Coconut custard

Coconut custard (also referred to as pumpkin-coconut custard) is a dessert dish consisting of a coconut custard steam-baked in a pumpkin or kabocha.

A slice of Sankya lapov

In Cambodia

Sankhya lapov (សង់ខ្យាល្ពៅ) or lpov sangkya denominates a dessert in Cambodia which is made of pumpkin and coconut custard.^[1][2] An easily recognizable characteristic of the dessert is that the flan fills the interior part of the pumpkin and that the pumpkin is often presented in its entirety.

The word sankya may be related to the Sanskrit Samkhya (सांख्य)^{[citation needed]}, which denominates one of the six schools of classical Indian philosophy. However, any etymological or contextual relationship remains unresearched. Lapov means pumpkin in Khmer.

The dessert is also known in Thailand where it carries the name sangkhaya fak thong^[3] (Thai: สังขยาฟักทอง [sǎŋkʰajǎː fák tʰɔːŋ]; transcription: săng-khà-yăa fák thong) and in Laos where it is called sangkhaya maryu.

The similarity of both, the Khmer sankya and the Thai sangkhaya with the Sanskrit samkhya may indicate a common origin in the Khmer Empire's Hindu past.^{[citation needed]}

In Thailand

Sangkhaya (Thai: สังขยา săngkhàyăa [sǎŋkʰàjǎː]) is a similar concoction but it has a less sticky and more custard-like texture. It is sometimes called "coconut custard" in English and is used to make sangkhaya fakthong (สังขยาฟักทอง săngkhàyăa fákthong [sǎŋkʰàjǎː fáktʰɔ̄ːŋ]; sangkhaya maryu in Lao), sangkhaya pumpkin or custard pumpkin, khao niaw sangkhaya (ข้าวเหนียวสังขยา khâao nĭaw săngkhàyăa [kʰâːu niǎu sǎŋkʰàjǎː]), glutinous rice with sangkhaya, and maphrao sangkhaya (สังขยามะพร้าว mápráao săngkhàyăa [mápʰráːu sǎŋkʰàjǎː]), sangkhaya served in a coconut. Sangkhaya is one of many desserts based on Portuguese cuisine introduced by Maria Guyomar de Pinha to the Ayutthaya Kingdom.

See also

• Coconut jam, known as seri kaya in the Malay language

References

1. ^ Recipe: http://www.abc.net.au/perth/stories/s1334440.htm
2. ^ Writing:http://www.csaj-khmer.org/newsite/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=index&catid=&topic=1
3. ^ Thai Recipe:http://www.regionalrecipes.com/article1110.html