Recipe
🍰 DESSERT
Khao Tom
Sweet coconut sticky rice wrapped around banana and steamed in banana leaf, a fragrant Lao treat.
Lao · easy · serves 6
prep 30 min · cook 45 min
~605 cal · 9g protein · 113g carbs · 15g fat · 8g fiber · 35g sugars · 13g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Khao tom is a traditional Lao sweet of coconut sticky rice and banana wrapped in banana leaf and steamed, a treat made for festivals, temple offerings, and everyday snacking. Similar parcels are found across mainland Southeast Asia, but the Lao version is a homely favourite.
Glutinous rice is soaked, mixed with and a little sugar and salt, then wrapped around a piece of ripe banana in a banana-leaf packet and steamed until the rice turns soft and sticky and takes on the leaf's fragrance. Sometimes a few black beans join the rice. Unwrapped warm, the sweet, coconut-rich rice and soft banana are simple perfection.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
2 cups glutinous rice, soaked
1 1/2 cups
3 ripe bananas
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
6 pieces banana leaves
1/2 cup black beans, cooked (optional)
Instructions
1
Mix the soaked glutinous rice with the coconut milk, sugar, and salt and let it absorb briefly.
2
Warm the banana leaves to soften, then spread rice on each, lay a piece of banana in the middle, and roll up.
✎ Chef’s note
Do not overfill the parcels; the rice swells as it steams, and a tightly packed leaf will burst.
3
Fold into sealed packets and secure.
4
Steam until the rice is soft and translucent, about 40 minutes, and serve warm.
Lao festival tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Luang Prabang. The town's own dishes are far more particular than Lao food in general: aor lam, a stew given a numbing edge by sakhan pepperwood; jaew bong, a chilli paste made with dried buffalo skin; and khai pen, weed lifted from the Mekong, pressed into sheets with sesame and garlic and dried, gathered only a few weeks a year.
🗺️
Laos. Sticky rice is not boiled, it is soaked overnight and steamed in a conical bamboo basket called a huad, then tipped into a lidded basket, the thip khao, that each person keeps beside them. You pinch off a lump, knead it into a ball with your fingers, and use it to pick up everything else. Laotians sometimes call themselves luk khao niao, children of the sticky rice.
🌍
Asia. A grain line runs across the continent. Rice dominates the wet south and east, wheat the drier north and west, and the tools follow it: the wok and the steamer where rice is milled, the tandoor and the griddle where wheat is ground. Tea travels the other way, drunk green, black, salted, buttered or with milk depending how far it got from China.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Laos
Tam Mak Hoong (Lao Green Papaya Salad)Shredded green papaya pounded in a mortar with padaek, lime, chili, garlic, and tomato, the dark, funky, fiery Lao papaya salad.
Larb (Lao Herb & Meat Salad)Warm minced pork tossed with lime, fish sauce, chili flakes, toasted rice powder, and a garden of herbs.
Or LamA Luang Prabang herb stew of meat and vegetables thickened with sticky rice and buzzed with peppery sakhan vine.
Browse all Laos recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Steamer.
Storing it: Keeps 2 to 3 days refrigerated. Resteam or warm through gently to serve.
Make it a Laos meal
Larb (Lao Herb & Meat Salad)Dinner
Lao Iced Coffee (Kafe Nom Yen)Drink
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Frequently asked questions
What is Khao Tom?
Sweet coconut sticky rice wrapped around banana and steamed in banana leaf, a fragrant Lao treat.
Where does Khao Tom come from?
Khao Tom is a Lao dish from Luang Prabang, Laos.
Can Khao Tom be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Khao Tom recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Khao Tom safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Khao Tom take to make?
About 75 minutes total (30 minutes prep, 45 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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