Klepon (Pandan Rice Balls with Palm Sugar)

Method

1. Stir the pandan paste into the water until dissolved. In a bowl, mix the glutinous rice flour with the salt, then pour in the pandan water a little at a time, kneading by hand until you have a smooth, soft dough that doesn’t crack when you pinch it. Add a splash more water if it feels dry and stiff, or a little more flour if it’s sticky enough to cling to your fingers.
2. Chop the palm sugar into roughly 1 cm dice.
3. Pinch off pieces of dough about the size of a walnut (around 15 g) and roll into balls. Flatten each into a disc in your palm, press a piece of palm sugar into the centre, then draw the edges of the dough up and around the sugar and pinch them firmly together to seal. Roll the sealed ball again between your palms until it’s smooth all over, with no visible seam or thin patch: any weak point is exactly where the ball will split open in the boiling water and let the sugar leak out instead of staying molten inside.
4. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Lower in the klepon in batches, without crowding the pot, so they have room to move without sticking together. Boil until they rise and float to the surface, 5 to 8 minutes, then let them boil for a further 2 to 3 minutes so the palm sugar inside fully melts. Lift out with a slotted spoon and drain briefly.
5. While the klepon boil, steam the grated coconut with the salt and the knotted pandan leaf, if using, for 5 to 10 minutes, until warmed through and slightly glossy. Spread it on a plate.
6. Roll the warm, just-drained klepon through the steamed coconut while they’re still a little sticky, pressing gently so it coats all sides. Use a fork or a second spoon rather than your fingers if they’re too hot to handle. Serve straightaway.

Notes

• Pandan paste or extract is sold at Asian grocers throughout Germany, usually as a bottled green “pandan paste” or “pandan flavouring” alongside the other Southeast Asian baking ingredients. Fresh pandan leaves, blended with the water and strained, are more traditional and give a grassier aroma, but paste is far easier to find here and works well. Without either, the klepon taste the same but come out pale rather than green.
• Palm sugar (gula jawa in Indonesia, gula melaka in Malaysia) is sold as hard dark discs or blocks, also available at Asian grocers. Dark brown sugar is a real substitute, but a different one: it melts into a straightforwardly sweet syrup rather than palm sugar’s smoky, caramel depth. If you use it, cut the pieces slightly larger, since it softens rather than staying as a firm molten pocket.
• Klepon are a same-day food. The dough toughens and the coconut coating dries out and turns leathery by the next day, so make them close to when you plan to eat them and serve within a couple of hours.

Sources Consulted

• Pisang Susu, “Klepon”
• Wandercooks, “Klepon - Indonesian Sweet Rice Cakes”