Khanom Phing

Overview
Khanom-Phing (Thai: ขนมผิง) is a dessert that uses eggs, tapioca flour and thick coconut milk as important ingredients. It has a light brown color and has a round shape. It was developed from the Portuguese dessert named Broinhas.

History
In the age of King Narai the great of Ayutthaya (Thai : สมเด็จพระนารายณ์มหาราช), in Thailand, there was one nobleman named Constantine Phaulkon, who was French. He was married to a woman named Maria Guyomar de Pinha when King Phetracha (Thai : สมเด็จพระเพทราชา) reigned instead of King Narai the great who was sick. Next, Constantine was executed because administration was changed by King Narai which caused Maria Guyomar de Pinha to be imprisoned for two years before she was set at liberty. However, after she was released, she made desserts according to order for palace because she was a famous woman for cooking and baking. Those brought big changes to Thai desserts. The original Thai desserts used flour, coconut sugar or palm sugar as the essential ingredients whereas Maria Guyomar de Pinha introduced using eggs as a main ingredient for Khanom-Phing, Thong-Yip, Thong-Yod and other desserts. Khanom-Phing has the taste of egg yolk and thick coconut milk that are its main ingredients, so Khanom-Phing was a favorite dessert of aristocracy in the palace. After that assistants in Maria Guyomar de Pinha’s home were married, and they brought the recipe of Khanom-Phing to villagers. Nowadays, Khanom-Phing is a traditional dessert of Thailand and it is sold all around Thailand. In addition, in Nakhon Pathom province (Thai: จังหวัดนครปฐม), it still has Khanom-Phing which’s made from the old recipe on sale. This made Khanom-Phing a popular dessert in Nakhon Pathom province.