Food Feature: Nam Wan Sauce, Part 2

(*There are many different versions of Nam Wan sauce. This version is the way I was taught by my mom. There are plenty of ways to cook/mix the sauce... this is just one of them.)

Nam Wan sauce is super simple as well. It only consists of two ingredients: Sugar and Coconut milk. It takes a little patience to make the sauce because you need to melt down the sugar into caramel over low heat. But it is worth the wait!!!

I usually like to make Nam Wan with coconut milk that is specifically used for making desserts. I usually use the dessert coconut milk below (there's even a picture of some dessert that looks like nam wan on it!) and regular C&H refined white sugar.



How to make Nam Wan Sauce:

Step 1: For this occasion, since I made one pack of tapioca balls, I just eyeballed the proportions and used about 2 cups of sugar. Put two cups of sugar in a small pot over LOW HEAT.


Step 2: As the sugar starts to heat up, continue to stir occasionally. The sugar should start forming light brown clumps. I took pictures at about 5 minute intervals of how the sugar started to carmelize. Pay attention to the bottom of the pot, and make sure you stir the sugar so it does not start burning on the bottom.




The sugar will slowly start to clump up, then carmelize and turn into a brown thick syrup.







Step 3: When most of the sugar has been melted (a few clumps is fine), pour in enough coconut milk (enough so the sauce is no longer dark brown, but a medium-light brown tone) and stir. There will be large hard chunks of caramel, so let the sauce boil and melt the remainder chunks. Make sure you scrape the bottom and side of the pot to loosen up any caramel on the pot.





Continue on Low to Medium heat as the caramel starts to melt into the sauce. Add as much coconut milk as you prefer. The more coconut milk you add, the less sweet the sauce becomes. I recommend adding coconut milk until the sauce is a medium brown, Mocha color. Having sweet sauce is actually better because later, you can add fresh coconut milk to your bowl of Nam Wan if it's too sweet. If you add too much coconut milk during the boiling process, you may dilute the sauce. Less is more in this case.



Step 4: Once the caramel chunks have melted into liquid, remove heat and let the sauce cool down.

Finished product:



Pour sauce over Nam Wan and add fresh coconut milk and mix.


Happy eating! =)

Food Feature: Nam Wan (Tapioca & Coconut Dessert) *Part 1*

Nam Wan is a simple and easy dessert anyone can make. If you know how to boil, use a can opener and have a little patience, this will be an easy recipe for you. It's also affordable (less than $10 for all the ingredients) and did I mention, delicious?

I made Nam Wan not once, but twice over the weekend. The first night, I got together with some friends and it got a little hectic in the kitchen (we were also making ka poon), so I wasn't able to capture the whole process. Two days later, I made Nam Wan for my mom who said she was craving for some nam wan.

There are two parts of this dish. The 1st part is the tapioca and fruits mixture. The 2nd part is making the coconut & caramel sauce.

Ingredients:
-Tapioca balls (1 pack)
-Sugar (1.5-2 cups)
-Coconut milk (1-2 cans)
-Jackfruit (canned or frozen)
-Coconut strips
-Coconut Jelly
-Grass Jelly
-Palm seed

Step 1: Boil the tapioca balls. The tricky part about boiling these ity bity tapioca balls is that if you overdo it, it turns all gooey. I suggest waiting for the water to almost reach a boil, then throw in the balls and turn the heat down to medium-high. Stir constantly.


You will know when the tapioca is ready when it starts to turn clear, but there is a little white dot inside the tapioca balls. Drain the tapioca and let sit in cold water for a few minutes to cool down. Place tapioca is a colandar.


You can mix Nam Wan with various fruits. I usually like coconut strips, jackfruit, coconut jelly, grass jelly and palm seeds. Other items you can add in Nam Wan: water chestnuts, red bean, longans, various fruits, etc..

Pictured below: Coconut strips (top), jackfruit (middle), palm seeds (lower left), coconut jelly (lower right)


Voila! I like to add a little bit of coconut milk to the tapioca and fruit mixture so the tapioca doesn't bunch up and stick together.


Stay tuned for Part 2, where I show you how to make the Coconut Milk & Caramel sauce for Nam Wan.

The final product with the Coconut & Caramel sauce mixed in should look like this...... yuuummmmm!

Food Feature... VOTE NOW!

If you missed out on voting for Obama last year, you can still exercise your right to VOTE! Help me decide what you would like to see featured next on Mien Food Addicts.

Food Features will include photos, recipes, a quick Do It Yourself guide and how to customize the dish to your liking! Bon Apetit!

**UPDATE**

I realized the poll below doesn't work! So, please comment below. I'm still new at this.. so gimme some time to learn all this tech stuff!

Are you a Mien Food Addict?

Answer "Yes" or "No" to the following questions:

1. Do you enjoy spicy foods?
2. Do you enjoy eating cilantro?
3. Do you enjoy eating garlic?
4. Do you like fish sauce?
5. Have you ever eaten Ka Poon or Ka Soy and enjoyed it?
6. Does your mouth water when you think about papaya salad?
7. *You have tasted "Pepper" (thai chili peppers, garlic, cilantro, lime, fish sauce combo) and you cannot imagine eating meat without dipping it in some "Pepper".
8. Even though something smells fishy, you'd still eat it.

If you answered "Yes" to 7 out of 8 questions, then you are an official Mien Food Addict.

Stay tuned for recipes and photos of various Mien dishes!


*"Pepper"