Thai Dessert - Corn Pudding (Khao Phoht Piak)

Most Thai sweets do not include wheat flour, which make them great for those who are gluten-intolerant. The typical list of ingredients is simply rice or tapioca flour, water, coconut milk and eggs. The mulititude of resulting variations is amazing.

So close your eyes, and pretend you are in the lush tropics of Asia, while spooning a smooth cool coconut dessert into your mouth...

Ingredients

3 cups fresh or frozen corn, thinly sliced
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1 cup coconut cream (see below)
1 1/2 teaspoon salt (sea salt is preferable)

Preparing the dessert:

Bring the water to the boil over medium heat, put in the corn kernals and stir frequently until cooked through. Add the sugar and continue to boil until completely dissolved.

Mix the flour with some water and add to the corn. Continue cooking and stirring regularly until the flour is done, thick and clear; remove from the heat.

Mix the coconut cream and salt together, bring to a boil over low heat, then remove from heat. Serve the sweet corn and top with some of the salted coconut cream.

Coconut Cream:

"For recipes requiring coconut cream, do not shake the can of coconut mik before opening; spoon out the thick cream on top. On hot days, refrigerate the can so that the cream will harden and can be easily separated from the lighter milk." Please see Thai cooking instructor Kasma Loha-unchit's excellent website for more information about coconut milk and Thai recipes: Coconut milk cream.

Step By Step Thai Desserts

Available in our cookbooks section, this beautifully photographed book introduces exotic Thai desserts to the West with step-by-step photographs. Glossy paper, softcover, 103 pages.