''Roti sai mai'' (, ; ''sai mai'' meaning 'silk thread') is a

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

n dessert from

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. is an Indian Muslim-influenced dessert served by wrapping

cotton candy Cotton candy, also known as candy floss (candyfloss) and fairy floss, is a spun sugar confection that resembles cotton. It is made by heating and liquefying sugar, and spinning it centrifugally through minute holes, causing it to rapidly cool ...

in sweet

roti Roti is a round flatbread originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is commonly consumed in many South Asian, Southeast Asian, Caribbean, East African, and Southeast African countries. It is made from stoneground whole-wheat flour, kno ...

. The rolling floss or cotton candy is thin, silky strings of spun sugar, found in a variety of hues. The roti (flatbread) is very thin and made from white or colored flour; green flour colored using pandan leaves.

Sesame Sesame (; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a plant in the genus '' Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cultivated for ...

is often sprinkled on the top.

History

Origins

The recipe was initially brought to the

Ayutthaya Kingdom The Ayutthaya Kingdom or the Empire of Ayutthaya was a Thai people, Thai kingdom that existed in Southeast Asia from 1351 to 1767, centered around the city of Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya (city), Ayutthaya, in Siam, or present-day Thailand. Europe ...

Indian Muslim Islam is India's Religion in India, second-largest religion, with 14.2% of the country's population, or approximately 172.2 million people, identifying as adherents of Islam in a 2011 census. India also has the Islam by country, third-larg ...

traders, who produced and marketed the sweet among communities. The tasty dessert was commonly sold at roadside booths in both the city and the countryside.

Marketing

Coin-operated ''roti sai mai''

In the 1980s and 1990s, "coin-operated" could be found in markets. These sellers had small bicycles equipped with coin boxes on the backs. Customers would drop a 10

baht The baht (; , ; currency sign, sign: ฿; ISO 4217, code: THB) is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 ''satang'' (, ). Prior to decimalisation, the baht was divided into eight ''fueang'' (, ), each of eight ''at'' (, ). The ...

coin through the slot, and a rotating dial would spin, cycling through the numbers 3–7. The number the dial ended on was the number of pieces of the customer would get. This popular marketing gimmick allowed customers to "try their luck", and earn more pieces for the same coin. Customers could also just buy pieces at the normal price. Nowadays, these coin-operated sellers are extremely rare.

International marketing

One difficulty with the mass-marketing of ' is its limited shelf life. The dough and floss candy must be consumed within a few days, or the dessert's flavour will degrade, and it will spoil not soon after. The company Candy Crepe, founded by Jainnisa Kuvinichkul, collaborated with the National Science and Technology Development Agency of Thailand to increase the dessert's shelf-life. Their product has a shelf life of 6–12 months without the use of chemical additives.

References

External links

board.postjung.com

Making roti sai mai
{{Thai cuisine Thai desserts and snacks Roti Indian diaspora in Thailand Indian desserts Indian fusion cuisine