-
1.5 cups
glutinous sticky rice, soaked
-
1 cup
coconut milk
-
0.25 cup
white sugar
-
0.5 tsp
fine salt
-
4
large eggs, whisked
-
0.5 cup
palm sugar, chopped
-
0.5 cup
coconut cream
-
2
pandan leaves, bruised
-
1
Steam 1.5 cups soaked glutinous sticky rice in a steamer lined with cheesecloth for 20 minutes until translucent.
-
2
Warm 1 cup coconut milk, 0.25 cup white sugar, and 0.5 tsp fine salt in a saucepan over low heat until dissolved.
-
3
Pour warm liquid over the cooked sticky rice, cover tightly, and rest for 15 minutes.
-
4
Knead 4 whisked large eggs, 0.5 cup chopped palm sugar, 0.5 cup coconut cream, and 2 bruised pandan leaves together until sugar dissolves, then strain.
-
5
Steam the strained custard mixture in a shallow dish for 20 minutes until set.
-
6
Slice the egg custard and serve over the warm coconut rice.
Cook this free in the appCooking it now? The app keeps the screen awake and times each step. Free, nothing to install.
This recipe in other languages: Español · Português · Français · Deutsch · Italiano · Nederlands · Polski · Türkçe · Русский · Українська · العربية · हिन्दी · Bahasa Indonesia · ไทย · 日本語 · 한국어 · 中文（简体）
About Thai Custard with Sticky Rice
Also called: khao niao sangkhaya, sticky rice with egg custard, Thai custard sticky rice
Thai custard with sticky rice is khao niao sangkhaya: sweet coconut sticky rice served with a slab of steamed egg custard flavored with palm sugar and pandan. It is sold by Thai dessert vendors and in markets beside mango sticky rice, often wrapped to take away. The rice should be sticky and glossy, not wet, and the custard just set.
Two parts are made separately. Glutinous rice is steamed until translucent, then soaked in warm sweetened coconut milk until it absorbs it. Eggs, palm sugar, coconut cream and pandan are worked together until the sugar dissolves, strained, then steamed until set. Pandan leaves give the custard its grassy, vanilla-like scent, and palm sugar gives it a caramel color.
Serving and keeping
Serve the rice warm or at room temperature with custard on top. Eat the same day; refrigerated sticky rice hardens.
Variations
Green custard
Add a little pandan juice (blended pandan leaves, strained) to the custard for a pale green color.
Custard in pumpkin
Steam the custard inside a hollowed kabocha squash, the dessert sangkhaya fak thong.
Duck eggs
Thai vendors often use duck eggs for a richer, firmer custard.
If it goes wrong
The rice is hard in the center
Soak the rice at least 4 hours or overnight before steaming, and steam until every grain is translucent before pouring over the coconut milk in step 3.
The custard is full of holes
Steam over gentle, not rolling, boiling water, and cover the dish with a cloth or plate to keep condensation off. Strain the mix in step 4.
The palm sugar will not dissolve
Chop it fine and keep working it with the eggs and pandan until no grains remain; warming the coconut cream slightly helps.
Substitutions
- palm sugar: light brown sugar. Less caramel depth; same quantity.
- pandan leaves: 1/4 teaspoon pandan extract. Stronger color and less natural aroma.
- coconut cream: full-fat coconut milk. Softer custard.
Questions
How long does Thai Custard with Sticky Rice take?
As written, 60 minutes: 20 of prep and 40 of cooking. The longest single stretch is the hands-off wait in step 1, 20 minutes.
Do I need any special equipment for Thai Custard with Sticky Rice?
Beyond a knife and a board, the method uses a steamer basket (step 1) and cheesecloth (step 1). If you do not have one, a metal colander set over the pot, lid on, works as a steamer.
What can I use instead of pandan in Thai Custard with Sticky Rice?
The entry for Thai Custard with Sticky Rice calls for 2 pandan leaves, bruised. In its place: A little vanilla extract fills the same aromatic role, though the flavor is different.
Is Thai Custard with Sticky Rice vegan?
No, though it is vegetarian. What keeps it from vegan is 4 large eggs, whisked. For fully plant-based entries, see the vegan dessert collection.
How do I store and reheat Thai Custard with Sticky Rice?
Keep Thai Custard with Sticky Rice covered in the refrigerator and eat it within three days. Chilled and set desserts lose their texture in the freezer.
Cook this free in the app
Textual Chef is 4,701 plain-text recipes, free to read and free to cook from. No account, no paywall, no life stories. Open this one in the app and each quantity sits inside the step that uses it, so you read once and cook.
Every recipe is curated or public-domain sourced, written to one template and checked before it publishes. Nothing here is a scraped blog post.
Cook this free in the appNo download needed. It opens in your browser. The kitchen tools (planner, shopping list, pantry, import) are $5.33 a month billed annually; the first 30 days are free.
