Num Ansom Chek
| Num Ansom Chek | |
|---|---|
| Khmer name | នំអន្សមចេក |
| Other names | Num ansorm chek; Ansom chek; Banana sticky rice cake |
| Dish types | Steamed dish; Snack |
| Subjects | Food & Foodways; Celebrations & Life Passages; Religion & Spiritual Life |
| Related dishes | Num Kom; Kralan |
Cylindrical Khmer sticky rice cake filled with banana and steamed in banana leaf for festivals and weddings.
Num Ansom Chek (Khmer: នំអន្សមចេក) is a cylindrical Khmer sticky rice cake filled with banana and steamed in banana leaf for festivals and weddings. (Wikipedia: Num ansom)
Cultural context
Num ansom chek is the banana-filled variety of num ansom, a traditional Khmer sticky rice cake made from glutinous rice wrapped in banana leaf and filled with sugar bananas, which can be steamed, fried or grilled depending on the occasion. (Wikipedia: Num ansom) It is traditionally consumed during Pchum Ben and Cambodian New Year, when sticky rice cakes are offered to the manes of ancestors to gain their blessing for the rice fields, and num ansom with num kom are described as indispensable components of the Khmer traditional wedding. (Wikipedia: Num ansom) The cylinder shape represents a phallus symbolising Shiva and the masculine principle, and in popular Khmer culture the cakes represent the two heads of the household. (Wikipedia: Num ansom) At the Angkor Sankranta event in Siem Reap in April 2015 about 100 Khmer chefs spent nearly two days producing a four-tonne sticky rice cake that Guinness World Records approved as the biggest cake in the world on 13 April 2015. (Wikipedia: Num ansom) In Siem Reap the cakes are sold in local markets especially around traditional holidays, families and neighbours often prepare large batches together, and wrapping them is a valued skill passed down through generations. (My Siem Reap Tours) Church World Service documented the cakes made at Hong Khoeun's village bakery in northern Cambodia, where local ingredients and flour milled by her husband support her family's income and her daughter's schooling. (Church World Service)
Preparations and recipes
- My Siem Reap Tours
- Glutinous rice seasoned with coconut milk, wrapped around whole bananas in banana leaf and steamed into cylindrical cakes.
Regional and community variations
Some regions add black beans or mung beans to the filling and certain areas make a savoury version with pork and mung beans, while Siem Reap chefs create fusion fillings such as chocolate or durian and health-conscious cooks use brown glutinous rice and less sugar. (My Siem Reap Tours)