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