Songkran Dessert

[khall64au]

Am trying to research a particular rice dessert that am told is served at Songkran (and during the hot months in general)- called Kao Chae (pronounced as chair) - there doesn't appear to be much knowledge of it. Apparently is a royal dessert dish of rice, ice and other bits and bobs.

Does anyone know the history and ingredients this dessert?

Thanks muchly!

[siamesekitty]

Hope this helps:

Khao Chae - from the Asian Rice Foundation (with some history)

ข้าวแช่ - from kkmenu.com (in Thai, but with nice pics)

I'm trying to translate the 6 dishes mentioned in the Thai site, brb ka!

Edited March 18, 2006 by siamesekitty

[siamesekitty]

Okay, here we go. The 6 dishes mentioned in the Khao Chae recipe on bkkmenu.com :

1. Stuffed large hot peppers

Ingredients

hot peppers (phrik yuak)

eggs

ground beef and shrimp (in equal portions)

high-quality fish sauce

parsley roots

garlic and ground black pepper

Make the stuffing first, mixing ground pork and ground shrimp together and pund them together them (like when making somtam) until the mixture has a thick, sticky texture. Put in fish sauce, parsley roots, garlic and ground black pepper

Wash the peppers, then make a cut in the middle and take out the seeds. Don't cut the top off, otherwise the stuffing will spill out.

Stuff the peppers with the pork&shrimp mixture. Don't fill it in too tight or will spill out.

Beat the eggs and pour over the peppers until golden yellow.

2. Shrimp paste balls

Ingredients

shrimp paste (kapi)

ground dried fish

chinese ginger (krachai)

lemongrass (takhrai)

red onions (shallots)

eggs

Pound the dried fish, krachai, kapi, takhrai, and red onion together. Add some sugar, just enough to make it a bit sweet. Then mix it with kapi to make small round balls, and dip in egg batter before frying.

3. Fried red onions (shallots)

Ingredients

ground dried fish

chopped shallot (red onion)

grated coconut

eggs

flour for frying

Cut some of the red onions into half. Gut out the middle to prepare for stuffing. Mince the rest of the red onions and mix with the dried fish and grated coconut. Add a bit of sugar for sweetness, mix with egg batter and stuff into onion. Dip into flour and fry until golden and crisp.

4. Stir-fried "pla yee son" (ray fish)

Ingredients

Ray fish with dark flesh (pla yee son)

palm sugar

Boil the "pla yee son" until fully cooked, pound to break up the meat. Tear the meat into little strips and stir-fry with palm sugar until thick and sticky.

5. Chinese radish stir-fried with egg

Ingredients

salted chinese radish

sugar

egg

Wash the chinese radish and cut into small strips. Stir-fry with sugar and egg.

6. Sweet shredded beef or pork

Ingredients

dried beef (nua khem) or dried pork (moo khem)

sugar

ground black pepper

fish sauce

fried onions

Grill the dried beef/pork and pound until you are able to tear the meat into strips. Pour a bit of oil on it and put on slow burner. Put in a dash of sugar and keep stir-frying until sugar is fully melted into the strips of meat. Add ground black pepper and fish sauce, before sprinkling some fried onions on top.

[khall64au]

Thanks a bundle Siamese Kitty So are those savoury dishes served with the kao chae?

[siamesekitty]

Thanks a bundle Siamese Kitty So are those savoury dishes served with the kao chae?

yep! You have tiny bits of all these different dishes to eat with the cold rice, as shown below:

Khao chae is a very popular traditional delicacy unique to Thailand. It is a delicious 'must-eat' during the hot months. What's special about this meal is the soaking (chae) of rice (khao) in cold-scented water topped with jasmine petals. Now if you have ever been so unfortunate as to eat rice left in the refrigerator, you will find the cold rice virtually hard and unpalatable. Khao chae is different, it is an exquisite meal which preparation requires skill and tremendous effort. To prepare khao chae, the rice grains must be separated, half-cooked and almost transparent. The grains are transferred to terracotta, which are half-filled with water permeated with the fragrance of the white chammanad flower and a thien hawm candle.

Just before serving, the cooled, scented rice is topped with ice. Smaller portions of condiments are served.

text extracted from R+Ice - [lifestyle] funkygrad.com

[h5n1]

if you live in pattaya the requiste dessert for songkran made from rice will be beer chang.

-sorry couldnt resist.

[suegha]

Thanks a bundle Siamese Kitty So are those savoury dishes served with the kao chae?

yep! You have tiny bits of all these different dishes to eat with the cold rice, as shown below:

Khao chae is a very popular traditional delicacy unique to Thailand. It is a delicious 'must-eat' during the hot months. What's special about this meal is the soaking (chae) of rice (khao) in cold-scented water topped with jasmine petals. Now if you have ever been so unfortunate as to eat rice left in the refrigerator, you will find the cold rice virtually hard and unpalatable. Khao chae is different, it is an exquisite meal which preparation requires skill and tremendous effort. To prepare khao chae, the rice grains must be separated, half-cooked and almost transparent. The grains are transferred to terracotta, which are half-filled with water permeated with the fragrance of the white chammanad flower and a thien hawm candle.

Just before serving, the cooled, scented rice is topped with ice. Smaller portions of condiments are served.

text extracted from R+Ice - [lifestyle] funkygrad.com

Sounds ab fab! I had heard of it before but never knew what it was, thanks.

[p_brownstone]

By the way, Khao Chae is not a dessert, it's a main course served in the Thai Hot Season.

Patrick

[Ajarn]

Does anyone have a recipe for the cold rice? I've searched and searched, but no luck...

[sabaijai]

And it's believed to be of Mon origins.