Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Khao Sung Ga Ya : Purple Rice Custard Dessert

Sometimes I get a craving for sweets and one of my favorite desserts is khao sung ga ya. I always referred to it as 'the purple rice dessert'. It's so delicious. It's baked black glutinous rice with a custard on top. I've been hesitant to buy any from the Asian grocery stores since they don't don't like they are prepared the same way my mom makes hers. (And mom's cooking is the BEST). This is my interpretation of my mom's khao sung ga ya. This was my first time cooking this and I think I may adjust the recipe slightly.

Khao Sung Ga Ya:
For the rice part -
1 cup uncooked black glutinous rice
1 cup uncooked sweet white rice
1/2 can to 1 can of coconut milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 t salt
For the custard topping -
1 can of coconut milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 large pkg Jello brand custard
5 whole eggs
5 egg yolks


The first thing to do is to take the uncooked black rice and place in a pot covered with water and let it boil for 5 minutes then remove from the heat to cool. Once cooled, add the uncooked white rice and stir. Add more water to cover the rice and let the rice soak over night. The next day you will steam the rice mixture just like you would regular glutinous rice. Once the rice is cooked, I remove it to a baking dish (9x13) to cool. In a sauce pan, I heated the coconut milk, sugar, and salt then poured it over the cooked rice. I was worried that my rice would turn out too firm once I baked the dish, that is the reason for the coconut milk. I think in my mom's version, the rice is much sweeter and firmer.


The next step is to prepare the custard topping. In a large pot over medium/low heat, I wisked together the coconut milk, sugar, and custard mix. Then I added the eggs and yolks. You will have to wisk this mixture over medium heat for 20-25 minutes until is reached the desired consistency (until the custard is thick).



Once the custard is ready, it is poured over the rice. The baking dish goes into a water bath and placed in the oven at 350 degrees until the custard browns.




You should let it cool for awhile after taking it out of the oven. I couldn't wait so I cut a piece. It's so good when it's still warm. I just love coconut milk, rice, and custard! In my mom's version, she adds carmelized/fried shallots on top of the custard. I've never liked that so I didn't add it to my recipe.

I decided to blog about this for a few reasons. Being Laotian, I'm always looking on the internet for Lao recipes. I had a hard time finding a recipe for this dessert. Manivan Larprom has a recipe on her blog ( http://thai-dessert-recipe.blogspot.com/2006/09/khao-sung-ga-ya-black-sticky-rice.html ). I love sharing recipes that I grew up eating. This dessert brings back so many fond childhood memories. I always watched my mom cooking it, but I never helped her with it. I'm amazed that mine turned out so good. I covered the leftovers and put it in the fridge. The next day, I heated up individual servings in the microwave for about 40 seconds and it tasted as good as yesterday.