Recipe: Luk Chop (Glazed Bean Dough)

When I first saw Luk Chop for sale in Bangkok, I though they were porcelain souvenirs fruits, and not edible. That was until a vendor asked me if I’d like to try one. This is one example of the fine line between food and craft apparent in many Thai foods.

Serves: Many to eat, and many more to look at.

Prep time: 1 hour (more if need to cook beans).

Ingredients

Dough:
3 cups Thai yellow beans, cooked (lentils might work)
3 cups Coconut milk
½ cup Sugar (course)

Jelly:
1 1/3 T Akar Aker jelly powder
3 cups Water
4 T Sugar (fine)

Puree all yellow beans, coconut milk and sugar in a blender for a minute or so. Meanwhile, heat a saucepan or wok over high heat. Add the mixture to the pan and bring to a bubble. Stir constantly until the mixture almost reaches the consistency of cookie dough. Remove from heat.
Cool, and roll one inch diameter dough balls. Mold the balls into you favorite fruits and vegetable shapes (oranges, tomatoes, red peppers and squash are some Thai favorites). Stick molds on long skewers and dye with appropriate (or inappropriate) colors.

Mix jelly ingredients (jelly powder, water, sugar) together. Heat on high until dissolved and begins to thicken. Remove from heat and dip dyed molds quickly in liquid to create a glossy shine. Let molds dry and use for decoration or simply eat.

[This recipe was derived from my school’s cooking club. Measurements are not perfect as I sometimes took educated guesses or converted from metric scale].