Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Agar Agar Gula Melaka /Palm Sugar Jelly


It has been a while since I make Jelly. Actually this is Diana’s favorite agar agar but since she can’t visit me every month now so I hardly make any of it. Anyway, we are having some pretty warm weather and in the time like this I like to make something cooling to cool myself down.

So what is gula Melaka? Gula melaka, otherwise known in English as Palm Sugar or 'Malacca Sugar' originated from Melaka (Malacca) a historical state in Malaysia. Palm sugar is made from the sap of the flower bud of a coconut tree which then boiled until thickened and packed into bamboo tubes forming its cylindrical shape. The colour varies from dark brown to a light golden colour. It is widely used in South East Asia to flavour desserts. When cook it water it will give a rich dark caramel and butterscotch flavors.



Ingredients:
Recipe from Malaysian Cake and Dessert by Rohani Jelani

500 ml (2 Cups) Water
150 g Palm Sugar, roughly chopped
3 tsp Agar-Agar Powder
1 Pandan Leaf, tied into a knot
300 ml (1 ¼ Cups) Coconut Milk
Pinch of salt


1. Place water, sugar, agar-agar powder and pandan leaf in a roomy pan and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer until agar-agar powder completely dissolves, about 8 minutes
2. Remove pandan leaf. Stir in the salt into the coconut milk and pour this into the jelly mixture. Return the mixture to the heat and bring it up to a boil and turn off the heat immediately.
3. Pour the jelly into a glass dish or jelly mould and leave undisturbed until set. When cool, chill the jelly in the refrigerator. The jelly should separate nicely into 2 layers-a clear palm sugar layers and a coconut layer. Remove from mould, cut and serve cold.


I am submitting this post to Malaysian Food Fest ( Malacca Month ) hosted by Cindy of yummylittlecooks.

I am also submitting this dish to to Muhibbah Malaysian Monday roundup, created and hosted by Sharon of Test with a Skewer and Suresh of 3 Hungry Tummies.

36 comments:

Joceline Lor said...

Well done!I like this so much。
Thanks for sharing~

Little Corner of Mine said...

So pretty and I know this is hor jiak, love the flavor of coconut milk and gula melaka!

ann low said...

Look very pretty jellies. Yes is very hot over here too and must make more cooling desserts to cool us down.

Shereen said...

You are serious that when it''s cool, it will separate?Wow, cool! sounds like my kind of jelly!No need to do one layer at a time..hehe,so lazy me!!!

Yoong said...

Summer is just round the corner for us...so this is a must try for me - seems magical that it will separate into 2 layers when chilled.

Yummy Bakes said...

I also made this 2 weeks ago. First time, the sugar and coconut milk didnt separate but 2nd time I succeeded. :)

Veronica said...

Palm sugar and coconut milk are made in heaven. This is the best jellies for summertime.

Edith said...

You make these so pretty.

Linda said...

This is so yummy! I love any food that goes with palm sugar! :D

ICook4Fun said...

Joceline, thank you.

LCOM, yes they are great combinations.

Ann, thank you. Yes it is great to have something sweet and cooling in the hot weather :)

Shereen, yes, it will separate on its own. Try it out.

Yoong, ya the coconut milk it lighter and it will float to the top.

Yummy Bakes, yes I saw yours and it looks great.

Veronica, yes match made in heaven :)

Edith, thank you.

Linda, me too :)

PH said...

I love agar-agar and this one with Gula Melaka must be very good. I would love to try this recipe.

lena said...

just few days ago i saw yummy bakes making a two layer agar2, was quite amazed at the method. Yours look very pretty too, the 2 layers are very well defined.

Joyce said...

Hi! I have try but the sugar and coconut milk didnt separate, why???? Thanks.

Unknown said...

Excellent. It separated beautifully. Thanx so much for d recipe. Can't wait to chill it n test d final jelly.

Anonymous said...

How many serve is that for the above mentioned recipe?

Anonymous said...

this isnt from malaysia but from indonesia and these always cooked by many people from asian

ICook4Fun said...

Anon, I am talking about gula Melaka and not talking about the jelly is from Malaysia. All dessert in SEA has similarity in many ways.

happyichigo♥ said...

Thank you for sharing the recipe..! I wish to try too..may i know how do you cut the jelly so beautifully?

ICook4Fun said...

Happyichico, I used a knife specially for cutting jelly. You can get it from bakery supply store

Mae said...

Can you please advice the measurements for I have the original packet strands of agar agar at home now only....

ICook4Fun said...

Mae, I used the powder type so I can't advice you on the strand type. Sorry.

Anonymous said...

Hi, I'm looking to try out this recipe, but it doesn't seem to mention when to add the gula melaka.

ICook4Fun said...

Anon, gula Melaka is sugar. Is written in point 1.

Anonymous said...

When you pour in the coconut milk and bring it to boil does it , do you give the mixture a stir.
How come I only end up with a thin layer of gula Melaka and a thick layer of the coconut.

ICook4Fun said...

Anon, yes you need to stir it and then bring it up to boil and turn off the heat. I am not sure why that happen to your jelly. It might the coconut milk you used.

Susan said...

Tks for sharing the recipe. The jelly I made separated nicely but I too ended with a thicker layer of coconut and a thinner layer of gula Melaka.

Anonymous said...

Mine didn't set at all :( so I added more agar agar powder which I diluted with hot water and added o the mix and still it did not set. And I have a thin layer of gula Melaka and thicker layer of coconut. Will try a different brand of coconut milk net time.

Anonymous said...

may i know how much g for the agar agar powder? thank u

joycejustin2005 said...

Look so delicious and the colour is good. Will try to make them. Thank you for sharing all yr recipes.

rachel yee said...

I'm still wondering how to do two layer

Anonymous said...

Same here with some of you. The sugar/liquid and the coconut did not split into two layer at all. Is it because I used agar2 strands and not powdered type?

Anonymous said...

I used Ayam brand coconut milk (cholesterol free) but the mixture did not separate too. I think is cause the coconut milk is too thick? What coconut milk to recommend?

New Man said...

Thank you, gonna try

Jennifer said...


I made this jelly today,as it is so humid in Australia. Thanks for sharing this recipe. Best jelly ever, Just used 135g of gula melaka instead of the full 150g.

Anonymous said...

Looks like a few of us have the same problem.. thick layer of coconut and thin layer of gula Melaka.. I'm also wondering y?? Made it twice, 2nd time I reduced the coconut milk, it was a bit better, but not half/ half..

ICook4Fun said...

Anon, I am not sure why yours didn't separate, I used can coconut milk here and it did split.