Es Cendol
Learn how to make cendol with my step-by-step guide. Don't forget the pandan infused coconut milk and palm sugar syrup to enjoy your homemade ice cendol.
- Prep time
- 15 min
- Cook time
- 30 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 50-80 gram fresh/frozen pandan leaves
- 600 ml water
- 50 gram mung bean starch (Indonesian: tepung hun kwe)
- 50 gram cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon lye water (optional, but highly recommended)
- 120 gram rice flour (Indonesian: tepung beras)
- 30 gram tapioca starch (Indonesian: tepung sagu)
- 1 teaspoon lye water (optional, but highly recommended)
- 400 ml (1 can) coconut milk (Indonesian: santan)
- 2-3 pandan leaves, knotted
- a pinch of salt
- 200 gram palm sugar (Indonesian: gula Jawa) (*)
- 200 ml water
- 2-3 pandan leaves, knotted
- a pinch of salt
- crushed/shaved ice
Instructions
- 1
Pandan juice/extract
- 2
Wash and drain pandan leaves, then cut them into tiny strips with a pair of sciccors.
- 3
Place pandan leaves and water in a blender. Puree until the leaves becomes very finely shredded. The time will depend on the motor of your blender. It took about 30 seconds to 1 minute in my Ninja blender.
- 4
Strain over a fine-mesh strainer to get 600 ml pandan juice/extract.
- 5
Cendol (or Dawet)
- 6
Fill a soup pot with ice cold drinking cold water (and optionally, with some ice cubes). Place a steamer basket over the soup pot. Set aside.
- 7
Place pandan juice/extract and all the ingredients for cendol (or dawet if that's what you are making) in a sauce pot and stir until well mixed.
- 8
Turn on the heat to medium, cook and stir at all time until it bubbles vigorously and thickened into a paste (no standing water).
- 9
Lower the heat to low, stir for another 5 minutes to guarantee a thick and stiff paste. You will know it's right because your arm will definitely feel it while stirring.
- 10
Turn off the heat, transfer the paste to the prepared steamer basket.
- 11
Use a spatula to press the paste through the steamer basket holes until all the paste is now floating in the ice cold water inside the soup pot. The cendol/dawet paste should harden immediately and hold its shape. Set aside in the fridge to fully harden the paste, at least 1 hour.
- 12
Coconut milk
- 13
Place all coconut milk ingredients in a sauce pot and cook until the coconut milk starts to boil. Turn off the heat, and immediately remove the pan away from heat source.
- 14
Discard the pandan leaves, and pour into a clean jar/bowl.
- 15
Palm sugar syrup
- 16
Place all palm sugar syrup ingredients in a sauce pot and bring to a boil. Cook until all the sugar has dissolved.
- 17
Turn off heat, discard the pandan leaves, and strain to a clean jar/bowl.
- 18
Assemble ice cendol (or ice dawet)
- 19
In a drinking glass/a bowl, fill half way with crushed/shaved ice, top with cendol/dawet to almost full, ladle some coconut milk and palm sugar syrup. Enjoy with a spoon.