For Chiang Mai residents, Wanlamun has long been synonymous with traditional Thai desserts. Even though the popularity of traditional Thai treats is fading, Kanchana Ubolsootvanich still preserves her family-cherished recipes along with uncompromising ingredients and the painstaking cooking process. With the three-month-old expansion of Wanlamun in Bangkok, the sweet maker is catering its time-honoured treats to satisfy those with sweet teeth in the capital. All bearing the culinary hallmark of Shell Chuan Chim, Wanlamun’s khanom chan (layered soft jelly cake), khanom niew (glutinous rice dumplings served with sugar palm syrup and crisped rice), khanom thua pab (sweet mung bean dumplings with grated coconut) and khanom sai sai (sweet coconut-cream soufflé with fragrant coconut filling in banana-leaf wrapping) are the must-tries.
Have there been a lot of Wanlamun’s followers coming here from Chiang Mai?
Yes, many Bangkok-based clients know us from Chiang Mai. But, the preferences of the markets are quite different. Sweets like thong yib (golden flower), thong yod (golden drop) foi thong (golden treads) and savoury snacks, namely mieng kham (cha plu leaves with savoury toppings), yum som o (pomelo salad) and khanom gui chai (chive dumplings) are more popular here.
How did you learn how to make these authentic recipes?
I learned it from my mother since I was always her helping hand. She followed the original royal recipes of ML Terb Jumsai.
So, did you always want to cook?
In fact, I didn’t want to do it. I was forced to be in the kitchen. When I was about 13, during school breaks, my father had me and my siblings make and sell khanom thua pab in the neighbourhood for a charitable cause. Some day we earned as much as 100 baht. Aside from those memorable times, I learned a lot about meticulousness and authentic Thai tastes from my mother.
How many kinds of desserts do you make a day?
Around 20 types are made daily in the kitchen.
Which dish is the most time-consuming to prepare?
Khanom sai sai because it requires a long process to make, especially in preparing the banana leaves. We need to clean, cut and wipe every one of them. The coconut filling also needs to be shaped into small balls before putting each of them in the coconut-cream soufflé, then wrapped in banana leaves.
Here, colourful glutinous rice dumplings are cooked for khanom thua pab, Wanlamun’s famous fixture. The two Chiang Mai branches [Three Kings Monument and Central Festival Chiang Mai] normally sell 800 pieces a day.
Dara thong (golden star) is among one of the hard-to-find Thai delicacies at Wanlamun. Specials of the day alternate such as rayrai (rice flour vermicelli served with coconut milk, grated coconut, sugar and toasted white sesame), thua pab sai kung (savoury shrimp dumplings with grated coconut), khrong khrang (tapioca starch dumplings in coconut milk).
After filling mung bean, while hot, khanom thua pab dumplings are rolled in grated coconut. The soft and smooth sweet is served with sugar and toasted white sesame.
In the making of khanom kai mangda, egg yolk is put in banana-leaf cones as the tiny golden drops go directly into boiling syrup.
Similar to thong yod, khanom kai mangda is made of pure egg yolk and is much smaller. It is put on top of sweet sticky rice or used to decorate other sweets.
