Khanom Krok
ขนมครก
Khanom Krok are Thai coconut milk pancakes — small, dome-shaped bites with a crispy rice-flour shell and a sweet, creamy coconut custard centre, cooked in a cast-iron spherical pan.
Cultural Origin
Khanom Krok is an ancient Thai coconut-rice pancake cooked in a dimpled cast-iron pan, with a heritage tracing back to the Ayutthaya period. The dish reflects the Thai pairing of slightly salty coconut custard tops over a starchy rice-flour base and remains a beloved fixture at temple fairs and street markets across Central Thailand.
Allergens & Sensitivities
Key Ingredients
- rice flour
- coconut milk
- palm sugar
- spring onion
- sweet corn
Taste profile
- Salty
- fish sauce, soy, shrimp paste
- Sweet
- palm sugar, coconut
- Sour
- lime, tamarind, fermentation
- Umami
- dried shrimp, fermented pastes, stock
The dish is built on a deliberate contrast rather than a single flavour — a faintly salted coconut cream top spooned over a sweeter rice-flour base — so a good one tastes different at the crisp rim than it does at the soft centre.
How Khanom Krok Is Made
- 1
Mixing two batters
A plain rice flour and coconut milk batter is made for the base, and a separate, richer coconut cream mixture lightly salted is kept aside for the top.
- 2
Heating the pan
A heavy, dimpled cast-iron pan is heated over charcoal until a drop of batter sizzles immediately on contact, then lightly oiled in each dimple.
- 3
Filling the dimples
The base batter is spooned into each dimple and left a moment to set at the edges before anything else is added.
- 4
Topping
A spoonful of the richer coconut cream mixture is added on top of each partially set base, along with sweet corn or spring onion depending on the version.
- 5
Prising out
Once the edges turn golden and pull away from the pan, each piece is prised out with a thin spoon so the crisp shell separates cleanly from the pan rather than tearing.
When It’s Eaten
Bought hot straight from the pan at a morning market or temple fair, eaten on the spot before the shell has time to soften rather than saved for later.
How to Order It
- ขอขนมครกหนึ่งที่
- kor khanom krok neung thi
- One order of coconut pancakes, please.
- หวานน้อย
- wan noi
- Less sweet, please.
What people get wrong
Expecting a uniformly sweet pancake and being thrown by the faintly salty top; the dish is built on that contrast on purpose, and it is not a sign the vendor got the recipe wrong.
Where to Try It
Morning markets and temple fairs throughout Thailand — easily spotted by the sizzling cast-iron pans.
Tips
- They should be eaten warm when the outside is crispy and the inside still slightly liquid — a contrast in texture that disappears as they cool.