Steamed Pumpkin with Coconut Cream

Making a pumpkin filled with coconut cream, or “Sangkhaya Fak Thong” ( สังขยาฟักทอง ) in Thai, has been on my to-do list for a long time. Last weekend, I took advantage of pumpkin season and the upcoming Halloween holiday to finally put my plan into action. Last weekend, I took advantage of pumpkin season and the upcoming Halloween holiday to finally put my plan into action. I used a small Hokkaido pumpkin, which is currently available in every supermarket. I’ve written down the recipe for you here, and you’ll see that steamed pumpkin with coconut cream is easier to prepare than you might think.

Preparation

First of all, you should make sure that you have the option of steaming a whole pumpkin. I used my two steaming baskets once as a basket and once as a lid and placed the glass lid on top. It was a bit of a wobbly affair, but it worked. Please be very careful when doing such things as you have to work with boiling hot steam.

Now we prepare the pumpkin. To do this, cut out a “lid” from the top around the stem. This should be about eight to centimetres in diameter and about two centimetres thick. Use a spoon to scrape out all the seeds and fibers from the inside of the pumpkin through the resulting opening until only the flesh remains.

Next, we prepare the filling. To do this, beat the eggs in a bowl or, even better, in a milk pot with a spout. Whisk the eggs and gradually stir in the solid part of the coconut milk. Alternatively, you can also use canned coconut cream. Then add the sugar, pandan extract and - very importantly - a little salt to this mixture and stir everything together again thoroughly.

Now you can bring the water to the boil in the pan under your steamer basket, depending on the type of stove, this can take a while. In the meantime, pour the mixed coconut mixture into the hollowed-out pumpkin and seal it with the cut-off lid. Place the filled pumpkin in the middle of the steamer basket. As soon as the water boils, carefully place the steamer basket on top of the pot and close it with the lid.

After three quarters to a whole hour in the steam, the pumpkin should be soft and the coconut cream firm. You can check this by carefully removing the pumpkin lid and cutting into the filling with as thin a knife as possible without damaging it too much. When it is firm, turn off the heat , wait until the steam subsides and then carefully lift out the pumpkin.

You should now leave the pumpkin to cool for at least half an hour. However, a longer time won’t do any harm and will increase the chance of the filling becoming a little firmer . In theory, you can also prepare a pumpkin like this the day before. This might make your Halloween party preparations a little easier.

To serve the “Sangkhaya Fak Thong”, you should cut it into about six to eight pieces with as sharp a knife as possible.