Luk Chup

Luk Chup (fruit-shape desserts made of mung-bean flour with natural colouring). They look like various kinds of fruit and vege- tables, such as chillies, cherries, mangosteens, oranges, mangoes, bananas, watermelons, and carrots but they are in miniature. Their taste is sweet, their smell is fragrant, and their appearance is attractive and colorful.
These are from the Banyan Tree kitchen as they catered the dinner that we had while cruising down the Chao Phraya River.

To make Luk Chup, the basic ingredients are ground mung beans (with skins removed), sugar, coconut cream, clear gelatin, and food-colouring. Ground bean paste is mixed with sugar before coconut cream is added. The mixture then is heated over a gentle fire until it becomes sticky. After leaving it cool, the mixture is taken to be molded into the desired shapes of fruits and vegetables. This important step needs good dexterity. Every curve and line requires a very gentle touch to shape the mixture into the miniature fruits or vegetables. But the size of each piece is limited by the amount of mixture that can be made to hold together. Then the little models are painted in various colors. When dry, they are dipped in clear gelatin.
These days Luk Chup are not as commonly found as other Thai sweets. They are on sale in only some shops selling Thai desserts. I bought some at the airport to bring home.