KÀ-TUM (KA-TOM) CAKES

This is a kind of cake made from sticky rice of Southern Khmer. In their language, it means carefully wrapped in palm leaves. Main ingredients are chon-hô – Khmer glutinous rice, white beans, coconut, and palm sugar. There are two types of stuffing: banana and green beans. For banana stuffing, ripe Thai bananas are peeled, chopped, marinated with palm sugar and a little of salt. For green bean stuffing, green beans are cooked and seasoned to taste, and left to cool down before made into small balls. Glutinous rice and white beans are washed and brewed in water overnight before they are stirred with coconut milk, palm sugar, and salt. Stir until the mixture absorbs all the other substances and becomes dry. Wrapping leaves are old palm leaves which are cut into strips and weaved into square or cone shape. Pour the stirred mixture into the mold, next the stuffing, and press tightly before another layer of the stirred mixture is filled into the mold. Finally, they are tied and steamed for about 2 hours. Cooked cakes are light yellow and shiny, and aren’t sticky to the leaves. They are chewy with greasy green beans, lightly sweet bananas and fragrant palm sugar.

Collected by Linh Trang