A buddy of mine informed me that my article, ” Mouth-Watering Thai Desserts” on August ninth, 2008, does not have information on flour utilized in Thai desserts. My friend becomes right – I cited flour in one of the seven most important substances however I did no longer write whatever about flour. Thus, persevering with the previous article on “Mouth-Watering Thai Desserts” this article will recognition on flour utilized in Thai cakes. Taken together, these two articles supply a fuller picture of Thai cakes.
The following are the not unusual flours used in Thai desserts: sticky rice flour, rice flour, cassava starch, corn starch, wheat flour, arrowroot starch, and mung bean flour.
Sticky Rice Flour (paeng Khao new)
Sticky rice flour is likewise referred to as “sweet rice powder” or “glutinous rice flour.” It is made from quick-grain sticky rice that will become moist, firm and sticky when cooked. This is because of its proportionally better variety of waxy starch molecules. With its chewy texture, sticky rice flour is a favourite base for buns and pastries. Sticky rice flour is often blended with plain rice flour to create a variety of Thai desserts.
In Thailand, there are 2 sorts of sticky rice flour: moist and dry. Wet sticky rice flour is finely milled with water, whereas dry sticky rice flour is finely milled without water. When shopping for sticky rice flour, pick products that have a white coloration and no odor or moisture.
Example desserts the use of sticky rice flour is Paeng Jee (grilled coconut cakes), Bua Loy Benjarong (taro, pumpkin, and mung dal beanballs in coconut milk) and Khanom Thua Paep (mung bean stuffing covered with shredded coconut meat).
Rice Flour (paeng Khao jao)
Rice flour is used to thicken diverse dishes and is also a crucial ingredient in diverse Thai cakes. Rice flour is a superb alternative for wheat flour, in that the latter reasons digestive machine infection in people who are gluten illiberal. However, rice flour has to not be used or substituted in a few cakes like desserts. This is because rice flour isn’t always finely milled like cake flour, and could not yield the equal nice of cakes. In Thailand, there are 3 varieties of rice flour:
rice flour made from rice older than a year – right for absorbing water,
rice flour made from new rice – does not absorb water as nicely because of its moisture, and
rice flour made from new rice without water – exquisite at soaking up water.
Beyond the type of flour, there are numerous grades for every type. To purchase rice flour, choose merchandise with a white color and shortage of a vintage smell. If you intend to make a dessert using rice flour, locate flour that became finely milled so your dessert may have an easy texture.
Example cakes using rice flour are Khanom Chan (nine-layered dessert) and Khanom Thuay (coconut cakes).
Wheat Flour (paeng a lee)
Wheat flour is an exceptional white powder that has high gluten content. There are unique varieties of wheat flour depending on the sorts/traits of wheat used and the milling manner. The common wheat flours are bread flour, all-purpose flour, and cake flour. These three types of wheat flour are one-of-a-kind in the percentage of protein contained within the flour. Bread flour has the best percentage of protein, 12%-13%, observed via all-cause flour at nine%-10% and cake 4 at 6%-nine%.
Protein content material is a crucial key for a client to recognize because it yields exclusive results in cooking. High protein content material method extra water will be absorbed and there might be an extended blending time to obtain the most excellent consistency. Thus the desserts/snacks that are chewy or sticky commonly use the excessive protein content wheat flour.
Mung Bean Flour (paeng tao Khaw)
Mung bean flour is made from mung beans. It is a gluten-unfastened flour. Some brands offer a totally excellent texture of flour. If the flour is not finely ground, one should grind it before use to save you lumps. Mung bean flour is available in a variety of colors depending on how much it has been processed. When cooking mung bean flour (with water on a stove), it turns transparent. One of the maximum well-known uses for mung bean flour is in so-known as glass/clear noodles, very best noodles made with a highly subtle shape of mung bean flour. When raw, those noodles are almost obvious, and that they turn absolutely obvious while cooked. Khanom Salim is a Thai dessert that requires mung bean flour and cannot be substituted. Khanom Salim is nice mung bean threads in syrup with coconut milk on top. It is served cold with ice. The mung bean thread is colored with herbal colorations like Flower of Chitoria Tematea Linn (Dok Un Chun) yielding a blue or lac (krang) yielding a pink.
