Homemade Thai Dessert Recipes

Coconut Ice Cream and Coconut Custard Stuffed Pumpkin

Mar 1, 2009 Margie Nelson

Almost nothing conjures up the tropics like coconut and coconut milk. These easy and delicious Thai recipes are economical and a snap to make.

The people of Thailand use coconut milk in great quantities rather than dairy products for dessert making. Homemade coconut ice cream is usually the only dessert served in Thai restaurants.

"We could make more desserts, but I don't think we would be able to sell them," said Pom Pongsapipapp, of Your Place Thai Restaurant in Santa Barbara, California. "We put sticky rice and mango on the menu, but nobody ordered it. After a while, we knew it wasn't going to work, so we just make coconut ice cream."

This "ice cream", although delicious, is really a coconut slush, because it usually contains no dairy milk, much less cream. Nevertheless, it is just as rich tasting. Sometimes it is made with kernels of cooked fresh corn and threads of young coconut meat and jackfruit.

Chef Chuey's Coconut Ice Cream

The recipe below was created by Chuey Chareonsak, of Your Place Thai Restaurant. He adapted it to his customers' tastes, making it fresh with half and half and milk to please Western palates. It can be served sprinkled with ground peanuts and strips of young coconut (found bottled in Asian markets or online at Amazon.com)

Chef Chuey's Coconut Ice Cream Recipe:

ingredients for Chef Chuey's Coconut Ice Cream

  • 40.5 ounces canned coconut milk
  • 20 ounces sugar
  • 7 ounces sweetened condensed milk
  • 16 ounces half and half
  • Canned or bottled young coconut and jackfruit to taste (optional)
  • Ground peanuts (optional)

Directions for Chef Chuey's Coconut Ice Cream:

  1. Combine ingredients, place in electric ice cream maker, and follow manufacturer's instructions.

Chef Chuey's Phuk Tong or Coconut Custard Stuffed Pumpkin

Although it is not made in the restaurant, Chef Chuey graciously provided his recipe for this delicacy. It is made with the small green Japanese pumpkin, also called Hokkaido or Kabocha squash, which is available year round. The dense dark jade of the skin contrasts beautifully with the sunny orange flesh of the fruit and the translucent pale coconut custard that has been spooned inside before steaming.

Everything is consumed, including the skin, which is the healthiest part. The tastes and textures are complex - smooth, silky, and chunky, with an underlying delicate sweetness. When the top is removed after steaming, and cut into wedges, it reveals a tri-color mini-masterpiece inside. Healthy eating never tasted so good.

Recipe for Phuk Tong or Coconut Custard Stuffed Pumpkin

Ingredients for Phuk Tong:

  • 1 17 ounce can coconut milk
  • 10 ounces coconut sugar (or coconut palm sugar, available online at Amazon.com in a 1 pound carton)
  • 10 eggs
  • 1 small (about 8 inches) Hokkaido or Kabocha pumpkin

Directions for Phuk Tong:

  1. Boil coconut milk and add coconut sugar. Cool.
  2. Add eggs, and mix well.
  3. Cut the lid off the pumpkin.
  4. Clean and remove seeds.
  5. Pour mixture into the cavity.
  6. Steam for 45 minutes.
  7. Cool and serve, cut into wedges.

The copyright of the article Homemade Thai Dessert Recipes in Recipes is owned by Margie Nelson. Permission to republish Homemade Thai Dessert Recipes in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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