Thai melon in coconut ice

Thailand's sweet market dessert: chilled melon balls in sweetened coconut milk over crushed ice, the refreshment of Bangkok's floating markets

Origin: Thailand

From the journey of Musk Melon.

Thai dessert culture is built on a foundation of coconut milk, sugar, and fresh tropical fruit served cold over ice. The dessert category known as 'nam keng sai' (literally 'clear shaved ice') involves arranging various sweet ingredients, fruit, jellies, beans, tapioca pearls, in a bowl of shaved or crushed ice and ladling sweetened coconut milk over the top. Melon balls in coconut ice is one of the most popular and refreshing of these preparations, sold at floating markets, night markets, and roadside dessert stalls across Thailand. The combination of cold, neutral coconut milk against the perfumed sweetness of ripe cantaloupe or honeydew is one of Southeast Asia's great simple desserts.

Ingredients

Fruit

0.5 large ripe honeydew melon
0.5 small ripe cantaloupe or rockmelon

Coconut sauce

400 ml coconut milk (full-fat)
3 tbsp caster sugar
0.5 tsp salt

Flavour

1 tsp pandan extract or 2 fresh pandan leaves (optional)

Serving

4 cups crushed ice or shaved ice

Optional additions

2 tbsp tapioca pearls, cooked until translucent (optional)
1 tbsp basil seeds, soaked in water until swollen (optional)

Method

Make the sweetened coconut milk: combine the coconut milk, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan. If using pandan leaves, add them now. Warm over low heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Do not boil. Remove pandan leaves. Allow to cool, then refrigerate until cold.
Use a melon baller to scoop the melon flesh into neat balls. Alternatively, cut into 2cm cubes. Refrigerate until cold.
If using tapioca pearls: cook in boiling water for 15 minutes until completely translucent. Drain, rinse with cold water, and toss with 1 tsp sugar. Refrigerate.
If using basil seeds: soak 1 tbsp seeds in 4 tbsp water for 15 minutes until each seed is surrounded by a gelatinous clear coating.
To assemble: fill serving bowls with crushed ice. Arrange the cold melon balls on top of the ice. Add tapioca pearls and basil seeds if using.
Ladle the cold sweetened coconut milk generously over everything. The coconut milk will flow through the ice and pool at the bottom. Serve immediately with a spoon.

Notes

This dessert is part of the 'nam keng sai' family of Thai cold desserts: an entire cuisine built around crushed ice, sweetened coconut milk, and a variety of toppings. Pandan extract gives the coconut milk a distinctively Southeast Asian green-flavoured note that is much loved in Thai and Indonesian desserts. It is available at Asian grocery stores. The combination of different melon varieties, basil seeds, and tapioca pearls is the Thai version; Vietnamese variations use jelly cubes; Malaysian versions add attap chee (palm seeds).

The Gastrographer

Name: Thai melon in coconut ice
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Thailand
Ingredients: 0.5 large ripe honeydew melon; 0.5 small ripe cantaloupe or rockmelon; 400 ml coconut milk (full-fat); 3 tbsp caster sugar; 0.5 tsp salt; 1 tsp pandan extract or 2 fresh pandan leaves (optional); 4 cups crushed ice or shaved ice; 2 tbsp tapioca pearls, cooked until translucent (optional); 1 tbsp basil seeds, soaked in water until swollen (optional)

Mapping Culinary History

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control