Thai Custard Pumpkin Recipe (Sangkhaya Faktong)

 If you like custard and you like pumpkins, you'll love this easy Thai custard pumpkin recipe.

Thai custard pumpkin (สังขยาฟักทอง sangkhaya faktong) is a simple but delicious Thai dessert that's basically a pumpkin that's been filled with a rich coconut custard and steamed. The pumpkin is usually a kobocha (Japanese pumpkin), which means the skin is thin enough to eat when cooked.

The custard is also often flavoured with pandan leaves by way of squishing everything together by hand. Instead, I used my usual method of infusing the pandan leaf and coconut milk together in a saucepan over a medium heat, which was also handy for dissolving the sugar quickly.

I use a bamboo steamer to cook mine, which is sometimes too shallow to accommodate the height of the pumpkin. In these cases, I use kitchen foil to make a bootleg 'collar' around the steamer that the lid can then sit on top of. Whenever I have to do this, I also have to cook the custard pumpkin for longer because steam inevitably escapes, so do factor in any extra cooking time.

In fact, I like to make my Thai custard pumpkins the night before eating. Not only does it take a while to cook sometimes, but it takes even longer to cool down to room temperature (which is necessary to let the custart totally set). Hours, in fact. And then I like to chill mine in the fridge over night so the dessert is cool and refreshing the next day.

Make sure you use full-fat coconut milk for the custard to get the smoothest, creamiest texture possible.

Ready? Let's go.

Ingredients:

400ml full-fat coconut milk (1 can)
1 pandan leaf, shredded and knotted
125g palm sugar
Pinch of salt
1 small kabocha pumpkin
6 eggs

Method:

1. Place the coconut milk, pandan leaf, sugar and salt in a saucepan, heat on a medium heat until simmering, and stir until the sugar has dissolved and the leaf has wilted.

2. Discard the leaf and leave the coconut milk mixture to cool completely.

3. Cut a hole in the top of the kabocha (as if you were about to carve a Halloween pumpkin), and scoop out the seeds and stringy, fibrous bits inside, so you're left with a hollow pumpkin. Give the pumpkin a quick rinse with water to get rid of any remaining pulp or stringy bits, and pat dry with paper towel.

4. Once your coconut milk has completely cooled, whisk in the eggs, and pour into your hollowed-out kabocha. The custard puffs up a bit as it cooks, to leave a couple of centimetres of space at the top of the kabocha – don't fill it to the top, or some will spill out as it cooks. If you have leftover custard mixture, you can steam and eat it separately.

5. Place in a steamer, and steam for one hour, or until the custard is set.

6. Leave to cool completely, and slice and serve at room temperature or after chilling in the fridge.

Enjoy, and have fun.