ANCIENT RECIPES

These babies come from hundreds of years ago when obviously the 'haves' hired armies of 'have-nots' so these highly delicate and extremely tasty appetizers can be served.

The one at the top, just under the salad, is 'khaow-kreab-pak-mor', losely translated as rice pancake cooked in an open mouth pot. It is a rice flour roll with a filling of minced pork and spices eg coriander root - the entire root & 1" of the stalk and no more - garlic, finely ground black pepper, minced pickled radish, diced onions ... then cooked in palm sugar and fish sauce, topped with finely chopped roasted peanuts to keep the filling dry. The wrapping is prepared like 'chu cheung fun' using a pot with a wide mouth that is covered with a muslin cloth, on which a mixture of rice flour, tapioca flour & arrow root flour is steamed before a filling is wrapped in a simple 1-2 movement, like magic. Wrapping these are addictive as one wants to improve on the next, and the next so one just keeps going like a robot.

The same filling is used again at the bottom, for 'sa-koo-sai-moo' or steamed sago grain ball with sweet pork filling, hence the pinball shapes. The wrapping is sago grains soaked in water, and squeezed into thin sheets to wrap the minced sweet meat.

It took a couple of hours in the afternoon, and the process was laborious as literally each piece requires individual attention. It became a challenge since we all felt sleepy after a hugely gratifying lunch of 2 chicken dishes, fried rice and Bel juice.