← Nouns Cooking · Thai

Ingredients

• 10 pandan leaves (fresh or frozen), cut into pieces
• 120 ml water, for the pandan juice
• 175 g Tapioca starch
• 50 g Rice flour
• 250 g Sugar
• ½ tsp Salt
• 500 ml Coconut milk
• 120 ml water, for the white batter
• 1 tsp oil, for the tin

Method

1. Blend the pandan leaves with 120 ml water, then squeeze through a fine cloth to get a deep green juice.
2. Whisk the tapioca starch, rice flour, sugar and salt with the coconut milk until smooth and the sugar dissolves. Pour half into a second bowl.
3. Stir the pandan juice into one bowl and the 120 ml water into the other, so both batters are the same thickness.
4. Oil a 20 cm square tin and heat it in a steamer over boiling water for 5 min. Pour in a thin layer of green batter (about 100 ml), cover and steam for 5 min, until set and no longer cloudy.
5. Add a layer of white batter and steam for 5 min. Keep alternating, stirring each batter before pouring, until it is all used, finishing with green; steam the last layer for 10 min.
6. Let the cake cool completely for at least 3 hours before cutting with an oiled knife; warm cake is too soft to slice.

Tips

• Wipe the steamer lid with a cloth between layers so water doesn’t drip onto the cake.
• Traditionally it has 9 layers, a lucky number in Thailand, so measure out each pour.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Hungry in Thailand Rachel Cooks Thai