Lao coconut cakes, called Khao Nom Kok, are very popular both as a dessert and as a meat delicacy. It can also be found in Thailand, Myanmar, and Indonesia. It is made of rice flour and coconut cream. Tiny cakes are baked in half-moon indents on an iron pan. When ready, two cakes are sandwiched together and served on a banana leaf.
Khao Nom Kok can be found on every street market, but according to an old legend, there is only one specific day when it should be made and eaten. Legend says that a girl and a boy were once deeply in love, but her father didn't want them to be together. So, he made a trap to catch and kill the boy. However, his daughter wanted to save her beloved so she also fell into the trap, and, as a result, both lovers died there. Her father ordered a pagoda built above their grave. This supposedly happened on the sixth day of the waning moon of the sixth lunar month, which approximately occurs in the second half of July.
