Ondeh-Ondeh in 3 flavour （椰丝球）

Today made a popular dessert in Malaysia, “Ondeh Ondeh”, a type of Nyonya recipe. It is also called “Buah Melaka” because it looks like the fruit of the Malacca tree.

The procedure of making is easy. The flavoured glutinous rice balls have grated fresh coconut on the outside and melting Gula Melaka, or palm sugar, inside. The white, milky coconut shreds and little balls of various colours appear fresh and natural. and has a charming appearance.

The glutinous rice balls, soft glutinous and chewy are determined by the amount of water and cooking time. The softer the rice balls, the more water and more time it boiled. We like our coconut shreds to be moist and crisp, the melted Gula Melaka to be rich and flavorful, and the texture to be somewhat mushy and sticky. It seems like the nostalgic flavour of my childhood is returning.

In addition to the traditional pandan flavour, I have included instructions for making it with sweet potatoes and pumpkin. Of all the flavours of "ondeh-ondeh," I'm particularly fond of pumpkin. However, due to its more moisture content and soft texture, it is also the trickiest to make. Therefore, you may need to add the liquid slowly and adjust it using the rice flour if the dough is too soft. If you use purple sweet potatoes, you may need to add more water when making the dough because the mashed purple sweet potatoes  have a rather dry feel, especially after cooling.

 

INGREDIENTS

PANDAN ondeh ondeh ingredients

73g pandan juice (10g pandan leaves + 90g water)

125 glutinous rice flour

25g sugar

20g water

1 tsp cooking oil

PUMPKIN ondeh-ondeh ingredients

100g steamed and mashed pumpkin

150g glutinous rice flour

½ tbsp oil

90ml water (add in slowly and pumpkin contain more water)

PURPLE sweet potato ondeh-ondeh ingredients

100g steamed and mashed purple sweet potato

150g glutinous rice flour

½ tbsp oil

120ml water (might be more)

FILLING

150g Gula Melaka or Palm sugar (about ¼ tsp or 2g each)

COATING

200g grated coconut

1 pitch of salt

 

METHOD

1. Steam grated coconut and salt together with pandan leaves on medium high heat for 10 minutes. Set it aside.

2. Minced the palm sugar until it is firm when packed.

3. Combine the pandan leaves and water. Blend until a fine pulp. Squeeze the pandan pulp and sieve out the 73g pandan juice.

4. Combine the glutinous rice flour and sugar in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture, add in the pandan juice slowly because you might not need to add in all the liquid. At this point, the flour mixture will look a bit dry, you may add in the 20g water slowly, stir and mix until you can knead it into a slightly hard tiny crack dough. Add in the cooking oil and knead until a smooth dough.

5. For pumpkin and purple sweet potato dough – in two mixing bowls, combine the glutinous rice flour with mashed pumpkin and purple sweet individually.  Add in the oil and water slowly, knead it well into a smooth dough.

Note: In case the dough is too soft and sticky, add in some glutinous rice flour.

6. Pinch a small amount of dough from each flavour dough, roll it in your palm to form a small ball, about 20g per piece.

7. Make a small well in the canter of the small ball and fill it with chopped palm sugar. Pinch dough to seal, roll into small ball again.

8. Ready a pot of boiling water and drop the small balls into the pot and cook until it floats. Remove them and let it gently coat with the steamed grated coconut. And it’s ready to serve.