Banana and Coconut Sticky Rice Packets
If you enjoy rice pudding, you’ll love these Thai packets of soft sticky rice flavored by coconut cream. Steaming in banana leaves lends an alluring fragrance to the rich rice, which encases soft banana and cooked black beans. The beans offer interesting texture and color contrast in these popular street snacks. According to legend, kao tom padt (also called kao tom madt) was all that some religious pilgrims had on their journey to visit the Lord Buddha. They presented their precious food to the Lord Buddha upon arriving, and that gesture continues today as these packets are still an offering at religious ceremonies. Thai cooks typically make these packets in large quantities and thus soak and boil a fair amount of black beans. For small homemade batches, canned black beans, drained and rinsed of their canning liquid, work fine. Omit the beans for nom n’sahm chaek, a Cambodian New Year must-have. You can also grill the steamed packets and serve them with the Coconut Dessert Sauce (page 221).
For coconut cream, spoon off the thick creamy plug from the top of an unshaken can of coconut milk. If you’ve just purchased the can, and it was jostled in transport home, let it sit for a day to separate. The Mae Ploy brand of coconut milk contains proportionately more cream than most other brands; use the left over “skim” milk to prepare other rice dishes. To get the 2 1/4 cups of coconut cream you'll need for this recipe, 2 (19-ounce) or 3 (13 1/2-ounce) cans of coconut milk should suffice. Pure coconut cream is sometimes available at Chinese and Southeast Asian markets; Aroy-D and Kara brand, packaged in aseptic boxes like juice, are excellent.
Recipe information
Yield
makes 12 packets
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Put the rice in a bowl and add water to cover by 1 inch. Let stand for at least 5 and up to 12 hours. (The cooking technique below requires a longer soaking than normal.)
Step 2
Drain the rice in a mesh strainer and rinse. Let sit a minute, then shake to expel excess water.
Step 3
Combine the coconut cream, sugar, and salt in a large nonstick skillet. Heat over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes, or until the mixture begins bubbling. Add the rice and stir to mix well. Cook for about 6 minutes, stirring often. Slightly decrease the heat if the mixture sputters so much that it feels out of control. This stage of cooking is complete when most of the liquid has been absorbed and the thickened mixture resembles a slightly soupy rice pudding or risotto; the rice grains will be translucent and cling together as a slippery mass in the glossy liquid. Expect the rice to be chewy firm and not fully cooked. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool for about 20 minutes, or until cool enough to touch. The rice will absorb more of the liquid.
Step 4
Meanwhile, peel the bananas, removing any strings as you work. Cut each in half crosswise, then halve each lengthwise. You should have 12 quarters total. Set aside on a plate. Have the beans nearby. If the banana leaves feel stiff, soften them by passing each over the flame of a gas stove or a hot electric burner.
Step 5
Before assembling the packets, use a rubber spatula to divide the rice into 12 wedges like a pie.
Step 6
Use one piece of banana leaf for each packet. Put it on your work surface, smoother side up and one of the shorter sides closest to you. Tear or use scissors to cut off a long, narrow strip, about 1/3 inch wide, and set aside to use later to secure the packet. Put a portion of soft rice on the center of the leaf and use the spatula to press it into a 5-inch-diameter circle. Sprinkle a scant 2 teaspoons of beans on the rice. Then vertically center a piece of banana on top and gently press down to secure in place. Pull up the long sides of the leaf so that they meet in the center, pressing gently so the rice covers the top of the banana; pick up the packet and mold it into cylindrical shape, if you like. To close, fold the long side of the leaf over twice; for less bulk, reopen the packet, fold one of the sides of the leaf down to cover the rice, then roll it up cigar style. The result will be a long, open-ended tube. Now, fold the ends of the leaf in to close (they will partially overlap, as they would if you were wrapping a gift ), and tie the ends down with the reserved leaf strip. (You can use kitchen string instead.) Repeat to make the rest.
Step 7
Place the packets, seam side down, in steamer trays in one layer. Steam over boiling water (see steaming guidelines on page 17) for 20 to 25 minutes, until the rice is tender; the banana leaf will turn dark olive green.
Step 8
Serve warm or at room temperature, unwrapped on an open leaf, and with a fork; the leaf is inedible. Refrigerate left overs and steam for about 10 minutes to refresh. To freeze for up to 1 month, wrap each packet in plastic wrap and then put them all in a zip-top plastic bag; thaw and steam to reheat.
