Cambodian Desserts — Complete Guide to Khmer Sweets

Glutinous rice flour is whisked with palm sugar, thick coconut milk, and a pinch of salt into a smooth, pale-gold batter, then ladled into small cups formed from folded banana leaves and steamed for 20 to 25 minutes. Halfway through, a small spoonful of pure coconut cream is brushed across the surface — it barely sets during the remaining steam time, leaving a silky, slightly liquid top that contrasts with the chewy, set cake beneath. Where the banana leaf cup wraps the rim, it lends a faint grassy, smoky note that no ramekin can replicate. Served warm, two or three at a time, from bamboo steamer baskets set out at market stalls from mid-afternoon through to late evening.

Small, thumb-sized balls of glutinous rice dough — sometimes tinted pale green with pandan juice — are boiled until they float and become translucent, then served in a warm broth of coconut milk sweetened with palm sugar and scented with pandan leaf. The coconut sauce is deliberately thin and warm, more like a lightly sweetened coconut soup than a thick pudding. The rice balls are chewy and satisfying, and the fragrance of pandan in the coconut broth gives the dessert a floral, almost vanilla-like aroma. Eaten as a warm dessert, particularly in the cooler months from November through February, when the warmth of the bowl is especially comforting.

Jasmine or glutinous rice is slow-simmered in water with chunks of kabocha pumpkin (Japanese pumpkin, which has a dense, sweet flesh and holds its shape during cooking) until the rice grains soften and dissolve into a thick, velvety porridge. Coconut milk and palm sugar are stirred in during the final ten minutes, creating a rich, gently sweet porridge that is golden-orange from the pumpkin. A pinch of salt balances the sweetness and brings out the depth of the palm sugar. Served warm in bowls, sometimes with a drizzle of coconut cream on top. It doubles as both a dessert and a simple breakfast — the line between sweet porridge and savory congee (borbor) is thin in Cambodian food culture.

Glutinous rice is soaked overnight, steamed until each grain is separate and tender, then seasoned while hot with a mixture of coconut milk, palm sugar, and salt — the grains absorb the coconut mixture as they cool, becoming glossy and fragrant. Ripe Cambodian durian — specifically the Monthong or Kradum varieties grown in Kampot and Kandal provinces — is removed from its shell and arranged over the sticky rice. A generous pour of thick, barely-sweetened coconut cream is drizzled over the top just before serving. Available only during the Cambodian durian season from roughly June to August. The combination of custardy, intensely aromatic durian and sweet, chewy sticky rice is considered one of the peak eating experiences in Cambodian cuisine by those who appreciate durian.

A tall glass filled with layered toppings — grass jelly cut into cubes, pandan-flavored jelly, palm seeds (the translucent, slightly gelatinous seeds of the sugar palm fruit), jicama strips, red beans, and sometimes cubes of agar jelly in multiple colors — topped with a mountain of finely shaved ice and finished with a pour of sweetened condensed milk and coconut milk. Each glass is assembled to order and consumed immediately before the ice melts and dilutes the flavors. Found at street carts, market stalls, and dessert shops across Phnom Penh. The palm seeds are what makes this distinctly Cambodian — their neutral, slightly sweet flavor and unique gelatinous texture come directly from the sugar palm tree that defines Cambodian agricultural identity.

A traditional festival dessert made by packing glutinous rice tightly around a filling of either sweet mung bean paste or a combination of banana and shredded coconut, wrapping the bundle in two or three layers of banana leaf, tying it with strips of bamboo, and boiling it for two to four hours until the rice is completely compressed and set. When unwrapped, the exterior has a deep green color and faint smoky char from the banana leaf, and the rice has the firm, dense texture of a rice cake rather than the soft chewiness of steamed sticky rice. Num Ansom is the symbolic dessert of Khmer New Year (April) — made in every household in large batches, shared with monks, offered at temples, and gifted to neighbors.

A distinctive street snack cooked in a special cast-iron pan with hemispherical wells — similar in concept to Danish æbleskiver or Japanese takoyaki, but with a completely different flavor profile. The batter is made from rice flour and coconut milk with a pinch of salt and sugar; the wells are preheated and oiled, the batter is poured in, and after two minutes of cooking the top half — pure coconut cream with barely any flour — is added. The bottom half cooks through and forms a lightly crisp shell; the top barely sets, remaining liquid and rich with coconut fat. Eaten two at a time, placed open-face on a banana leaf square, consumed in two bites on the street. The contrast of crispy base and liquid coconut top is what makes them irresistible.

The purest expression of Cambodian sweetness: palm sap collected from the sugar palm tree is boiled down until it begins to crystallize, then poured into small molds — often half-coconut shells or bamboo tubes — and left to set into firm amber discs or cylinders. The flavor is entirely of caramelized palm sap: deep, smoky, molasses-like, with a low-level sweetness that develops slowly rather than hitting all at once. Eaten on its own as a candy, dissolved in warm water or tea, or crumbled over rice porridge as a natural sweetener. Available at provincial markets in blocks and discs, sold by weight. The purest form comes from Kampong Speu province, where the sugar palms produce particularly rich sap.