Whenever I happen to be around Malaysia I can’t resist the temptation to taste the excellent and refreshing cendol, a colorful cold dessert with a very sweet taste, made of shaved ice, coconut milk, palm sugar, topped with green jelly noodles made with rice flour and pandan leaf extract and beans.
At the beginning there was no the cold ingredient in the recipe, but since everyone started to use the refrigerator the ice has been added and used in every version of Cendol. The device traditionally used to mince it is a hand-cranked iron tool with a very elegant and artistic design (like the one in the picture below), even if today they prefer a more comfortable electric ice crusher.
Not all westerners I know appreciate this mixture of tastes, but I find it really interesting, the sweetness of the palm sugar blend perfectly with the coconut milk and it’s really pleasant especially thanks to the mountain of shaved ice that is poured into the cup, on a hot and humid day is the best you can hope for!
The cendol can be found in small bars where they serve only this specialty, in the various restaurants and at the street vendors stalls everywhere in the cities. Born in Southeast Asia, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia argue the first to has invented this dessert served also in Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar in slightly different variants.
Try it and do not be scared by the presence of beans in a dessert!
