Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Cendol Jelly/Agar Agar Cendol

Our Malaysian ladies gathering were having steamboat for lunch this month. Since it will be a hot meal I wanted to make something cooling for our dessert. It has been a while since I made any jelly so I decided to make some cendol jelly. Cendol is a street food dessert and its base flavors are coconut and palm sugar and of course the funky looking green strips of cendol. In Malaysian we are able to buy the readymade cendol from the wet market or supermarket but over here I can’t find any so I have to make it from scratch. For the cendol recipe you can refer to my previous posting here. The texture of this agar agar is great. Not too firm or overly sweet and with great flavor of the palm sugar and coconut milk. This recipe is adapted from Wendy’s blog with very minor changes in the ingredients and method of preparing it .




Ingredients for the bottom layer

750 ml water
150 - 170 grm sugar (depend on how sweet you like)
250 grm cendol
12.5 grm agar agar powder
2 pandan leaves – tie into knot
250 ml thick coconut milk
15 grm cornstarch
½ tsp salt

1. Mix the coconut milk, cornstarch, salt and set it aside. In a heavy sauce mix the water, pandan leaves and agar agar powder. Bring it up to boil. Turn down the heat and let it simmer for 2 minutes or until the agar agar powder dissolve. Add in the sugar. Stir until sugar dissolve.
2. Add in the coconut milk mixture and bring it up to boil. Remove from heat and pour it into a tray or any type of mould of your choice. Let the agar agar cool down for 5 minutes before sprinkle the cendol in (this way the cendol will sink to the bottom)
3. Prepare the top layer while waiting for the bottom layer to set.


Ingredients for the top layer

750 ml water
225 grm palm sugar – cut into small pieces
12.5 grm agar agar powder
2 pandan leaves – tie into a knot
250 grm thick coconut milk
½ tsp salt

1. Mix the salt into the coconut milk and set it aside. In a heavy saucepan bring the water, pandan leaves and agar agar powder to boil. Let it boil for 2 minutes or until agar agar powder dissolve.
2. Add in the palm sugar and continue to stir until sugar dissolve. Add in the coconut milk. Bring it up to boil again and turn off the heat.
3. When the bottom layer is almost set, slowly pour mixture through a sieve (there might be unwanted stuff in the palm sugar) to the bottom layer. Take care not to break through the surface of the bottom layer.
4. Chill the jelly in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight before serving.


Note: If the bottom layer is set, scratch the surface with a fork before pouring in the top layer mixture. My cendol is kind of light in color so  you can't see it too well at the bottom layer of the jelly.

I am submitting this Agar Agar Cendol to Muhibbah Malaysia Monday
For more details please refer here

25 comments:

Mat Gebu said...

Waaaa...cantiknyaaa.....

Shirley @ Kokken69 said...

Gert, the jellies look really good. And the exotic cendol flavour is so appropriate for you Malaysian ladies..

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

cendol and palm sugar jelly, must be very fragrant.

WendyinKK said...

Gert,
Thanks for trying this out.
Hope it will be well recieved.
Oh you like the cendol to "not float", hehe.
And I was dying to make it float.
Different people different preference.
I like how dark your palm sugar is. Looks that it's of a much better quality than mine.

Healthy and Homemade said...

You are so talented! These look beautiful.

Pete said...

I love chendol for desert too. Wah, nice agar agar

My Little Space said...

Hm...mm.. I love cendol too! Yours look so delicious. Btw, I like it cold. haha.... Thanks so much for sharing. Have a great day!
Kristy

Unknown said...

Too pretty to eat if you ask me :)

mekar said...

comei nya cendol tu.

Cheah said...

Without doubt they're just beautiful, nice colour combination and should taste heavenly!

mycookinghut said...

Looks really good! I have never tasted this combo before!

Cooking Gallery said...

These look very pretty...!! And I am sure they're as yummy as they look!

tigerfish said...

I definitely like Cendol cos of the gula melaka...and your agar agar is just that :)

Bakericious said...

I started to like chendol, so this definitely tempt me :)

Zoe said...

very interesting way to eat agar agar and chedol...

Lisa Ho said...

cendul... yum
Jelly...yum..
superb... 2 in 1.. thanks :)

Aunty Liew said...

I love agar-agar. Your's one really looks so pretty and yummy.

Shereen said...

Gert,
J's ex piano teacher made this for us when we went back home recently..so tak payah la I buat for a year.Dah puas I makan...lol!Yours look so cantik..steamboat pun I dah makan...so no more cravings for the time being:)

Jeannie said...

Wow! your jelly too beautiful to eat!

Quinn said...

They look really lovely unlike the normal typical diamond shape jelly....I am sure they taste great too...it's been a while I last had these...now either I make my own cendol or buy some but I will need to find hard..

ICook4Fun said...

Mat, thank you.

Shirley, thank you. Yes the ladies do like the agar agar :)

Sonia, yes especially the fragrant of palm sugar.

Wendy, thanks for sharing the recipe. I actually like the cendol to float that is why I add it in only when the mixture cool down a bit rather than adding it in when cooking. I used the palm sugar from Indonesia and they are darker.

Healty and Homemade, thank you.

Pete, thanks.

Kristy, me too :)

Jennifurla, thank you.

ICook4Fun said...

Mekar, terima kasih.

Cheah, thanks.

Leemei, taste just like the cendol dessert :)

Cooking Gallery, thank you.

Tigerfish, it is all about the gula melaka :)

Jess, ha ha go out and get some :)

Zoe, :)

Ho Ho Ho, yea 2 in 1.

Wai Kitt, thank you.

Shereen, you are back to NZ. How was a trip. I am sure you makan puas puas all the yummy food.

Jeannie, thank you.

Quinn, I am sure you can get it from the Malaysian restaurant there, right. Better still make some for youself. By the way, hope you are well and had a great time in Perth.

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Looked so pretty! Have been wanting to make this since I made it 2 years back. Indeed very nice and fragrant ...love it on a warm day, yum!

My Asian Kitchen said...

I always admire your skill making jello...I see you bought the cake mould from Msia...huh?

shaz said...

They look fantastic! And what a great idea for a flavour combination. Thanks for contributing to MM :)