumpkin (or regular pumpkin), weighing about 2 lbs.
5 large eggs
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup brown sugar (or grated palm sugar)
1/2 teaspoon pandan essence
pinch of salt

Directions:
1. Prepare a stacked steamer by filling bottom pan with about 3-4 cups of water. You can use a makeshift steamer (large lot with inverted bowl) or rice cooker as well.
2. Clean the pumpkin by removing its top, scraping out the seeds and membrane. Be sure to leave the flesh intact.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the eggs, coconut milk, sugar, pandan essence, and a pinch of salt. Using an electric mixer, mix until the sugar is dissolved, about 3 minutes.
4. Pour the custard mixture into the prepared pumpkin, leaving about 1/4 inch of the pumpkin unfilled. Pour any remaining custard in ramekins.
5. Steam the pumpkin in a steamer for about 30-45 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean when inserted into the custard. Occasionally make sure there is enough water in the steamer while custard cooks. When it is done, it will still jiggle, but look set when shaken. The custard will completely firm as it cools.
6. Cut pumpkin into wedges, and serve warm or cold.