If you are wandering around the market, you might spot a hawker cooking little delicate rice pancakes on a steamer. These are called 'pak moh' or ปากหม้อ in Thai. The steam cooker usually has at least one cone-shaped cover which is used in the cooking process.

As you can see in the pictures, a piece of white cloth, either cotton or muslin, is stretched over the opening. A gap is left for the steam to escape. The batter is then spread thinly over the cloth. This batter is made from rice flour and tapioca. The cone-shaped cover is then placed over the top. She then turns her attention to the other steamer where the pancake is ready. She spoons in a small portion of a filling and then folds it together. This is then scooped up and put into the foam tray. She then spoons more of the batter on the now vacant cloth.

By this time, the other rice pancake is ready and she moves across the cone-shaped cover and starts again with the other filling. The fillings vary from store to store. It can be shrimp or pork, beansprouts, chopped parsley, long green beans and sweetcorn. The woman in this photo was working very fast going back and forth between the two steamers. It was fascinating to watch. It seemed popular as there was quite a crowd of people waiting.

Comments (1)

Paak-maw
written by suzie guerra, 2007-06-12 19:16:04

I would rather call it rice crepes instead of rice pancakes. Since they are very thin and look similar to crepes. How about rice sheet with fillings? Does it sound better?

I take a short cut by using a damp, Vietnamese rice paper to wrap the filling and steam for five minutes. This substitute works out fine.