Recipe
Num Ansom Chek (recipe)
Glutinous rice seasoned with coconut milk, wrapped around whole bananas in banana leaf and steamed into cylindrical cakes.
This recipe for num ansom chek (នំអន្សមចេក), banana sticky rice cake, comes from My Siem Reap Tours.[1] In Khmer, num means rice cake and chek means banana.[2] Glutinous rice is wrapped around ripe banana in banana leaves and steamed.[1]
Families make the cakes for Pchum Ben, Khmer New Year, religious ceremonies and weddings.[1][3] Making them is often shared work, with families and neighbors wrapping large batches together, and the wrapping skill is passed down through generations. The cylinder shape is regarded as a sign of long life.[1]
The recipe takes about 30 minutes to prepare and one hour to steam, after at least two hours of soaking. Parchment paper can replace the banana leaves, though it changes the traditional flavor.[1]
Ingredients
- 2 cups glutinous rice, soaked at least 2 hours
- 4 to 5 ripe bananas, preferably a local Cambodian variety
- 0.5 cup coconut milk
- 0.25 cup sugar
- 0.25 tsp salt
- Banana leaves, for wrapping
- String or toothpicks, for securing
Method
- Soak the glutinous rice at least two hours, then drain it.
- Mix the rice with the coconut milk, sugar and salt and let it rest about fifteen minutes.
- Clean the banana leaves, cut them into rectangles of about 20 by 15 centimeters (8 by 6 inches) and pass them briefly over a flame to soften.
- Lay each leaf shiny side down and spread about three tablespoons of rice down the center.
- Set a whole or halved banana on the rice.
- Fold and roll the leaf into a cylinder and secure the ends with string or toothpicks.
- Arrange the wrapped cakes in a steamer basket.
- Steam about one hour, until the rice is cooked and sticky.
- Cool slightly and serve warm or at room temperature.