The Making of a Cendol Snob: It's About the Gula, Stupid!

Before last weekend I could count on one hand the number of times I'd eaten cendol. Here we are, coming up on two years in Malaysia, and I'd partaken of the beloved Malaysian shaved ice treat exactly twice. Yes - I'd downed cendol, and I suppose I'd enjoyed it, but I just didn't get it, so it floated to the outer orbit of my must-eat Malaysian food universe and just stayed there.

And then there was gula.

You see, over the last year or so I've become an unbearable palm sugar snoot. As Dave and I traipsed around Malaysia and Sumatra researching palm sugar for a presentation we gave in April I honed my sugar tasting skills. I watched, listened, and learned from small-batch producers. I collected - and sampled - many kilos of gula (gula=sugar). I'm able to distinguish between mass-produced and artisan sugars and I can taste the difference between gula made from the sap drawn from at least four palm varieties.

Utterly useless skills - except when it comes to determining the difference between a good cendol and a great one.

Cendol is simple, just five ingredients in its most stripped-down form: shaved ice mounded over chewy pandan-flavored 'pasta', santan (coconut milk), a splash of condensed milk, and gula Melaka (coconut palm sugar named for the southern Malaysian city of Melaka, but produced all over Malaysia) syrup. Add-ins like sago pearls and red beans are optional.

Any dish this uncomplicated requires top-notch ingredients. There's not much variation in ice and condensed milk (some cendol fans will argue the latter point), but the pasta better be smooth, sturdy, and fragrant with pandan leaf, the coconut milk fresh, creamy, and undiluted with water, and the gula sourced from a producer who knows his or her way around a coconut palm patch.

Malaysian and Indonesian palm sugar is unlike any other sweetener - rich and complex, with a whole host of notes that go well beyond the realm of 'sweet'. Brown, dark brown, and muscovado sugars can't touch it. Nor can Thai or any of the other 'upper' Southeast Asian palm sugars. It must be tasted to be believed (unfortunately the good stuff isn't exported). It's the perfect partner for coconut in any form - and cendol's shaved ice provides the ideal backdrop for a palm sugar-coconut pairing.

Many of Melaka's cendol vendors sell bags of gula. I take this to indicate a certain amount of pride in one's ingredients. Some purchase their gula from small shops or distributors, but others go right to the source, buying directly from a small producer somewhere in the vicinity.

My tastiest cendol in Melaka was had by chance, at Makko Nyonya restaurant. Dave and I had stopped by to chat with Maureen, the owner, about her 23-year-old establishment and the food she serves there. Dining wasn't on the agenda for this visit (we'd just had our second breakfast) but Maureen greeted us with bowls of exquisite cendol. Everything about it was right: the coconut milk was so rich that melting ice barely made a dent; the red beans were large and cooked through but not mushy; and the noodles were toothsome and identifiably pandan-flavored. The smoky, butterscotchy gula syrup sent me into a swoon. We purchased a bag of sugar on the way out. I've been nipping from it all week, shaving off bits of gula and eating them like candy.

Friends recommended the cendol at Donald and Lily's Nyonya Food (cendol is dish up from a stall on the street, dishes are served in the small room upstairs) in Melaka old town. A very good cendol indeed but, compared with Maureen's, just not stellar. Beyond too-small, mushy beans that don't maintain their integrity when mixed with the ice, this cendol simply lacks the gula 'wow' factor of Makko's version. If I wasn't such a gula snob I'd probably be raving over it. But with gula, as with so many other things in life, once you've tried the best it's hard to settle for less.

In a few hours I'll be flying to Penang to meet Dave. He plans to introduce me to what he claims is the best cendol in Malaysia.

Now, wait just a minute, Dave - I'll be the judge of that!

Makko Nyonya, 123 Taman Melaka Raya (off Jalan Parameswara), Melaka. Tel. 06-2840737. 1130a-245p and 6-930p. Closed Tuesdays.

Donald and Lily's Nonya Food, facing the parking lot behind Hereen Guest House, Melaka old town. 930a-4p. Closed Mondays.

Comments

[Pete]

You're right, Robyn, I found Makko's a bit too rich for my taste because of their molasses-like gula melaka & hence preferred Penang's lighter (and slightly salty-tasting santan) chendol. Still, I'm very gratified to find Makko (and their rival Ole Sayang across the road) still operating - fluorishing, in fact! When I first dined in Makko back in 1989, Taman Melaka Raya was a small, almost empty new development area. My first dish I ordered there was babi pongteh & I still remembered that fondly - they put pieces of sugarcane in their stew, somethint we've never seen in Singapore's babi pongteh.

I didn't get to try any seafood whilst in Malacca, but we made a traipse round the corner (after our Makko chendol) to Teo Chew Bah Kut Teh at the end of Taman Melaka Raya 4. That place is frequented by loyal Malaccan regulars & serves one of the best bah kut teh (Malacca Teochew-style) I've ever had. They put in minced pork balls, various pig innards/liver/kidney, pork ribs, etc. The soup is to-die for. The yam rice which they serve alongside the bah kut teh is also very addictive. It's my 3rd time at the restaurant in 9 years (the first time was in 2001) and the food standard's stayed the same.

I'd want to do a bah kut teh food outing in Klang next time I visit KL/Selangor. There are 3 famous bah kut teh places I want to try: all of them have their own style preparation.

[LY]

There is a famous Peranakan Cendol at Bukit Rambai. They have another stall in KL, Kelana Jaya Mall newly opened. Kelana Jaya Mall is just right behind the Giant Kelana Jaya.

[MLGS]

There is a newly opened cafe called Breakthrough Cafe in Malacca. It is located opposite Equatorial Hotel. They serve the authentic Peranakan Cendol. Unlike the Penang styled Cendol, this is not very watery...instead it is thicken with lotsa "liao" and shaved ice. Very good!!!

[Rhingding]

You (the writer) wrote an article on Saveur? Awesome. My dad has a bunch of old copies that I'm reading right now. Long live Saveur

[Extreme]

Yes Nice. And nice pictures too. Go Taiping and shoot some nice ones.

[Malcolm]

Hi, I'm in Kuching right now but am passing back through KL soon. Can you recommend a good palm sugar for me to take back to New Zealand and where to buy it? Thanks very much.
Regards, Malcolm