The Cendol: An Emblematic Dessert Of Malaysia
If you travel to Malaysia, don't miss to taste the cendol, one of the most emblematic desserts of the country! This local specialty, still unknown outside Southeast Asia, is worth trying, especially since it provides a welcome coolness on hot tropical days.
What is cendol?
It was during a trip to Malaysia at a restaurant in the city of Malacca that I first ate cendol.
This specialty, whose name can be spelled chendol or chendul, is sometimes presented as a drink. But the version I was able to taste was more like a cup of ice cream.
This iconic dessert indeed consists of very thin crushed ice or shaved ice served with green pandan jelly vermicelli and (sometimes) red azuki beans, drizzled with coconut milk and gula melaka (a palm sugar syrup).
Where does cendol come from?
In Malaysia, cendol is usually touted as the country's signature dessert. In fact, you can find them everywhere, in restaurants as well as in street food stalls and in Malacca I literally saw them on every corner!
However, the exact origin of chendol is controversial as this dessert can be found under different names throughout Southeast Asia. It is sometimes attributed to be invented in Singapore without any historical source to prove it...
Indonesians claim that this dessert is a derivative of their dawet, a drink made with the same ingredients as chendul, but without the crushed ice...
This type of dessert drink is also found in Vietnam as banh lot, in Burma as mont let saung and in Thailand as lot chong.
What is the recipe for cendol?
In Malaysia, cendol is usually served with crushed ice, making it a particularly refreshing dessert on hot days.
But this is not always the case in neighboring Southeast Asian countries, as I explained above.
With or without shaved ice, chendol usually consists of the same basic ingredients:
- coconut milk
- palm sugar called gula melaka in Malaysia
- and most importantly gelled vermicelli made from rice flour and tapioca starch, colored green thanks to pandan leaves (a local shrub whose leaves are used to color and flavor desserts in Southeast Asia).
Actually, it's these funny neon green vermicelli that Malaysians call 'cendol'. To obtain them, a gelatinous paste is prepared from pandan leaf juice, rice flour and tapioca starch.
This jelly is then passed through a kind of potato masher with holes to get the shape of the vermicelli and dropped into ice water, as seen in the video below.
The vermicelli are then rinsed and seasoned with coconut milk and palm sugar syrup
The dessert I tried in Malacca at the restaurant also had small sweet red beans (presumably Japanese azuki beans). This is often the case in Malaysia even though this ingredient is not always included in the recipe.
In Malaysia, there are also many variations of this dessert, for example a durian or mango chendul with crushed ice, coconut milk, fresh fruit pieces and fruit syrup...
How to taste the cendol ?
Depending on where you buy it, cendol can be served in a bowl or in a large glass, with or without crushed ice.
As I explained above, you can find different variants with additional ingredients such as corn or exotic fruits ...
Nevertheless, I recommend you to first taste the 'classic' version simply topped with gula melaka to appreciate the taste of this palm sugar with caramel flavors and the particular texture of the chendul vermicelli.
The funny thing is that the texture of this dessert changes as you taste it. As I tasted the iced version, with a healthy dose of shaved ice, my dessert initially had a much nicer snowy texture than our granitas.
But, as the ice cream melted, my dessert took on a sweet soup-like texture with azuki beans and rice vermicelli floating around.
One last note: if you have the opportunity to taste real Malaysian chendol, don't be put off by the neon green color of the vermicelli! This amazing hue is achieved through the juice of pandan leaves which is a natural dye.
