of peranakan desserts

i remembered the last time i made onde onde was during my internship in shanghai when we started missing the local fare back home and the desserts. since i made these fellers before back in singapore, no harm making them in shanghai when we chance upon pandan leaves in the supermarket at the portman ritz carlton.

the pandan leaves were expensive mine you and we have to use every portion of them. but with the approaching winter and the low humidity levels in shanghai, the balls arn't as chewy and soft as those made here. ohhh and yes, since we couldn't fnd freshly grated coconut in shanghai, i dusted them generously with dessicated coconut.

life is full of surprises and when baking one may simple chance upon new possibilities and dessicated coconut is one of those many. fresh grated coconut has a light taste while dessicated coconut has a more developed and full bodied aroma and taste. however they make onde onde look more like coconut macarons.

i adore onde onde with pure gula malaka fillings rather then the ones filled with grated coconut cooked in the palm sugar. i always attempt to place more gula malaka into the balls as once they melt during the cooking, its will knock you off your feet when you bite into them. i make them small enough to pop them whole, so that the liquid gula malaka will make an exploding entrance.

while making the dough, i realised that it is easier to roll them into balls and later add the filling if the dough is a little drier rather then just nice. kneading and handling the dough will make it stickier and the chances of the ball tearing a hole is higher. once it's round and nice roll them no more.

gosh i think i am gonna break down from exhaustion one of these days, working during the weekdays and when the weekends arrive, its late nights and early mornings all for the sake of playing and baking.