PANDAN LEAF CAKES

Pandan leaf cakes are tubular, about 15cm long, white or green, soft and spongy, often sold in Soc Trang, Tra Vinh where many Khmer people live. Ingredients are glutinous rice flour, squeezed juice of pandan leaves, and coconut pulp. Mix them together. The mold has 3 or 8 tubes; inside the tubes are long sticks to take the cakes out when they are done; at the bottom of each tube is a coin which is tube-mouth size. The mold is placed in a pot of boiling water, and the cakes are steamed. The processing of the cake is very fast: put the mixture into the tubes, wait for 2 or 3 minutes, then the cakes are done. Take the cakes out of the tubes, and place them on a piece of a banana leaf. Enjoy the cakes with some dried coconut and salted sesame or salted peanut. The cakes must be served when they are still hot, so that we can feel the smell of coconut milk and pandan leaves juice.

Collected by Linh Trang