Thai Street Vendor Prepares Thai-Style Pancakes, Khanom Buang

If you ever have a chance to enjoy Khanom Buang in Thailand, don't pass it up. This is a tasty delight that most everyone loves to eat, but fewer vendors are offering it in modern times due to the work and equipment involved in it's preparation. We love this mother/daughter team in Bangkok's classic indoor/outdoor market "The Old Siam" which is not far from the busy Yaowarat (Chinatown) district, and next to Pahurat (Indian) district. All day long buyers snatch up the treats as fast as they're made, and it's worth a trip just for this reason. Several other vendors sell Thai sweets in the same area of the market.

Khanom Buang starts with a simple batter made from wheat flour, rice flour, mungbean flour, eggs, salt, palm sugar and water. We will provide you with a recipe here, as soon as possible, with detailed instructions on how you can make it at home (sign up for our monthly newsletter on our homepage to get notified when we've updated this page)

The batter is carefully spread on the hot electric stainless grill, then as it's cooking various toppings are added. Toppings include dried coconut, fried coconut, raisins, foi tong (a Thai sweet dessert), minced shrimp, cilantro, sesame seeds, and our favorite--a basic white cream made of egg whites, palm sugar, and a few drops of lime juice.

As you can see from the pictures, there are a wide range of toppings, and they can be mixed in any way you prefer. This vendor will make your khanom buang "a-rai-ga-dai" (any way you want).

When the batter is sufficiently brown on one side, start adding toppings to the khanom buang. Fold over, remove from the grill and place on a rack to cool.

See our recipe for Khanom Buang.