Dessert
Steamed banana cake (Khanom kluai)
Very ripe Namwa bananas become little steamed cakes: soft, bouncy, full of banana and snowy with coconut on top.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Total
- 50 min
- Serves
- 6
- Difficulty
- Medium
Fruit to use
Very ripe Namwa bananas: skins covered in dark spots, soft and fragrant
About this dish
Khanom kluai is a classic Thai home sweet, traditionally made whenever there are over-ripe Namwa bananas and steamed in banana-leaf cups or parcels.
Ingredients
Serves 6
Cake
Very ripe Namwa bananas, peeled
500 g · about 8–10 bananas
Sugar
150 g (¾ cup) · use 120 g if your bananas are very sweet
Fine salt
½ tsp
Coconut cream
150 ml (⅔ cup) · the thick part from the top of a can or carton
Rice flour
100 g (⅔ cup) · plain rice flour, not glutinous
Tapioca starch
40 g (⅓ cup)
Freshly grated coconut
150 g (1½ cups) · white, grated from a semi-mature coconut; frozen grated coconut works well
Topping
Freshly grated coconut
50 g (½ cup)
Fine salt
1 pinch
Method
Mash the bananas until smooth, with a fork or in a blender.
Add the sugar and salt and stir until the sugar starts to dissolve.
Pour in the coconut cream and mix well.
Add the rice flour and tapioca starch and mix until smooth, with no lumps.
Fold in the 150 g of grated coconut.
Toss the topping coconut with a pinch of salt and set aside.
Bring the water in your steamer to a rolling boil.
Spoon the batter into banana-leaf cups or small heatproof cups, about ¾ full, and sprinkle coconut on top.
Steam over high heat for 20–25 minutes (30 minutes for larger banana-leaf parcels), until the cakes look darker and glossy and a toothpick comes out without raw batter.
Let them rest for 10 minutes. They firm up into a lovely chewy texture as they cool.
Tips
- The darker the banana skins, the sweeter and more fragrant the cake. It's the best way to rescue over-ripe bananas.
- Taste the banana mixture before adding the flour and adjust the sugar to your bananas.
- Wrap the steamer lid in a clean cloth so drips don't fall onto the cakes.
- No fresh coconut? Use frozen grated coconut, or unsweetened desiccated coconut moistened with a little warm water.
- No banana leaves? Small silicone cups, ramekins or any small heatproof cups work fine.