Khao chi is a kind of snack made by grilling or roasting rice over a charcoal fire. In the old days people made it from leftover rice squeezed by hand to form a tight ball and pierced it with a wooden stick before roasting it over a red hot glowing charcoal stove until the outside became slightly crispy. Children that woke up in the early morning got to eat khao chi to relieve their hunger while waiting for the freshly steamed rice and other kinds of food to be cooked. (Rattana Phromphichai, 1999, p. 809). To improve the taste some people mix the rice with coconut cream and salt before grilling it and then they dip it into some beaten eggs before grilling it a second time. (Ladda Kanthachin, personal communication, June 29, 2007). On the full moon day of the fourth lunar month (around January) which is considered a special Buddhist Sabbath known as than-khao-lon-bat or than-khao-mai (offering of the newly harvested rice), khao chi and khao lam are made as part of the alms offering, which is called than-khao-chi-khao-lam. (Rattana Phromphichai, 1999, p. 809). |