Cendol (Malaysian Pandan Jelly Dessert Drink)

About This Recipe

Cendol is the dessert drink that defines a Malaysian hot afternoon: a bowl piled with crushed ice, drowned in cold coconut milk, striped with gula melaka (palm sugar) syrup, and threaded through with vivid green cendol noodles — soft, worm-like strands of rice flour gel flavored and colored with fresh pandan. The interplay of temperatures and textures makes it extraordinary: the coconut milk is cold and rich, the ice chips refreshing, the cendol noodles tender and fragrant, and the gula melaka provides a deep caramel-toffee sweetness. Penang cendol is considered the benchmark — richer in coconut milk and more generous with palm sugar than versions found elsewhere in Malaysia. Making cendol from scratch requires only a colander with large holes to extrude the hot rice flour dough into cold water, where it sets instantly into vivid green noodles.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 100 grice flour
• 1 tbspmung bean starch or green pea flour
• 200 mlfresh pandan juice (10 pandan leaves blended with 200ml water, strained)
• 0.25 tspsalt
• 150 ggula melaka (palm sugar block), chopped
• 100 mlwater (for sugar syrup)
• 1pandan leaf, knotted (for sugar syrup)
• 400 mlgood-quality coconut milk, chilled
• 0.25 tspsalt (for coconut milk)
• 8 cupsshaved ice or crushed ice
• 200 gcooked red beans (canned, drained), optional

Instructions

1. 1

   Make pandan juice

   Blend pandan leaves with water, strain through fine cloth, squeezing hard to extract maximum color and flavor.

2. 2

   Cook the cendol dough

   Whisk rice flour, mung bean starch, pandan juice, and salt in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens into a sticky, glossy dough that pulls away from the sides, about 5-7 minutes.

   The dough must be very thick or the noodles will disintegrate in water.

3. 3

   Press into cold water

   Half-fill a large bowl with cold water and ice. Immediately press the hot dough through a colander with 5mm holes held over the cold water. The noodles set instantly.

4. 4

   Rinse and drain

   Scoop cendol from the cold water with a strainer. Rinse with cold water, drain, and refrigerate until assembly.

5. 5

   Make gula melaka syrup

   Simmer palm sugar, water, and pandan leaf over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves into a thick syrup, about 5 minutes. Strain and cool.

6. 6

   Season coconut milk

   Stir 0.25 tsp salt into chilled coconut milk — salt prevents it from tasting flat against the sweet elements.

7. 7

   Assemble and serve

   Fill each bowl with shaved ice. Add cendol noodles and red beans. Pour cold coconut milk over. Drizzle gula melaka syrup generously. Serve immediately.

Variations

• •

  Penang cendol: extra generous coconut milk, more palm sugar syrup, with sweetened kidney beans.

• •

  Cendol ais krim: add a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

Storage

Cendol noodles keep refrigerated in cold water up to 2 days. Palm sugar syrup keeps refrigerated up to 2 weeks. Always assemble just before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions