One of the fun features of the opening of the Peranakan Museum was the BaBazaar and the performances put up by various groups. I'll probably go again just to catch a few more but this time around I was watching the chendol-making demonstration by Christopher Tan. Here's a short recap of how those little green worms are made.
Ingredients
40 Pandan Leaves
1.5l of water
150g Mung bean flour (apparently a Thai brand is best)
30g sago flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/8 teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate
Obviously, this will give you a whole mountain of chendol so it may be good to moderate the quantity at least for the first attempt.
Vital piece of kitchen equipment - a tray with little holes in it - a chendol making tray! Can't be found in Singapore, only in Penang. But apparently any tray with little holes in it will do.
Directions
Chop up the pandan leaves, and put them in a blender, top up with water. Pulverise the leaves, strain the water through a sieve. Top up the water further and repeat until you have got 1.5l of the green liquid.
Whisk in the mung bean flour, sago flour, salt and sodium bicarbonate. Let this stand for about 20 minutes or so.
Pour mixture into a broad based pan (like a deep frying pan) and put on a low flame. Stir mixture constantly, till it gets thick and glossy. This step takes about 15 minutes. Enjoy the aroma of pandan rising from the pan.
Taste the mixture to check whether the starch is cooked.
Prepare a large mixing bowl filled with ice and water. Put the chendol tray on top. Pour the mixture into the tray and quickly scrape the mixture through the holes so that it falls into the icy water and sets quickly. The mixture will set when it cools, so this step must be done quickly.
Scoop out the chendol from the tray of icy water - it's ready to put in the suntan and gula melaka.
Looks pretty simple, but then that's just watching someone else do it!
Other activities over the next two weekends - comedy skits, nonya fashion show, some print workshops, singing, music etc. Fun!
Does this make the bright green kind or the dull green kind? My mum likes the dull green kind because they absorb the coconut milk better in cendol. The kind you find in Penang.
ReplyDeleteooh, a project beckons for the domestic goddess wannabe!
ReplyDeleteMandy - this makes the dull green kind not the lurid radioactive worms commonly seen around here. The Penang version uses a different leaf (not pandan leaves) btw. But the worms turn out a similar colour to this one.
ReplyDeleteDGW - yes, that would certainly add a little variety to your blog...