KLEPON/ONDE ONDE
INDONESIA | MALAYSIA
Klepon in Indonesia and onde onde in Malaysia, these sweet-salty rice flour balls filled with palm sugar and garnished with shredded coconut are totally addictive. I first had them in Banda Aceh, at Mita Sugesty’s house. It was Ramadan and even though the family was all fasting, Mita insisted that I should taste her mother’s klepon, which she made there and then for me to see how they were prepared. Mita’s mother used fresh pandan leaf to color her cakes but you may not find this, in which case use pandan paste, and if neither is available, use a natural green food coloring to impart the pale green color that is so typical of these rice balls.
SERVES 4 TO 6
1 pandan leaf or 2 to 3 drops pandan paste
1⅔ cups (250 g) glutinous rice flour
½ teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
1 cup (150 g) crumbled palm sugar
1 cup (75 g) desiccated shredded coconut, for garnish
1. Break the pandan leaf (if you have it) in two and put it to steep in 1 cup (250 ml) water. Add the pandan paste drops and stir until the water is a deep green. Remove pandan leaf, if using.
2. Mix the rice flour and salt in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Add the pandan-colored water little by little and mix until you have a soft, pastel-green dough.
3. Pinch a little dough and roll into a ball the size of a walnut. With a finger, make an indent in the middle of the ball of dough and put 1 teaspoon of crumbled palm sugar in the hole. Pinch the dough together to close and roll again into a ball, making sure there are no gaps from which the palm sugar can ooze out as you boil the klepon. Place on a large platter and make the remaining klepon in the same way.
4. Put the coconut in a bamboo steamer or a steamer basket lined with cheesecloth and steam for 10 to 15 minutes, or until softened. Spread on a medium platter to make a bed of shredded coconut to place the klepon on. Sprinkle very lightly with salt.
5. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Working in batches, drop as many balls of klepon as will fit comfortably in the pot and boil for 4 to 5 minutes, or until the balls float. When they do, let them boil for another 30 seconds or so, then transfer to the bed of shredded coconut. Roll the balls to coat with coconut and remove to a large serving platter.
6. Serve warm while the palm sugar is still melted inside.