Nam Van translates to sweet water, there are so many variations of this dessert. We usually do a taro root version, so this time I wanted to try something different. I looked up a few concoctions online and came up with this one! It's colorful, festive and a huge hit at Kylie's birthday party!
Ingredients:
Coconut Base:
2 lbs Palm Sugar
2 cups Water
3 cans Coconut Milk
1 1/2 tsp Salt
2 Pandan leaves
Tapioca Pearls:
12 cups Water
1 (16oz) bag small Tapioca Pearls
Red and Yellow Food Coloring (or choice of colors)
Khao Lod Song:
1 (12oz) packet Steamed Pork Rice Flour Cake Mix
3 tbsp Tapioca Starch
3 oz fresh Pandan Leaves
10 cups Water (divide into 4 cups & 6 cups)
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Pandan Extract
Toppings:
1/4 cup Basil Seeds
Coconut Jelly
Fresh Coconut Meat
Jackfruit
Lychee
Instructions:
To make the coconut base, place the palm sugar in a pot with 2 cup of water. Melt the sugar on low heat until fully dissolve, add in the coconut milk, pandan leaves, and salt. Stir and let it simmer for 10 minutes. Once cooled place in a container in the fridge overnight.
In a pot, boil 12 cups of water. Then add in the tapioca pearls and stir for about 5 minutes, turn off the heat and cover with a lid and let it sit in the hot water for 15 minutes. Strain and rinse the pearls with cold water. Separate the pearls into two batches or more depending on how many colors you want to use. Add the coloring and stir. Set aside. Once the coloring has soaked in, I recommend adding water to the bowls to keep the tapioca pearls from sticking together.
Chop the pandan leaves and place it in the blender with 4 cups of water. Blend until the pandan are well chopped. Use a cheese cloth and strain well into a large pot, discard the pandan leaves.
Add in 6 cups of water into the pandan water. Then add in the packet of flour mix, 3 tbsp of tapioca starch, and salt. Mix well.
Cook the mixture over medium high heat until it becomes thick. Make sure to stir continuously to prevent lumping and the batter from burning. Stir and cook for about 15 minutes. Once it becomes thick, cook it for another 5 minutes. Continuing to stir, you might need a helper because my arms started to get tired!
Get your bucket of ice water and a khao lod song press ready, I didn't have one so I used a metal strainer with holes on the bottom. You will need another person to help you, place the press over a large bucket with ice water and then fill your press with the batter. The batter will fall into the water, if you need to, take a spatula and swirl the batter around to help it through.
You can really use any of your favorite toppings, I swear it will all taste great! I added jackfruit slices, lychee slices, coconut jelly, and basil seeds. To make the basil seeds, you just cover them with cold water and let them bloom!
Layer your toppings and cover with the coconut base, mix and enjoy!
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