One of the signature dishes for the Mon Songkran festival is a recipe consisting of steamed rice soaked in jasmine-scented cold water, served with a selection of dry side dishes seasoned with sweet and salty flavors. This cooling dish offers relief during the hot Songkran season and is widely prepared across Mon communities as a cultural staple. Over time, it spread into both Burmese and Thai Songkran celebrations. Reflecting its cultural significance, the dish is known in Mon as Poeng Daj (“rice with water”) or Poeng Sangkran (“rice for the Songkran festival”), in Burmese as Thingyan htamin (“Songkran rice”), and in Thai Khao Chae (“soaked rice”). 

        In Myanmar, Thingyan Rice (သင်္ကြန် ထမင်း; thingyan pronounced tajān) is a popular dish during the Water Festival. Both the Burmese and traditional Mon versions of “Sangkran Rice” are infused with fragrant candle smoke and are served with side dishes such as deep-fried dried fish (ငါးခြောက်ကြော်) and crispy fried dried chilies (ငရုတ်သီးခြောက်ကြော်).  

        Among Mon communities in Thailand, another indispensable part of the celebration is the preparation of traditional sweets such as Kalamae (sticky rice toffee), Khao Niew Kaew (crystallized sticky rice) and Khao Niew Daeng (red sticky rice). These delicacies are typically made about a week in advance and are offered as to monks during the festival as part of the merit-making rituals.