Dish
Sankhya Lapov
Coconut custard steamed inside a whole pumpkin and served in slices.
Sankhya lapov (សង់ខ្យាល្ពៅ, sankhya lapov) is a coconut custard steamed inside a whole pumpkin and served in slices.[1][2] In Khmer, lapov means pumpkin.[1]
Cultural context
It is a dessert kept for special occasions.[3][4] Church World Service writes that rural families make it only for very special occasions and celebrations, since the ingredients can be hard for them to obtain and it takes a long time to prepare and cook.[5] Cambodgemag holds it up as an example of Cambodian sweets built on seasonal ingredients, and of a rich dessert made from simple ones.[3]
Cambodian restaurants serve it as a dessert, and an order may arrive as a whole pumpkin rather than a single slice.[1]
Ingredients and preparation
The custard is made from eggs or egg yolks, coconut milk or coconut cream, palm sugar or white sugar, and a pinch of salt.[5][4][2] The Church World Service recipe calls for a kabocha squash or a pumpkin.[5]
Church World Service gives a home method that fills a kabocha or pumpkin of 700 to 800 grams with six egg yolks, 300 grams of palm sugar, one to two cups of coconut milk and half a teaspoon of salt.[5] The lid is cut off and kept, the inside is scooped out, and the shell is rinsed and left to dry.[5] The palm sugar is mixed with the coconut milk, eggs and salt until it dissolves.[5] The custard is chilled, then poured into the pumpkin.[5] The whole pumpkin steams over low to medium heat for 50 minutes.[5] It then cools for at least 45 minutes so the custard sets, and it is served in slices like a cake, soft skin included.[5]
A version from Royal Khmer Cuisine, a cookbook that the culinary team of Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor in Siem Reap created and wrote, is published by Great British Chefs.[2] The book is not sold; it is given to people who attend the hotel's cooking class.[2] That recipe steams the whole pumpkin in a large steamer, or in a deep covered pot with about 5 centimeters (2 inches) of water, the pumpkin raised on one or two stacked ramekins and the water topped up as it steams.[2]
History and origins
The dessert is also well known in Laos and Thailand.[5][1] In Thailand it is called sangkhaya fak thong.[1] In Laos it is called sangkhaya maryu.[1]
Regional and household variations
Wanderlust notes that butternut, acorn or another winter squash can stand in for the pumpkin with the same result.[4] Its smaller recipe peels a pumpkin of about half a kilogram, fills it with five egg yolks, coconut cream and palm or white sugar, and steams it for 35 to 45 minutes, until the custard no longer wobbles and a knife comes out clean.[4] When a large pumpkin will not fit the pot, several smaller pumpkins can be filled with the same custard and steamed one at a time; they cook much faster.[2] Church World Service suggests eating it with ice cream or sticky rice.[5]
Preparations and recipes
- Thida's Kitchen
- Whole squash hollowed out, filled with a pandan-scented coconut egg custard and steamed until set.
References 5
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Indochina Value, Cambodia Travel Guide: Sankhya lapov
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Great British Chefs, Pumpkin Custard Recipe: Sang Khya L'peouv
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cambodgemag, Cambodia & Gastronomy: Some desserts in local cuisine (April 16, 2026)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Gabrielle Yetter, How to prepare Cambodian desserts, Wanderlust (May 13, 2013)
- ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 Isaree Khreusirikul, A sweet treat: pumpkin coconut custard, Church World Service (October 31, 2016)
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