Dessert · Iced Shaved Dessert

Cendol

Photo: Kew Li Wen / Unsplash · Unsplash License

The green "noodles" in cendol aren't noodles at all — they're a soft jelly of rice flour (or mung bean flour) colored and scented with pandan, pressed through a perforated frame or sieve straight into ice water so the strands set on contact.

Shaved ice is piled into a cup or bowl, layered with short green pandan-jelly strands, red beans, and sometimes sweet corn, then finished with a generous pour of coconut milk and dark, smoky palm sugar syrup (gula melaka). Street vendors shave the ice to order from carts parked at busy roadsides.

Why it's made this way: Vendors traditionally shaved the ice by scraping a block with a hand-cranked metal blade, a laborious process that turned cendol into a hard-earned, refreshing reward on Malaysia's hottest days.