Dish
Num Kroch
នំក្រូច
Fried sesame-coated glutinous rice ball with a sweet bean filling, sold as a Cambodian street snack.
Num kroch (នំក្រូច, num kroch) is a fried sesame-coated glutinous rice ball with a sweet bean filling, sold as a Cambodian street snack.[1] The name means "orange cake," because the round ball looks like the fruit.[1][2]
Cultural context
In Khmer, num means cake and kroch means orange. The name comes from the shape, not from any orange in the recipe.[2][3] It is also written nom kroch.[2] Street vendors set up on street corners for most of the afternoon and sell the balls fresh and still hot.[2] Num kroch is found in most places in Cambodia, from the streets of Phnom Penh to the markets of Siem Reap.[4][5] In 2019 the Khmer news site Sabay listed it second among 22 Khmer cakes.[6]
For many Cambodians, num kroch is tied to childhood. Children love it as a quick snack, and some families get up every morning to make it and take it to the market to sell.[3] Num kroch is often made for festivals and special celebrations, where making it brings families together around the table.[5]
The ball is crisp on the outside and soft and a little elastic inside, with a toasted sesame flavor and a lightly sweet filling.[2] It is crisp and chewy when fresh.[1] Like most Asian sweets, it is not very sweet.[2]
Ingredients and preparation
Num kroch has four stages: the mung beans are prepared, the filling is wrapped in rice dough, the ball is coated in sesame and it is fried.[5] The wrapper is glutinous rice flour, and it is fried with sesame seeds on the outside.[1] Its slight elastic texture comes from the glutinous rice flour. Its starch is high in amylopectin, and despite the name, glutinous rice contains no gluten.[2] The dough swells a little as it cooks, which leaves a hollow between the shell and the filling.[2][1]
One Cambodian recipe uses glutinous rice flour and ordinary rice flour, with water, salt, sugar, mung beans, sesame seeds and vegetable oil.[2] The mung beans soak for five hours and steam for 40 minutes, or longer if they are still stiff. They are mashed into a purée, mixed with sugar and salt, and shaped into small balls 1 to 2 centimeters (½ to 1 inch) across.[2] The paste should not be too dry, and it keeps in the refrigerator for three days.[2] The two flours are mixed with sugar, and warm water is added a little at a time until the dough is smooth. The dough is kneaded for three minutes and rests for ten minutes under plastic wrap.[2] Each piece of dough is flattened into a disc, filled with a bean ball, closed and smoothed into a ball. It is rolled in white sesame seeds and flattened into a disc to spread the filling.[2] The balls fry in plenty of oil until golden and crisp. The oil is kept fairly cool, about 140°C (280°F), so the balls do not burst.[2] They are best eaten right after frying. They keep for one or two days and can be reheated in a hot oven or briefly in hot oil.[2]
Another recipe makes 16 balls for four people and takes about 30 minutes.[5] The mung beans soak for at least two hours and cook over low heat, just covered with water, until they turn to purée. Sugar and grated coconut are added, and the purée is cooked until dry.[5] Water is heated to a boil and sweetened, then added little by little to glutinous rice flour to make the dough.[5] Each ball takes about 8 grams (0.3 ounce) of filling and 16 grams (0.6 ounce) of dough. The balls are rolled in sesame seeds soaked in water so they stick, then fried in small batches at about 130°C (266°F) for three to four minutes, until they float and turn golden.[5] They are drained on paper and served hot, alone or with a sauce.[5] The French-language version of that recipe lists 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of glutinous rice flour, 100 milliliters (3.4 fluid ounces) of warm water and 50 grams (1.8 ounces) of mung beans.[7]
A Khmer-language recipe uses 400 grams (14 ounces) of glutinous rice flour, 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of non-glutinous rice flour, 300 milliliters (10 fluid ounces) of water, four tablespoons of palm sugar, salt and roasted white sesame.[8] Its filling is 250 grams (9 ounces) of yellow beans, soaked for two hours and steamed for 20 to 30 minutes, or washed and boiled directly.[8] A bowl of first-press coconut milk, 200 grams (7 ounces) of palm sugar and salt are boiled together. The beans and half a bowl of grated young coconut are added and stirred until the mixture holds together and all the liquid is gone.[8] The dough rests for 10 to 15 minutes before it is filled, sealed, rolled in sesame and fried over moderate heat.[8]
History and origins
Num kroch is the Cambodian form of jian dui, a pastry that began as a royal food in Chang'an, now Xi'an, during the Tang dynasty.[1] After the An-Shi Rebellion, people moving south from central China carried it into southern Chinese cooking.[1] Chinese migrants brought it to Cambodia.[1] 196 Flavors also traces it to China, where it is called jian dui or sometimes maqiu, and holds that the Chinese probably spread it as they settled across Asia.[2]
Regional and household variations
In Cambodia the filling is made from mung beans, also called green gram.[2] Chinese versions may use lotus paste, black beans, red beans or black sesame.[2] Lotus paste is the usual filling in jian dui, with sweet black bean, red bean or mung bean paste as other choices.[1] The Chinese shell may be only glutinous rice flour, while Cambodian doughs often add ordinary rice flour. In Vietnam, potato may be added for softness.[2]
Some Cambodian home recipes make the filling richer with coconut milk, grated coconut and palm sugar.[4] One uses 600 grams (21 ounces) of glutinous rice flour, 200 grams (7 ounces) of rice flour, 300 grams (10.5 ounces) of sugar, 200 milliliters (6.8 fluid ounces) of coconut milk and a teaspoon of baking powder in the dough.[4] Its filling is 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of mung beans soaked overnight, cooked over low heat with coconut milk, water and salt. When the water is gone, 150 grams (5.3 ounces) of palm sugar or jaggery and 150 grams of scraped coconut are stirred in.[4] The paste cools for about ten minutes before it is rolled into balls the size of a ping-pong ball. The dough is wrapped around each ball with no holes, pressed into sesame seeds and fried until the balls float and turn golden brown.[4] Another home version fills the balls with green bean and shredded coconut, shapes them round and flat, and tops them with black sesame or coats them with white sesame before deep-frying them yellow-brown.[3]
Sesame rice balls are popular in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, with other versions in Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.[2] The Vietnamese bánh rán and bánh cam are also filled with mung bean paste. Bánh rán is scented with jasmine, and like num kroch its filling sits apart from the shell.[2] Related versions include goma dango in Japan, onde-onde in Indonesia, kuih bom in Malaysia and butsi in the Philippines.[1] 196 Flavors gives the Philippine name as buchi. It also names klepon in Indonesia and onde-onde in Malaysia, both filled with palm sugar and rolled in grated coconut.[2]
Preparations and recipes
- Sabrina, 196 Flavors
- Glutinous rice dough wrapped around sweetened mung bean paste, rolled in sesame seeds and deep-fried until crisp.
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 Wikipedia: Num kroch
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 196 Flavors, Num Kroch (January 6, 2022)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Eat and Nham PP, Food of the Week, by Seang Leakhena
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Maradyrecipes, Num Kroch (Sesami Balls) (January 24, 2022)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 Cambodia travel guide, num kroch sesame balls (May 26, 2024)
- ↑ Sabay, បានញុំានំបរទេសហូរហែ កុំភ្លេចនំខ្មែរ ២២ មុខនេះ! (November 25, 2019)
- ↑ Guide voyage Cambodge, num kroch boules de sésame (May 22, 2024)
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Jongphov, របៀបធ្វើនំក្រូច (September 12, 2022)