It was during my Yin Yoga Teacher’s Training in Jakarta that I fell in love with Chendol. They call it Cendol in Indonesia. They had a housewife to cook us lunch and tea break daily and on one of the days, there was Es Cendol. It was very simple – just the green stuff in gula melaka flavoured coconut milk but it was divine. The best thing I ever tasted! I was unfortunately suffering from food poisoning at that time but I still risked my life to try it, and went for seconds (well, it’s dairy free so why not? haha).
Obviously store bought chendol green stuff in Singapore is horrid beyond words, so I tried making it myself! After 3 tries, I finally got something that’s not bad.
Before you start, here’s what you need:
- Mung bean flour – available from Phoon Huat
- A strainer with many holes around 5mm – very important. Anything with such holes work, be it metal or plastic.
Some recipes calls for a mixture of flours – rice flour, glutinous rice flour, corn starch etc. This was my 3rd attempt and I actually used 75% mung bean flour and 25% rice flour this time, but I think that 100% mung bean flour version which I tried it on my second attempt was better.
I recommend getting the Mung Bean flour from Phoon Huat, but if it’s too inconvenient for you, a variation is available at supermarkets like FairPrice.
Also known as Hun Kwee, this stuff is only $0.56 for 90g! But this one is green bean powder with vanilla flavour so it may not taste the same.
Chendol Green Stuff
Ingredients:
15 Pandan leaves
650ml Water
100g Mung Bean flour
1/2 tsp alkaline water
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp sugar
Method:
- Chop up pandan leaves and blend it with 650ml water until pandan colour and flavour has been well extracted. Strain away the pulp and squeeze.
- In a pot, place 625 – 650ml of pandan extract water water sieved mung bean flour, alkaline water, salt and sugar. Mix well and let it set aside.
- Heat up the mixture and constantly stir until mixture thickens and turn translucent.
- Fill a big bowl with ice and cold water. Take some of the green translucent paste and press it through the sieve with holes into the iced water. Repeat until all are used up.
- Strain away the water and keep the green stuff in the fridge until ready to use.
Beautiful natural colours and flavours in here!
Chendol served 2 ways – Es Cendol cup and Jade Chendol Jelly.
I love how these look like jade! The top layer is coconut milk with natural green pandan extract while the bottom layer is gula melaka coconut. It’s essentially the same stuff as what goes into the cup of Es Cendol!
Hungry Bird 