Sankhya Lapov

Coconut custard steamed inside a whole pumpkin and served in slices.

Illustration inspired by a night dessert stall in Phnom Penh.

Dish details
Khmer name	សង់ខ្យាល្ពៅ
Other names	Sang khya l'peouv; Pumpkin-coconut custard; Pumpkin custard
Dish types	Dessert; Steamed dish
Subjects	Food & Foodways; Celebrations & Life Passages; Family & Intergenerational Life
Related dishes	Chek Ktis; Num Kom

Sankhya lapov (សង់ខ្យាល្ពៅ, sankhya lapov) is a coconut custard steamed inside a whole pumpkin and served in slices. In Khmer, lapov means pumpkin.

Cultural context

Sankhya lapov is the centerpiece of Cambodian New Year tables. It is a dessert kept for special occasions. Thida's Kitchen calls it a popular dessert in Cambodia and Thailand and a cherished delicacy at large family gatherings and celebrations. Cambodgemag holds it up as an example of Cambodian sweets built on seasonal ingredients, and of a rich dessert made from simple ones.

In Cambodia the custard is sold in markets and confectionery stores, often by the slice. Cambodian restaurants serve it as a dessert, and an order may arrive as a whole pumpkin rather than a single slice.

Ingredients and preparation

The dessert is made from pumpkin, coconut milk, eggs, flour and white sugar. Kabocha, also called Japanese pumpkin, is the traditional vessel.

One home recipe fills a large buttercup squash with a custard of six eggs, three-quarters of a cup each of coconut milk and brown sugar, and a teaspoon each of pandan leaf powder and salt. The top of the squash is cut away and the seeds removed, and the hollow is rinsed and left upside down to dry. The eggs are whisked first. Sugar, salt and pandan follow, then coconut milk, until the mixture is even. Whole eggs thicken the custard: the yolks make it soft and the whites make it firm. The custard is strained through a sieve and poured into the squash. It steams on high heat until the water boils, then on medium heat for at least 40 minutes, until the top of the custard sets and the squash is cooked. The dessert is left to cool before it is sliced.

A version from Royal Khmer Cuisine, a book created and written by the culinary team at Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor in Siem Reap, is published by Great British Chefs. The book is not sold; it is given to people who attend the hotel's cooking class. That recipe steams the whole pumpkin in a large steamer, or in a deep covered pot with about 5 centimeters (2 inches) of water, the pumpkin raised on one or two stacked ramekins and the water topped up as it steams.

History and origins

The origins of the dessert are debated. One account holds that Maria Guyomar de Pinha created it in the Ayutthaya Kingdom in the 17th century, as an adaptation of a Portuguese egg-based dessert. Another account looks to the name. Sankhya may come from the Sanskrit samkhya, the name of one of the six schools of classical Indian philosophy. The likeness between the Khmer and Thai names may point to a shared Indian influence in the time of the Khmer Empire, though any link between the words has not been established.

The dessert belongs to Thai and Laotian cooking as well as Cambodian. In Thailand it is called sangkhaya fak thong. In Laos it is recorded both as sangkhaya maryu and as sangkhaya maku.

Regional and household variations

Kabocha remains the traditional choice, but most winter squashes with rich, sweet flesh work in its place. Butternut squash is a poor vessel because of its shape. Palm sugar or maple syrup may replace the brown sugar, and vanilla extract may replace hard-to-find pandan. When a large pumpkin will not fit the pot, several smaller pumpkins can be filled with the same custard and steamed one at a time; they cook much faster. The skin of a buttercup squash is edible but stays fibrous after cooking, and Thida's Kitchen suggests removing it before eating.

Preparations and recipes

• Thida's Kitchen

  Whole squash hollowed out, filled with a pandan-scented coconut egg custard and steamed until set.

References