Crushing the Cookies Asian-Style

If you are looking for an unusual dessert, how about a Thai-inspired cheesecake, a dessert which is not typically part of an Asian chef’s repertoire. Chef Ian Chalermkittichai has come up with an innovative new twist on this classic recipe, as consulting chef for New York City’s Spot Dessert Bar in lower Manhattan.

Taking “Thailand’s most fascinating dessert ingredient”, tian op, to smoke a rich coconut cheesecake, the cake is perfumed with “musky, flowery aromas and flavored with notes of caramel and smoke”. This intriguing new cheesecake takes one of Americas favorite desserts to a new level and Saveur has shared the recipe. A baking Malay food blogger highly recommends crushing the cookies for the cheesecake base with her grandma’s “stone-age weapon” (aka granite mortar and pestle), which makes for a truly low-tech culinary advancement!

To learn more about the tian ob candle and how it is used to perfume Thai desserts see an excellent blog post from our friend SheSimmers.com.

We invite you to share your comments on this blog post. Please let us know if you try the cheesecake recipe or the crushing cookies cooking tip. You can learn more about Thai desserts in our recipe section and shop for Asian and Thai ingredients, cookware and cookbooks.

First and second images copyright Saveur © 2012, bottom image copyright SheSimmers.com © 2011