Ingredients
Filling
- 500 gglutinous rice, soaked overnight
- 150 gblack-eyed beans or red beans, soaked
- 400 mlthick coconut milk
- 80 gsugar
- 1 tspsalt
Equipment
- 6fresh green bamboo tubes, one node closed
- banana leaf for plugging
- a long charcoal fire
Directions
- Use fresh green bamboo with one node left closed as the base of the tube. Dry bamboo cracks and burns through over a fire, and the fresh inner membrane is what peels away with the rice at the end.
- Soak the glutinous rice overnight and the beans separately, then drain both. Part-cook the beans until just tender, because they will not soften enough inside the tube.
- Mix the coconut milk with the sugar and salt until dissolved. Fill each tube about two thirds with the rice and beans.
- Pour in the sweetened coconut milk to just cover, and let it settle. Leave it able to vent.
- Roast for about 1 hour 30 minutes, giving each tube a quarter turn every 15 minutes.
- Turn them regularly or one face chars through while the opposite side is still raw. They are done when the outer bamboo is blackened and the rice inside is soft and fragrant.
- Let them cool, then split the tube by tapping along its length with the back of a knife and peeling the charred outer layers away.
Technique
- Black-eyed beans are the Cambodian standard where Laos more often uses black beans.
- It keeps a day or two in the tube, which is the whole reason it exists.
- Vendors stack the roasted tubes upright in bundles by the roadside.
Substitutions
- Khao lam, the Lao version, made the same way.
- A bamboo steamer or foil tubes, which cook the rice but lose the point entirely.
Variations
- With taro or grated coconut through the rice.
- Made with black glutinous rice, which is darker and nuttier.
- With a layer of thick coconut custard at the top.
History
Sticky rice, beans and coconut roasted inside bamboo tubes, sold along the highways near Kampong Cham and made for Khmer New Year.
Frequently asked questions
What is Kralan?
Kralan is a snack from Cambodia: sticky rice with beans and coconut roasted in bamboo tubes. Sticky rice, beans and coconut roasted inside bamboo tubes, sold along the highways near Kampong Cham and made for Khmer New Year.
How long does Kralan take to make?
Kralan takes 30 min plus overnight soaking of preparation and 1 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 tubes. It is rated hard to make.
What can I substitute in Kralan?
Yes, within limits. Khao lam, the Lao version, made the same way. A bamboo steamer or foil tubes, which cook the rice but lose the point entirely.
What is the most important thing to get right in Kralan?
It keeps a day or two in the tube, which is the whole reason it exists.
