Sweet Potato Custard

Kanom Maw Gaeng Maan Thes – Sweet Potato Custard

As some of you may know, Kanom Maw Gaeng is the exemplary of Portuguese influence on Southeast Asian cuisine. With substitution of ingredients, baking dishes, and even oven, the traditional kanom maw gaeng is a custard that exhibits a sweet and savory flavor profile with hints of being baked in high heat.

In this version, I’ve used sweet potato seasonal taste. This recipe also works well with pumpkin! It’s a great gluten and dairy free dessert. Not to mention how easy it is to throw everything into the food processor and then straight into the oven. It’s a no-brainer to add to your dessert rotation.

A few notes:

• Sweet Potatoes – alternative to roasting the sweet potatoes, you can also steam them. Cook until fork tender. You can do this step ahead of time.

• Pumpkin – try this recipe with other fall and winter ingredients like pumpkin. During one test run, I used canned pumpkin puree, and it worked out really well. That’s another ingredient that is great in a savory sweet profile. Picture: my pumpkin version sitting next to the the original version on a potluck table.
•
Shallots – cook it over low to medium low heat. You don’t want this to burn as that makes the shallots a little bitter. And you want it to be just golden brown and not burnt brown when you remove it from the pot. Remove those burnt ones from the batch. They’ll cook a little longer with the custard itself, so you definitely don’t want to over-cook these.

• Testing for done-ness – to ensure that custard is done (firm) before adding the shallot oil and fried shallot on top, you can move the baking dish slightly on the rack of the oven. If it’s jiggling like jello, it’s probably not done. You want the slightest movement on the top and middle of the custard, but it shouldn’t be jiggling back and forth. Baking time can vary depending on the baking dish and oven.

Time: 1.5 hr
Serves: 12

2-3 sweet potatoes (550-600g total)
2-3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
2 large shallots (peeled and sliced into rings)
1 (13.5 oz) can coconut milk
4 large eggs
2/3 cup (150g) palm sugar or brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

9 x 9 inch baking dish

• Wash and poke holes in sweet potato with a fork. Roast in oven preheated to 425F for 30-45 minutes or until fork tender.
• In large pan or wok, heat oil over low to medium heat. Add shallots and cook shallots for 5-10 minutes, low and slow so as to not burn the shallots. Remove shallots and place on plate lined with paper towel. Reserve the shallot oil.
• In a blender or food processor, add the cooked sweet potatoes, eggs, coconut milk, brown sugar, salt, 1 tablespoon of reserved shallot oil, and vanilla extract. Blend well until smooth.
• Preheat oven to 400F.
• Grease baking pan with some of the reserve shallot oil. Pour the sweet potato mixture into the pan. Bake 45-50 or until firm and not jiggly when you shake the baking dish. Brush the top with a little bit of the reserved shallot oil and sprinkle with the fried shallots. Bake for an additional 5 minutes or so.
• Enjoy warm or at room temperature.

https://youtu.be/yce1yDkoEck