Cendol Bandung

One of my favourite desserts from sweet childhood in Jakarta. The watery dessert consists of the cendol itself, (the green wormy stuffs), coconut milk and Kinca (palm sugar). But I honestly forget how and where I tasted this for the first time. I read from wikipedia that it is originally from Java. I was quite surprised because I was quite sure that it is from China. But anyway, who can trust wikipedia when a lot of citations are needed for each phrase? :)

There are several kinds of Cendol, but the one that I like is the one which is sold by street hawker in Jakarta, not the one from Bandung. I am not quite sure the difference between the two (as you can see my knowledge about the history or the food of my own country is very shallow), I think it is the flour used (either mung bean or rice flour), and in Bandung they use tiny bits of jack fruit.

Too bad that I am not good in reading recipes. I cannot dilute the flour, as in the beginning it tasted very floury (starchy) like the flour does not want to dissolve. The original recipe is posted on this site (in indonesian), it is not bad at all. Did I use the wrong flour or what? Maybe what she meant was sticky rice flour? Because it does not work in the beginning i had to use my hand mixer to mix the dough evently. Then I tried to contact her by clicking the “contact” link, but it leads me to nowhere. I did not use the jack fruit thing, as I don't have it. I added a pandanus leaf, as I explained before, I like the effect of this magic leaf. This one is cendol bandung, altough i dont like it, but any cendol type is o.k for an indonesian woman who is madly in love with asian food like me.

Very tasty if consumed under a very hot sunny day.

Cendol

• 125 gr rice flour
• 1 tbs tapioca flour
• 250 ml water
• 1/2 tsp salt
• a drop of green food colorant
  

Coconut Milk

• 400 ml coconut milk
• 2 tbs sugar

Kinca (palm sugar)

• 50 gr red brown (palm) sugar
• 100 ml water
• 1 tps maizena, dissolve with a little big of the water.

Utensil:
A Cendol most (you can use your big colander made from metal, which have big holes inside, like this):


How to Make the:
Cendol

1. Mix the flour, and disolve with part of the water.
2. Boil the rest of the water, add the dough, stir well using medium fire, drop the food colorant.
3. In a big salad bowl, put water and ice glass inside.
4. Position the colander above the bowl, and drop all of the cendol dough inside, and press using a big spoon to make all the dough pass, and fall inside the bowl. Drain the water, set aside.

Coconut Milk

1. boil all of the ingredients, cool it in the fridge.
2. Mix the cendol and the coconut milk.

Kinca
Boil water and brown sugar. Add the maizena to the consistency, stir very fast, switch of the fire. Chill.

Serve all the three main ingredients: Cendol, Kinca and coconut milk in a glass.