Shaved Ice: Indonesian Es Cendol
Es means "ice" in Indonesian, and there are many popular icy drinks of Indonesian origin. Es Doger is made with shredded coconut, agar-agar and palm seeds. Es Teler is also made with shredded coconut and agar-agar, but also jackfruit and avocado. And Es Cendol is a blend of coconut milk, brown pandan syrup and jelly.
In Seattle, you can get them all Julia's Indonesian Kitchen, where I stopped a few weeks ago for dinner. Much of the Indonesian cooking I ate that night was hot and spicy, so the icy sweet Es Cendol I ordered was a welcome relief to my palate.
I've been sampling shaved ice desserts over the last few weeks, trying more than a half-dozen of these super-sweet treats. And each one had some interesting features.
Filipino Halo-halo was topped with a scoop of ube (taro) ice cream. Japanese Kakigori was ringed with sweetened azuki beans. Malaysian ABC boasted creamed corn. Thai Nam Kang Sai was beautifully finished with a design made from sweetened condensed milk. Korean Bingsoo hid its fresh honeydew melon under layers of shaved ice and ice cream. Chinese Baobing flaunted a flan-like pudding. And Vietnamese Che Ba Mau sported bright green spaghetti-like jelly.
Technically, I guess, Indonesian Es Cendol doesn't fit into the shaved ice category like all the other sweets I've sampled. It's really a cold beverage made with simple, plain jane ice cubes. But my Es Cendol brought to mind both Vietnamese Che Ba Mau and Malysian ABC, so let's just say it helps round out my sampling of icy, sweet treats. Certainly, there's no question that, like all the others, it's a sweet, cooling foil to a hot summer day.
--Tracy Schneider
jeux xbox 360 on September 22, 2009 at 03:59 AM
Wow, its looking so delicious & cool. I love shaved ice very much & i never tried Indonesian shaved ice but i tried Malaysian shaved ice so i definitely try this.