Chapter 3 Part I

The young woman’s slender, tapered fingers carefully poured the jasmine-infused water into the brass pan, into which she had already added mung bean flour and sugar. Using a wooden spatula, she gently stirred in one direction until both the sugar and flour had fully dissolved into the water.

The young woman used both hands to carry the small brass pan to the heat source and set the heat between low and medium. She used the wooden spatula that was set on the edge of the pan to stir continuously until the flour mixture was clear and shiny. After that, she lifted the pan up into a basin of hot water on the stove to ensure the dessert mixture remained warm.

Sakunthara spooned the contents of the pan into a small pitcher to be used for pouring. She added just two drops of pink food coloring so that the dessert base would have a pinkish color. She spooned the dessert mixture into a small stainless steel pitcher and poured the dessert base into plastic bite-sized heart-shaped molds. When the pink mixture was used up, she mixed the next color until she had used up all of the clear flour mixtures in the brass pan. Then the mixture was left so that their surfaces would firm up in the molds. At that time, she left them to prepare to work on the dessert topping.

Sakunthara put the pan, which she had placed coconut cream, rice flour, and a small amount of salt, onto the heat. She mixed the ingredients until they were uniform before turning off the stove, though she used the spatula to continue stirring the coconut cream in the pan a while longer. Once the mixture had started to cool and become sticky, she spooned it into a press cylinder.

The press cylinder she was using was modified from a cookie press. Using flower-shaped disks increased the attractiveness of the Thai dessert. In addition, it helped add greater monetary value than the traditional spooning method.

The top layer of the dessert base had reached an appropriate level of firmness. The young woman knew from experience the correct time to move on to the next step and did not have to waste time checking the dessert’s temperature.

The young woman topped the dessert bases with the thick, sticky coconut cream mixture, pressing it into the flower shape dictated by the mold in the cylinder until she was finished. After that, she sprinkled crispy mung beans on top for an attractive touch.

Sakunthara was preoccupied with her dessert-making because she had to work while the dessert topping was still warm. If the topping cooled, it would solidify before it could be removed from the molds and it would not have a smooth, attractive finish. She didn’t have time to pay attention to her surroundings. She didn’t even know someone was standing and watching her.

As for the person standing and watching her, his eyes had been surveying the shop admiringly until they had fallen onto the young woman and he had tumbled into such a trance that he had momentarily forgotten his own errand. It was the first time he had seen a Thai dessert being made. Watching the intricacies and the extreme care taken at each step had made him want to taste that beautifully colored dessert.

The owner, who was small and whose height was no more than 160 centimeters, stood behind the counter making desserts. Around her neck was the strap of a bright pink apron that had the shop’s name embroidered onto it. Her eyes were fixed on what she was doing, and her face was stained with a smile of joy. If Pongket’s ears did not deceive him, he was hearing the young woman in front of him talk to the desserts.

“Let’s get dressed up beautifully to greet the guests, children. You there, if you frown like that, no one will choose you!”

The young woman made the person who had been watching her for a long while break out into a smile as well. He wasn’t even able to tell himself why he was smiling.

After completing every step of the process, Sakunthara placed all of her equipment into the sink. When she turned back around, her eyes fell on his tender smile. She had no idea when the neatly dressed young gentleman standing before her had come in, even though the spot where he was standing was only a short distance away from her.

The shop named ‘Sakunthara Thai Desserts’ was only a two-room shophouse, with the front partitioned off as a space to display the products and the back of the shop an open kitchen that allowed customers to watch the tidy production process, which used fresh ingredients. However, the space was neatly arranged.

Originally, Sakunthara’s mother, Mrs. Tipsakun, used to run a market stall selling Thai desserts. Having been in contact with Thai desserts since she was a child, Sakunthara had developed an admiration and love for making desserts. She extended her knowledge by studying at the hospitality management school of a famous public university that was renowned for producing leading culinary personnel.

After graduation, Sakunthara chose to return and improve her mother’s Thai dessert shop rather than work at the famous five-star hotel that she had been headhunted by since she was still in training.

