Rice flour

Flour ............sacks 16,000 / Maizeflour...... ,, / Riceflour ...... ,,

Grandmother rushed here and there when the sun was a mere pale disc, helping, always helping: rolling straws from waxpaper for a few cents a bundle, chopping meat and vegetables for the large family meals, kneading riceflour cakes for market the next morning.

For dessert, the Thais favour dishes which foreigners often find excessively sweet. They are called khanom and may vary from riceflour and coconut milk to sticky rice and custard.

Wagashi are very dainty and attractive sweets that are made from riceflour, wheatflour, sweetened adzuki beans, and various seasonal fruits.