
ONDEH ONDEH
Ingredients:
200g Glutinous Rice Flour
100g Gula Melaka/Gula Jawa
100g Fresh Pandan Leaves
150ml Fresh Coconut Milk
100g Grated Coconut
Pinch of Salt Water
Method:
1. Make the pandan-coconut milk juice
Cut pandan leaves into thin strips and place into a blender. Pour in the coconut milk and blend until fine. Next, use a cheese cloth or a strainer and squeeze out the juice. Note that the pandan leaves' fibres will not dissipate so the thinner the leaves are cut, the better. The resulting liquid should be a dull jade-green.
2. Mix the juice with glutinous rice flour
Using a spoon, stir in the pandan-coconut milk juice into a bowl containing the glutinous rice flour. Once the mixture starts to come together, knead it lightly until smooth. The texture should be similar to bread dough. If the flour is still too hard, add extra pandan-coconut milk juice by the tablespoon. Once done, form into the shape of a ball, cover and leave to rest as you prepare the next steps.
3. Prepare gula melaka/gula jawa
Place the gula melaka/gula jawa on a chopping board and cut into ½ inch cubes. The texture of the finished product depends on the type of gula melaka. If you prefer a runny centre, use soft, pliable gula melaka while those who prefer a crunchy texture in the middle should look out for a harder type.
4. Prepare grated coconut
Place the grated coconut on a dish, cover it slightly and microwave on high heat for one minute. This steams the coconut to cook it. Once done, sprinkle salt and stir till well-mixed. The grated coconut acts as a mildly savoury element to counter the sweetness of the centre.
5. Form balls
Return to the dough mix. Separate enough dough to form one-inch balls. Roll them into a sphere and make an indentation to place the gula melaka cubes. Once in place, roll into a complete ball, making sure that no part of the gula melaka is exposed or it will seep out during cooking. Note that each ball should ideally be bite-sized as the ondeh-ondeh’s molten centre will ooze out if it requires two bites.
6. Cook
Bring water in a deep pan to a boil. If you have any pandan-coconut milk juice remaining, pour it in, for extra flavour. Lower the balls in slowly, one at a time, and leave them in the rolling boil. Be sure to stir to stop the balls from sticking to the bottom of the pan. The ondeh-ondeh/klepon is ready once they float to the surface.
