54 | Culture Ways of Life and Wisdom
The Sweets of the Tenth Lunar Month
Kanom Pong
Kanom Pong is made of steamed sticky
rice which is pressed down onto a mold to make
its shape like a crescent moon and diamond. It is
sun-dried before being deep-fried in very hot oil until
it swells (Pong). It is symbolized as a raft to take the
spirit of the ancestors across the great ocean.
Kanom Kong
Kanom Kong is made of glutinous rice flour
and molded into a wheel shape, then deep-fried
until its color turns to golden brown—symbolized
as a jewelry for body accessories.
Kanom Ba
(snuff box sea bean-shape snack)
Kanom Ba is made by glutinous rice flour
mixed with syrup and mold it in a flat shape like
a Saba seed (snuff box sea bean) before being
fried. It is symbolically like a Saba seed dedicated
to ancestors to play on Songkran Day.
Kanom Dee Sum
The method of making Kanom Dee Sum
is similar to Kanom Ba, but changed to rice
flour. After the flour is molded in a ball shape
and then pressed the middle to be a hole. After
being deep-fried, it becomes white, yellow or
light brown, symbolized money.
“The heart of
making merit in the
Tenth Lunar Month
Festival is the five key
desserts and each of
them has significant
connotations.”
Kanom La
Kanom La is made of glutinous rice flour
and sugar into a shape of nets through the
process of making fried flour lines interlaced.
It symbolises clothing. Other meaning is that
the ancestral spirit may have become a hungry
ghost and had a mouth as small as a needle,
unable to eat a piece of food, but only a small
snack like this.