ondeh ondeh

managed to make ondeh ondeh today. love the end result! here's the recipe...

ingredients for the filling

120g gula melaka (use the melaka version for more oophm) 

preparing the filling

actually, you do not need much preparation. simply use a knife to cut the gula melaka blocks into small pieces. place it in a bowl and set aside for the filling once the skin is prepared

ingredients for the coating

120g dehusked shredded coconut (about half a fresh coconut, get it from the wet market)

dash of sea salt (to taste)

3-4 pandan leaves sliced in the centre and cut into segments of about 10cm length (about 3-4 segments per leaf)

preparing the coating

put coconut into a plate, mix well with the salt, spread the pandan leaves and steam over boiling water for about 15min. set aside to cool and to coat the ondeh ondeh. you can add more salt if you find it not salty enough after it cooled down.

ingredients for the skin

200g mashed sweet potato (i used about 4 medium-sized japanese sweet potato, deskin, boil and then mash them in a bowl)

200g glutinous rice flour (200g is a gauge, i use my heart to gauge, about 1:1 volume portion is about right, use more glutinous rice flour if you want the ondeh ondeh skin to be softer)

100ml icy cold water (again, i use my heart to gauge base on the texture of the dough, but 80-100ml is about right)

10-15g of white sugar (optional, for me, i did not use this as i felt the gula melaka filling is sweet enough)

1 tablespoon of pandan paste (you can get this essence & colouring from the shop. admittedly, i was too lazy to extract my own pandan essence)

preparing the skin

in a bowl, mix flour with sweet potato until resembles coarse crumbs. as the sweet potato i used was not fully mashed, i made use of this opportunity to further break the unmashed sweet potato. well, do note that you should allow the sweet potato to fully cool down before mashing them with your finger tips. once the mixing is about done, it should feel somewhat dry and flaky. add the cold water, bit by bit (perhaps about 3-4 tablespoon each time), as you knead the mixture. repeat the process of adding water and kneading until you get a dough-like consistency. you get a sense of its readiness when it is does not stick to the inside of the bowl and feels somewhat pliable. once done, add the pandan essence and continue to knead until you get a nice green colour all round. break dough into small portions (about 20cent size) and set dough aside under a piece of damp towel to prevent them from drying up.

making the ondeh ondeh

using a piece of the dough, shape it into a small cup, place into this cup (some call it bowl-shape), place a small amount of gula melaka into the dough and carefully pinch the edges to close the ondeh ondeh. shape it into a ball, carefully making sure all the edges are fully seals to prevent the gula melaka from leaking. important point to note here is that the dough must be cool and not warm. warm dough will cause the gula melaka to melt! place the completed ball under the damp towel and repeat process for all the other dough.

cooking the ondeh ondeh

to cook the ondeh ondeh, make sure you have a wok of boiling water. place the ondeh ondeh carefully into the wok. make sure it is boiling or you risk having the ondeh ondeh sticking to the bottom of the wok. once the ondeh ondeh is cooked (you will know it is cooked once you see it float up to the surface), remove it from the boiling water and immediately place the cooked ondeh ondeh into a pot of icy cold water. do this process gently to prevent the ondeh ondeh from breaking. the icy cold water is to quickly harden the gula melaka inside and to harden the skin quickly. to keep this process of cooking manageable, do the cooking in small batches and have lots of cold water on standby. remove from the cold water, drip dry the ondeh ondeh, sprinkle coconut onto it and serve.

enjoy!