Cendol (Mung Bean Jelly Noodles, Salted Coconut Milk and Palm Sugar & Lime Granita)

How much do we know about Malaysian cuisine beyond Laksa and Char Kway Teow?

Malaysian cuisine has since long been influenced by the ancient traders from India, China and Arabian countries due to its strategic central location and long shoreline. This influence was followed centuries later by influences from European traders from Portugal, Holland and England.

The Malay people are the indigenous people of Malaysia. The multi-cultural society was formed when the tin rush caused an influx of Chinese labourers to work in the mines and the booming of the rubber plantations attracted labourers from India to work as rubber tappers.

Malaysia is truly a melting pot of diverse cultures. The multi-racial society has created
a beautiful backdrop for its unique, blended cuisine: "Land of a thousand tastes" as some may call it.

I will slowly dwell into many aspects of the cuisine. Be it an ingredient, technique, flavour or texture. For some I will stay true to the roots, for some I will add my own touch to better suit the modern taste buds. I hope the recipes will arouse your interest and you will fall in love with them as I have.

I want to start with a classic Malay dessert called cendol. It traditionally consists of green mung bean jelly noodles flavoured by pandan leaves, swimming in slightly salted coconut milk and drizzled with palm sugar syrup. Later, when fridges became available, it evolved into ice cendol. Shaved ice was added to suit the tropical weather. More colourful variations are seen these days with new additions such as azuki beans, creamed corn and grass jelly.

Initially I intended to make a traditional version of ice cendol. Not having a shaved ice machine did bring out the creative side in me and I ended up replacing the shaved ice and palm sugar syrup with palm sugar and lime granita. I stayed true to the original, except for the addition of lime.

The uniqueness of this dessert lies in the green mung bean jelly noodles. Traditionally, the Malay version is made with only mung bean flour (also called green pea /bean flour in Malaysia 绿豆粉). This is based on the findings of my research with a collection of Malaysian cookbooks that were printed in the 60s and 70s.

However, many different variations have sprouted, the most common variation seems to be a 50:50 mix of mung bean flour and rice flour, and some with tapioca flour. The addition of rice flour and tapioca flour results in a more dense and chewy texture. I personally prefer the former version as it gives a lighter, slightly bouncy and toothsome texture which is the perfect companion for the salty creamy coconut milk and the sweet caramelised flavour of the palm sugar granita with its slightly soury after taste from the lime.

You don't necessarily need a cendol mould to make these jelly noodles. In my case, I used a potato ricer with finer holes than the original cendol mould. You can even use an icing piping bag with a tiny tip or simply use a thick food storage / freezer bag with a corner cut off. The flour is mixed with pandan flavoured water, boiled until thickened and then slowly piped over a big bowl of ice water. It's not difficult to make them at home and good fun to make with kids.

That's all from me today. My next post will be a gluten free tart that is inspired by the ingredients of this classic Malaysian dessert: coconut, mung bean, pandan and palm sugar. I will write more about mung bean, a healthy and versatile ingredient that is used in a lot of Asian cooking.

Cendol Recipe
Serves 4

Ingredients

Palm sugar and lime granita:
150g palm sugar
2tbsp caster sugar
500ml water
2 tbsp lime juice (optional)

Mung bean 'drops' noodles:
3 pandan leaves, cut into small chunks
500ml water
80g Mung bean flour (available from Asian grocers)
Green food colouring (optional)
Ice water

Salted coconut milk:
400g coconut milk
Pinch of salt

Method

1. To make Palm Sugar and Lime Granita: Add palm sugar, caster sugar and water in a saucepan and boil until sugar has melted. Continue to simmer for 2-3 minutes until syrupy. Add lime juice (if using) and mix well.
2. Pour the mixture into a baking tray and cool.
3. Once the mixture is cooled to room temperature, pour the mixture into a baking tray and place it in the freezer.
4. Remove the tray from fridge after 1 hour and grate it with a fork. Repeat the process every 30 minutes for 3 hours until crystals have formed.
5. Leave the granita in the freezer for a few more hours.
6. To make Mung Bean Jelly Noodles: Blend pandan leaves and water in a blender. Put the mixture through a fine sieve, squeeze to extract all juice from the pandan leaves.
7. Mix mung bean flour with pandan juice in a saucepan. Stir well until all flour are dissolved in the juice.
8. Heat the mixture on low heat. Keep stirring until the mixture has thickened.

   

9. Remove from heat and fill the potato ricer (or cendol mould or piping bag) with the thickened mixture.
10. Hold it above a big bowl of ice water. Gently press the mixture through the holes, letting the noodles drop into the ice water.

    

11. Do not press too fast or too hard, so it can allow the gravity to drag it down to form the 'tails' shape noodles. Keep the noodles in the ice water and set aside until needed.

    

12. To make Salted Coconut Milk: Add pinch of salt to the coconut milk. Stir to mix well. Chill in refrigerator.
13. To serve: Divide the mung bean 'drops' noodles into 4 glasses. Pour in the salted coconut milk and top up with palm sugar and lime granita.

    

14. Serve immediately.