DESSERT DU JOUR

TAB TIM KROB is Promagranate in Coconut Syrup but hang on, these are not 'real' promagranate seeds as in the fruit but look-alikes made from diced chestnuts, colored by red syrup water, mixed in tapioca & arrow root flours, boiled, and chilled again in water to get that solid texture and shape. I cannot for the life of me find out why such a tedious process to produce a look-alike. The best answer is 'tradition, it is a recipe passed on from the Palace some time ago'. Perhaps royal Thai chefs in ancient times were way ahead of El Bulli by producing food items that look like one thing, but taste like something else altogether? Back to the dessert, to complement these rather bland tasting, non-fruit, red 'promagranate seeds' slices of real jack fruit boiled in sugared water are added. To finish ... remember my 1st write-up on the rudiments of Thai sweets .... we top it with coconut cream boiled in pandan leaf and, bingo, 1/2 teaspoon of salt for that unique Thai dessert flavor. It is a dessert served in the summer, with a few pieces of ice on top to cool off.

In the glass on the right is NAM GEK HUAY or Chrysanthemum Juice, 'Kuk Fa Cha' to us. 'Nam' is water and if you really let your imagination stretch to some remote Chiu Chow village dialect 'Gek Huay' can very possibly become 'Kuk Fa'. I know, I am pushing my blogger license a bit here but my instructor swears 'Nam Gek Huay' is pure Chinese, which of course it is. The industry tips is to boil it with a 2-prong approach ie sugar & rock sugar. Drink it warm, it will do wonders to your curry and chili stricken throat.