Destination
Ipoh
The story
Cendol is the iconic Southeast Asian iced dessert and one of Malaysia's most-loved street sweets: a tall glass filled with shaved ice, then piled with green pandan-scented rice-flour noodles (called cendol, from which the whole dish takes its name), red azuki beans and a dark ribbon of gula melaka (palm sugar) syrup, then flooded with cold coconut milk. Stirred vigorously with a long spoon before drinking; the ice melts into the coconut milk to make it a proper drinkable dessert. Sold from carts at every pasar (market) across the country, especially in the humid coastal cities.
Method
Break the gula melaka into small pieces. Combine with the water and pandan leaf in a small saucepan. Warm over low heat, stirring, until fully dissolved. Simmer 3 minutes until slightly thickened. Cool.
In a heavy saucepan, whisk together the rice flour, tapioca starch, water, pandan extract and salt until smooth. Warm over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens dramatically into a thick paste (about 3 to 4 minutes). Don't stop stirring; it catches fast.
Set up a large bowl half-filled with ice water. Working immediately (the mixture stiffens as it cools), tip the hot paste into a colander with 5mm holes and press through with a wooden spoon or a spatula directly into the ice water. Short green worm-like noodles will fall through and set instantly in the cold water.
Warm the coconut milk in a small saucepan with the salt until steaming (don't boil). Cool and chill.
Drain the cendol noodles. Chill in the fridge alongside the syrup and coconut milk until fully cold, at least 30 minutes.
Fill each tall glass with a generous mound of shaved or crushed ice. Add 2 tablespoons of red beans, a heap of cendol noodles, then drizzle over 2 tablespoons of gula melaka syrup.
Pour cold coconut milk over the top to fill the glass. Serve immediately with a long spoon; the drinker stirs the whole thing together before eating.
Tips
- Gula melaka is essential. Malaysian palm sugar (sold at Southeast Asian grocers in small brown blocks, labelled gula melaka or gula Java) is what gives cendol its specific caramel-molasses depth. White sugar or brown sugar are pale substitutes.
- Press the noodles into ice water while the paste is hot. The paste stiffens fast as it cools, so work quickly. Ice water sets the noodles into worm-like shapes instantly.
- Full-fat coconut milk. Light coconut milk gives you a thin, watery cendol. Full-fat is what makes it taste specifically luxurious.
- Serve immediately. Cendol melts fast; assemble at the last minute. Don't try to hold or refrigerate assembled glasses.
- Pandan extract works fine. Fresh pandan leaves (blended with water and strained for juice) give the most authentic aroma, but pandan extract from a bottle at an Asian grocer is a legitimate shortcut.
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