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Alternative names | Coconut pudding |
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Type | Pastry |
Place of origin | China |
Main ingredients | Coconut milk; wheat starch and corn starch, or agar and gelatin |
Coconut bar is a refrigerated dim sum dessert found in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southern China and in overseas Chinatowns. It is sweet and has a soft, gelatin-like texture but is white in color rather than translucent like gelatin. It is sometimes referred to as coconut pudding.
The dessert is made of coconut milk (preferably freshly made) and set with a mixture of tang flour (wheat starch) and corn starch, or a mixture of agar agar and gelatin. It is sweetened, and sometimes sprinkled with desiccated coconuts. The texture varies from silky springy (if gelatin and agar agar is used as setting agent) to creamy in texture (if wheat starch and corn starch are used to set the dessert) depending on individual preparations. The standard dim sum version has no filling. [1]
Dessert is a course that concludes a meal. The course consists of sweet foods, such as confections, and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine and liqueur. In some parts of the world, such as much of central and western Africa, and most parts of China, there is no tradition of a dessert course to conclude a meal.
Gelatin desserts are desserts made with a sweetened and flavored processed collagen product (gelatin). This kind of dessert was first recorded as jelly by Hannah Glasse in her 18th century book The Art of Cookery, appearing in a layer of trifle. Jelly is also featured in the best selling cookbooks of English food writers Eliza Acton and Isabella Beeton in the 19th century.
Tapioca is a starch extracted from the storage roots of the cassava plant, a species native to the North and Northeast regions of Brazil, but whose use is now spread throughout South America. The plant was brought by the Portuguese to much of West Indies, Africa and Asia. It is a perennial shrub adapted to the hot conditions of tropical lowlands. Cassava copes better with poor soils than many other food plants.
Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in consistency from a thin pouring sauce to the thick pastry cream used to fill éclairs. The most common custards are used in custard desserts or dessert sauces and typically include sugar and vanilla; however, savory custards are also found, e.g., in quiche.
Marshmallow is a type of confectionery that is typically made from sugar, water and gelatin whipped to a solid-but-soft consistency. It is used as a filling in baking or normally molded into shapes and coated with corn starch. The sugar confection is inspired by a historical medicinal confection made from Althaea officinalis, the marsh-mallow plant.
Pudding is a type of food that can be either a dessert or a savory dish that is part of the main meal.
Rice pudding is a dish made from rice mixed with water or milk and other ingredients such as cinnamon, vanilla and raisins.
Po‘e or poke is a Polynesian pudding usually eaten as a dessert.
Chocolate puddings are a class of desserts in the pudding family with chocolate flavors. There are two main types: a boiled then chilled dessert, texturally a custard set with starch, commonly eaten in the U.S., Canada, Germany, Sweden, Poland, and East and South East Asia; and a steamed/baked version, texturally similar to cake, popular in the UK, Ireland, Australia, Germany and New Zealand.
Kuih are bite-sized snack or dessert foods commonly found in Southeast Asia. It is a fairly broad term which may include items that would be called cakes, cookies, dumplings, pudding, biscuits, or pastries in English and are usually made from rice or glutinous rice. The term kuih is widely used in Malaysia, Brunei, and Singapore, and kueh or kue is used in Indonesia, to refer to sweet or savoury desserts. Though called by other names, one is likely to find various similar versions of kuih in neighbouring countries, such as Vietnam, Thailand, and Myanmar. For example, the colourful steamed kue lapis and the rich kuih bingka ubi are also available in Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. In the Philippines, kuih are referred to in Tagalog as kakanin.
A thickening agent or thickener is a substance which can increase the viscosity of a liquid without substantially changing its other properties. Edible thickeners are commonly used to thicken sauces, soups, and puddings without altering their taste; thickeners are also used in paints, inks, explosives, and cosmetics.
Haupia is a traditional coconut milk-based Hawaiian dessert often found at luaus and other local gatherings in Hawaii. Since the 1940s, it has become popular as a topping for white cake, especially at weddings. Although technically considered a pudding, the consistency of haupia closely approximates gelatin dessert and is usually served in blocks like gelatin.
Manjar blanco, also known as manjar de leche or simply manjar, is a term used in Spanish-speaking area of the world in reference to a variety of milk-based delicacies. In Spain the term refers to blancmange, a European delicacy found in various parts of the continent as well as the United Kingdom. In the Americas it refers to a sweet, white spread or pastry filling made with milk. This term is sometimes used interchangeably with dulce de leche or cajeta in Latin America but these terms generally refer to delicacies prepared differently from those just described. Related dishes exist by other names in other countries, such as tembleque in Puerto Rico. In Portuguese-speaking countries the dish is known as manjar branco.
Mango pudding is a very popular dessert in Hong Kong, where pudding is eaten as a traditional British food. There is very little variation between the regional mango pudding's preparation. The dessert is also found in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Macau and is often served as dim sum in Chinese restaurants. The fresh variant is prepared by the restaurant or eatery and consists of agar or gelatin, mangoes, evaporated milk, and sugar. In addition, fresh fruit such as mango, strawberries, berries and kiwifruit, are occasionally added as garnish. Served and eaten refrigerator cold, mango pudding has a rich and creamy texture.
Kalamai is a traditional Chamorro corn / coconut pudding, sometimes referred to as coconut gelatin. Original versions of kalamai called for masa harina, coconut milk, sugar, and water. Subsequently, cornstarch has been used to thicken the dessert. Red or green food coloring may be used to color the kalamai, followed by a sprinkling of cinnamon on the surface. A few recipes add vanilla for additional flavoring.
Maja blanca is a Filipino dessert made primarily from coconut milk. Also known as coconut pudding, it is usually served during fiestas and during the holidays, especially Christmas.
Rēti'a is the traditional coconut-based pudding of French Polynesia. It is made from mixing coconut milk, starch and sugar together and baked, the pudding having a similar consistency to gelatin.