The end of the Buddhist Lent and the rainy season is a time for festivity: young men who have completed their three-month monkhood period return home and rejoin their families, and the entire community is looking forward to the rice harvesting season.
While the monks elevated their spiritual strength and gained merit for themselves and their families during their retreat, the rice plants flourished undisturbed and are heavy with the weight of newly formed rice grains.
As the harvesting season approaches, farmers collect some of these unripe rice grains, which are still green with a milky, undeveloped starch.
In a collective effort, everyone in the community gets together to prepare khao mao (ข้าวเม่า) – a fragrant pounded unripe rice – from these unripe rice grains. The labor-intensive work serves as a social glue that primes the group and readies them for the rice harvest.
Pounding the khao mao (dtam khaao mao, ตำข้าวเม่า) is customary in every rice-producing community throughout the country; it is particularly established in the central region and northeastern plateau, among the Thai-Laotian Tai Phuen (ชาวไทพวน) ethnic group inhabiting parts of the Singburi, Chai Nat, Uthai Thani and Nakhon Sawan provinces.
Making khao mao starts with the separation of the unripe greenish grains from the rice ears by manually threshing, beating and kneading the rice plants. The grains are then sorted by hand to remove any dirt or foreign objects.
To allow the starch to set, the grains are then slowly dry-roasted over low heat in large-sized round-bottomed cooking bowls until they give off a nutty scent (raang khaao mao, รางข้าวเม่า).
While the elders are slowly roasting the grains and carefully mixing them to prevent any from burning, the children are goofing around; the kids throw whole coconuts into the fire – which explode in a big boom – and giggle uncontrollably, while the men try to catch the coconuts and the women sing and dance.
Back in the preparation process, the warm rice grains are pounded in a large pestle and mortar, separating the husk and flattening the grains. Before the khao mao is ready, the husks are blown away.
Khao mao is made both from regular rice or sticky rice. It comes in various colors, from a charming green to a shade of white, depending on the age of the rice.
Also known as khao mao song kreuang (ข้าวเม่าทรงเครื่อง), or by its royal name khanom khao mao rang (ขนมข้าวเม่าราง), khao mao mee (ข้าวเม่าหมี่) is a delicious snack. It is an unorthodox use of the unripe rice grains usually employed towards making desserts. The following recipe describes an ancient and difficult-to-find version of this dish: These days, there is a tendency to add other ingredients such as peanuts, or to deep fry the unripe rice grains until they are fluffy and crispy.
In the 1950’s, this was still a popular snack. It was kept at home in large glass jars (away from the grabbing hands of the kids), or sold in the streets from banana leaf-cones.
Kids love it, adults crave it.
The snack holds a subtle balance between its buttery saltiness and the touch of sweetness that follows; the deep-fried dried shrimp and crispy tofu add a satisfying crunch along with the pleasant scent of good quality fish sauce.
Old Fashioned Pounded Unripe Rice Snack Recipe
Hanuman and Chef Thapakorn Lertviriyavit (Gorn)
The following khao mao mee (ข้าวเม่าหมี่) recipe describes an ancient and hard-to-find version. These days, there is a trend towards adding other ingredients such as peanut, or deep-frying the unripe rice grains until they are fluffy and crispy.
Khao mao bueang and khao Mao Mee (ข้าวเม่าหมี่) are the only two known savory dishes from antiquity made from pounded unripe rice grains (ข้าวเม่า; khao mao). While khao mao mee (ข้าวเม่าหมี่) is still a well-known and widely available dish, very few people remember khao mao bueang. Therefore, we are pleased to reintroduce into the Thai culinary repertoire the delicious khao mao bueang.
Deceptively simple, the recipe for battered, deep-fried unripe rice and grated coconut banana rolls (khao mao thaawt, ข้าวเม่าทอด) is actually quite challenging to master. Like so many Thai dessert recipes, this seemingly straightforward dish has a complex character.
Sweet Pounded Unripe Rice Flakes Cereal – Rice harvesting takes place only once a year, and there are only two weeks where the ripening grains are suitable for producing Khao Mao.
Khao Mao doesn’t age well, it gets dry and tough quickly. The-once-vivid beautiful green color that portrayed the essence of its immaturity and the beginning of the rice harvesting season, slowly fades away, along with its bread like scent.
This ball-shaped dessert has a sweet coconut filling (gracheek), surrounded by a thin crust of pounded unripe rice crumbs, along with a tempting fragrance enriched with a Thai dessert candle or fresh flowers.
Demonstrating brilliant creativity and attention to detail, this classical Thai dessert uses only three basic ingredients. In this article, we have elected to follow the traditional recipe published in 1908 by Thanpuying Plean Passakornrawong.
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When you design or build a new menu for an event or restaurant or even prepare for dinner with friends.
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