NAAB VAAM: Tapioca-Cendol-Coconut Dessert (Take 2)

Instructions

1. 1) COCONUT SYRUP

2. Place the palm sugar in a pot with 1 cup of water. Place lid on top. Melt the sugar on low heat until fully dissolve. Once melted, add in the coconut milk, pandan leaves, and salt. Stir and let it simmer on low (but not to a boil) for 5-10minutes to allow the pandan leaf to infuse itself to the coconut syrup base. Turn off heat and let it cool before serving.

3. 2) MAKING THE CENDOL 

4. In a blender, add in the chopped up Pandan leaves and water. Blend until the Pandan leaves are well blended. Strain over a bowl and squeeze out any excess liquid from the pandan leaves. Then discard the unwanted Pandan leaves. You now have pandan water. There should be a total of 6.5 cups of pandan water.

5. In a pot, add in the mung bean starch, rice flour, sugar, salt, and the pandan water. Mix and then add in the pandan extract. Mix and check for color. If you want more green add a little bit more.

6. Let's cook: Cook the batter on medium high heat for about 8-10 minutes while stirring all the way through. It is important to keep stirring as you cook so the starches to settle to the bottom and burn. The cooking process will take about 8-10 or more minutes to fully thicken the batter. Once it has thicken, keep stirring and mixing until the color becomes translucent (about 1-2 minutes of cooking after it has thicken). Turn off heat and check the consistency. Scoop a little and if you have a nice tail hanging out of the spoon you are good to go.

7. Place the cendol press above a bucket of ice water and pour the batter in. Have someone help you hold the press if you don't have anything to hold it over the ice water. I used pvc pipes to put through the handle and placed it on top of the bucket of ice. Then press the batter down until it is used up. The longer you press, the longer the cendol will be. The shorter you press, the shorter the cendol will be. So it is up to you.

8. You are now done! Let it sit in cold water to retain the shape. Serve when needed. Enjoy!****WHAT IF I CAN'T FIND FRESH PANDAN LEAVES? I suggest starting with 2 tsp of pandan extract/flavoring and work your way up to 1 Tbsp. You can more or less if you notice it's too strong or not strong enough in terms of taste and color.

9. 3) COOKING THE TAPIOCA PEARLS 

10. In a pot, add in 3 quarts of water. Let it come to a boil. Then add in the tapioca pearls and stir. Stir and boil for 5 minutes. Then turn off heat, cover the pot with a lid and let it sit in the hot water for 10-15 minutes. After 10-15 minutes, the pearl will double in size and become clear. Strain and rinse the pearls with cold water. Separate the pearls into two batches. Color one batch red and the other yellow/orange or color of choice. Set aside. ***Add water to the pearls to prevent it from sticking to each other.

11. 4) OTHER TOPPINGS 

12. Prepare other toppings if desire.