Cendol

Ingredients

Pandan jelly (cendol)

• 15 pandan leaves, cut into pieces
• 400 ml water
• 60 g rice flour
• 25 g tapioca starch
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 large bowl of iced water

Palm sugar syrup

• 200 g palm sugar (gula melaka), chopped
• 120 ml (1/2 cup) water
• 2 pandan leaves, knotted

Coconut milk

• 400 ml (1 2/3 cups) coconut milk
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 pandan leaf, knotted

To serve

• 200 g cooked sweet red beans
• Shaved or finely crushed ice, about 1 bowl per serving

Method

1. Put the palm sugar, water and knotted pandan in a small pot and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring, until the sugar melts and the syrup thickens slightly. Strain and cool.
2. Warm the coconut milk with the salt and pandan leaf over low heat until steaming, without boiling, for 3 minutes. Cool, then chill.
3. Blend the pandan pieces with the water and squeeze through a fine sieve or muslin to get about 350 ml of green juice.
4. Whisk the rice flour, tapioca starch and salt into the pandan juice in a saucepan until smooth.
5. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, for 6–8 minutes until the mixture turns thick, glossy and slightly translucent, like a soft paste.
6. Set a cendol press or a colander with 5 mm holes over the bowl of iced water. Push the hot paste through with a spatula so short strands drop into the water. Leave for 10 minutes to firm up, then drain.
7. Divide the red beans and cendol between 4 bowls, pile the ice on top, pour over the chilled coconut milk and finish with the palm sugar syrup. Serve at once.

Tips

• Firmer jelly: add 1 more tbsp tapioca starch if your strands are too soft to hold their shape.
• Natural colour: the jelly is pale green from the pandan juice alone. For a brighter colour, add 1/4 tsp pandan paste, checking that it is alcohol-free.
• Cendol pulut: add a spoonful of steamed sweet glutinous rice to each bowl with the beans.
• Storage: keep the jelly in cold water in the refrigerator for 2 days, the syrup for 2 weeks, and the coconut milk for 2 days. Assemble just before serving.