Cendol
Pandan rice-flour jellies in iced coconut milk with dark palm-sugar syrup and red beans
On a sweltering afternoon in Melaka, the queue snakes out of the cendol shops on Jonker Street: a bowl of shaved ice drenched in salted coconut milk and smoky, dark gula Melaka syrup, hiding soft green jelly 'worms' made from rice flour and pandan, with red beans at the bottom. It's sweet, salty, creamy and cold all at once, and it's the city's signature dessert. Melaka's own gula Melaka is the key; it should smell of caramel and woodsmoke. Chef's tip: a pinch of salt in the coconut milk makes the palm sugar taste deeper; without it the bowl tastes flat.
- Total time
- 40 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the green jellies
For the syrup
To serve
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What you'll need
Spices & pantry
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Blend 10 pandan leaves with 1 ¾ cups water until fine, then squeeze through a muslin cloth to get a bright green juice. Whisk in 2 ⅛ oz rice flour, ⅔ oz tapioca starch and 1 tsp slaked lime water (air kapur) until smooth.
Step 2: Cook the batter in a non-stick pan over a medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a spatula. After about 8 minutes it thickens suddenly; keep stirring for 2–3 minutes more, until it's thick, glossy, darker green and slightly translucent, and pulls away from the pan. Undercooking is the common mistake: soft batter dissolves in the iced water instead of forming jellies.
11 minStep 3: Set a cendol press, a potato ricer or a colander with large holes over the bowl of 4 ¼ cups iced water. Push the hot batter through in short lengths so short 'worms' drop into the water and firm up. Leave 5 minutes, then drain.
8 minStep 4: Simmer 7 oz palm sugar (gula Melaka), ½ cup water and 2 pandan leaves over a low heat for 4–5 minutes, stirring, until dissolved and syrupy. Strain and cool; it should be dark, thick and smell like toffee.
5 minStep 5: Stir ¼ tsp salt into 1 ¾ cups coconut milk until dissolved.
Step 6: Spoon 7 oz cooked red (adzuki) beans and the jellies into tall glasses or bowls, pile 1 ⅓ lb ice on top, then pour over the coconut milk and drizzle generously with syrup. Eat quickly, before the ice melts.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 430 kcal
- Protein
- 6 g
- Carbs
- 64 g
- Fat
- 19 g
- Fibre
- 5 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does cendol take?
- About 40 minutes in total: 25 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of palm sugar (gula melaka)?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
- What can I use instead of coconut milk?
- Single cream, same amount (not dairy free).
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