Sakunthara had expanded the Thai dessert shop by offering snack boxes and catering. In addition, she had modernized the presentation of the desserts but had retained their fragrance and flavor. She had also fully maintained the culture of Thai desserts.

During the New Year holiday, the shop would see much more business than usual. It had started about three or four years ago when a customer had ordered a gift basket of Thai desserts to be used to pay respects to and ask for blessings from elders and superiors. After that, the news spread by word of mouth. It had made her dessert shop grow continuously until additional employees had had to be hired for the dessert preparation times at night and during the day.

During the afternoon, only a few employees remained. Their duty was to help her mother buy supplies for the shop. In addition, there were part-time employees who were university students who helped with preparing the snack boxes and the off-site catering jobs that came in periodically.

At the moment, though, Sakunthara was standing in the shop all by herself because the employees and her mother were buying things that would be used as raw ingredients the next day.

The young woman smiled at the customer. She bowed her head in an apologetic way. Her cheek was smudged by the mung bean flour she had transferred to it when she’d unthinkingly raised the back of her hand, which had had flour clinging to it, to wipe the sweat off her face. Perched on top of her hair was a sweet pink cap that went well with the apron hanging from around her neck.

“Sawasdee ka. I apologize for making you wait so long. I was busy making desserts and didn’t notice you walking into the shop. What would you like, Sir?”

“Right,” the young man replied, a smile unconsciously appearing. It might have been that smudge of flour that was on her face or the smile the young woman had given him first.

The young woman in front of him had a rather small and slender build. Her skin was fine and smooth like that of an adolescent girl.

“Are you alone, young lady? I’m here to pick up a snack basket that Mrs. Warakun placed an order for,” he said in a polite tone. From his visual assessment, this little lady was probably more than a full Chinese zodiac cycle[1] younger than him.

The young man had made his assessment based on her face and figure, without knowing that the young woman with the small, slender build before him was the owner of the shop and that she was nearly twenty-seven years of age.

The young woman smiled at him once more. She turned and walked out to pick up the basket of steamed Thai flower dumplings, or Chor Muang, and handed it to the young man. Although Madam Warakun had mentioned many times how she wanted her son to get to know her, that she wanted her to be her daughter-in-law, Sakunthara did not question the young man’s relation to Madam Warakun. It might have been because of the title “Mrs. Warakun” he had used to refer to her.

“Here you go, Sir.” The young woman handed him the basket. He quickly took it in one hand while pulling out some banknotes to prepare to pay the bill.

“How much is it?”

“Mrs. Warakun has already paid,” she responded in a gentle, melodious voice. The young man swept his eyes around the shop once more to alleviate the awkwardness.

“Would you like anything else? There are many snacks and desserts. Our shop always makes them fresh and new to add to the selection. You can browse around first. It seems you have never been to this shop.” The young woman immediately took on the persona of a salesperson, enthusiastically encouraging the customer to purchase her products.

He nodded briefly and walked over to the display case that contained lovely desserts in beautiful, tempting packaging. Sakunthara followed him. Her gaze followed his, and she explained the details of the dessert the man was currently giving his attention to.

He was admiring the small orange crown-shaped dessert Cha mongkut. Though in his line of work, he was often involved with Thai tourism, food, and culture, he couldn’t help but be impressed by the delicate details of the delightful little dessert before him.

“This particular dessert is known as Cha mongkut. It is a traditional Thai dessert that is well-known for having an auspicious name. It is popular as a gift to honor people for promotions at work or advancement in their careers. It is meant to congratulate people and express best wishes for their professional advancement. Additionally, it is sweet and fragrant due to a multitude of flowers and requires great attention to detail to make.” The young woman made her explanation in a friendly manner. Cheering on customers in order to make sales was the main duty of a shopkeeper such as her. In particular, if it was about food, she could continue talking all day if she had an audience. She enjoyed sharing the information and history of each type of dessert.

Her melodious voice made the other one want to listen to her more. Her smile and eyes full of pride made him unable to look away.

“I’ll take some, but please place them in another basket,”

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[1] One Chinese zodiac cycle is twelve years.