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[Lawrence Wheeler]

Kao Chae was traditionally prepared as an offering by the ethnic Mon in Thailand during the Songkran, the traditional Thai New Year. Kao chae is, traditionally, a food made in palaces and it dates back to the reign of King Rama V in the 19th century. Lady of the house would spend the night before, chopping and pounding to prepare the meal in time for offering to the Songkran Goddess at the crack of dawn.

The humble meal made its way into royal-Thai cuisine at a time when ice was a luxury imported. Even as air-conditioners and refrigerators dominate most homes today, Kao chae remains an essential meal for flaunting and adding a touch of nobility in grand summer occasions. The elegant meal is an edible demarcation of changing seasons, a comforting relief reserved for hot days. There are 5 dishes mentioned in the Kao Chae Royal-Thai recipe

1. Luk Kapi - Deep Fried Tasty Shrimp Paste Ball
Pound the grilled Gunther's catfish and Krachai together. Add some palm sugar, just enough to make it a bit sweet. Then mix it with Shrimp Paste to make small round balls, and dip in egg batter before frying.

2. Hom Yud Sai - Stuffed Shallot with Savory Minced fish
Mince the caramelized dried fish and fry with the grated coconut. Add a bit of sugar for sweetness, mix with minced the rest of the red onions and stuff into onion. Dip into flour and fry until golden and crisp.

3. Neua Cheak Foi Pad Wan - Shredded Sweet Beef or Pork
Grill the dried beef/pork and pound until you are able to tear the meat into strips and put on slow burner. Put in a dash of sugar and keep stir-frying until sugar is fully melted into the strips of meat. Crunchy strands of beef that are like the best jerky one has ever encountered, leaving a hint of palm sugar heavy on the tip of the tongue.

4. Chai Pow Pad Khai - Stir-Fried Chinese Radish
A sharp, but somewhat sweet-tasting, crunchy Chinese white radish, put in a dash of sugar and keep stir-frying until sugar is fully melted. This is Petchaboon recipe. For Royal-Thai recipe, Chinese Radish will dry stir-fried with egg. Smell of garlic when it's sizzling away in a frying pan, and a slightly salty taste.

5. Prik Yuak Yud Sai - Green Chili Pepper Stuffed with Minced Pork and Shrimp Wrapped in Crispy Egg Net . The green pepper is crisp to the bite, the shrimp/pork mixture within tender and with just a hit of black pepper and salt for seasoning, and the deep-fried egg net around it an edible fresco.

6. Plus many other delicious treats such as Pla Kem Thod (Fried Sun Dried Fish), and fried edible flowers such as fried Frangipani.

7. To prepare Kao Chae, the rice grains must be separated, half-cooked and almost transparent. The grains are transferred to terracotta, which are half-filled with water. Wash in cold water many times until clean. Then steam until cooked, the best rice will float to the surface and will appear clean.

8. Flower-scented water The grains are transferred to terracotta, which are half-filled with water permeated with the fragrance of fresh Jasmine blossoms, Ylang-Ylang, Lxora Finlaysoniana, Pandan or Mon Rose and a special incense candle. The scent from the candles and the natural oils from the jasmine should permeate the water.

9. Fresh vegetable served with the Kao Chae were carved, often to form ornamental sculptures of fantastic delicacy. Such items erer part of a special culinary repertoire. Krachai, cucumber, seedless red chilli served on the side.

10. And, above all, the Kao Chae itself that one keeps reaching for to use as coolant, thirst-quencher, and have a color like golden raisins.