Steamed pumpkin cake

Steamed pumpkin cake

3 cups pumpkin, grated (You need Thai or Japanese pumpkin for this dessert. British pumpkin is not sweet or soft enough. You have to buy the whole pumpkin. Cut it into pieces, peel the skin off and grate it.)

1 ½ cup coconut milk

¼ cup tapioca flour

½ cup rice flour

½ cup sugar (more if you like it really sweet)

1)    Grate the pumpkin.

2)    Mix ¼ cup tapioca flour, ½ cup rice flour and ½ cup sugar together. Gradually add 1 ½ cup coconut milk and stir until sugar is dissolved.

3)    Add grated pumpkin and stir until all the ingredients are mixed well.

4)    Pour the mixture into a baking pan. Steam in a steamer for 40 minutes (or until it is done). Wait until it is cool down before you cut into pieces.

Pandan custard

Pandan custard spread

2 large eggs

1¼ cup coconut milk

¾ cup sugar

¼ cup evaporated milk

¾ cup pandan juice (or 2tsp pandan favour)

[Please note: you can of course buy instant pandan powder mix from Thai supermarkets if this is too complicated :)]

1)    Break the eggs into a mixing bowl.  Pour the coconut milk into the bowl and add the sugar. Transfer the mixture to a pot and heat it on a hob. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is thickened.

2)   Add the evaporated milk and continue stirring. Add the pandan juice and boil until the mixture is thickened. Stir occasionally. Remove from the heat.

3)    Serve with some white bread as a dip or spread. You can also use it for pancakes.

Deep fried eggs with tamarind sauce

Deep fried eggs with tamarind sauce

1tbsp palm sugar

2tbsp fish sauce, 1tbsp soy sauce

100ml tamarind juice (If you cannot get tamarind juice you can use dried one – just soak it in water to make the juice)

4 Thai shallots, sliced

3 Thai red chillies, chopped (optional)

5-6 hard boiled eggs, remove shells

1 cup sunflower or vegetable oil for deep frying

1)    To make the tamarind sauce, put the tamarind juice and palm sugar in a pot or saucepan. Heat it until it is boiled and palm sugar is dissolved.

2)    Add the fish sauce and soy sauce. Stir for a minute. Add more tamarind juice and sugar if needed. Adjust the taste to suit your preference. It should be sweet and sour. Leave the sauce aside.

3)    To prepare the eggs, boil them in a pot for 10 minutes (hard boiled eggs are preferred). Then heat the oil in a wok. Deep fry the eggs until they are golden outside.

4)    Transfer the eggs to a serving plate.

5)    Deep fry shallots and chillies. Put them on top of the eggs and pour the tamarind sauce over them to serve.