You have seen me with my childhood favourite, Kuih Bingka Ubi Kayu. However, there are so many wonderful kuihs (small desserts) in Southeast Asia that I grew up with including my favourite Onde Onde.

An introduction to this kuih, Onde Onde is a traditional Southeast Asian kuih that is really popular in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. It comes with a chewy glutinous rice outer layer, flavoured with pandan, filled with melted coconut sugar (gula melaka). When enjoyed warm, each bite comes with an amazing mix of textures. I coat each one with shredded coconut too for a light crunch. You must give this a try!

There are two magic ingredients you need, on top of the 4 ingredients onde onde, for this. Cliche as it sounds, the first is love, and the next is patience. It requires a lot of balance and experimentation to get the right dough to gula melaka ratio with these scenarios:

  • Too much gula melaka? You will risk bursting while boiling, and it is difficult to wrap.
  • Too much dough? It loses the meaning of onde onde, and the delicious factor

As such, you will need to be patient and with love to make the best Onde Onde. Of course, this also means being patient with yourself – especially if this is your first time learning. In all honesty too and if all else fails for Onde Onde with very little gula melaka, just melt some and add it on as a glaze!

Additionally, a hack that I would like to share is the use of granulated or finger gula melaka instead of chunks. This allows it to melt more extensively, especially since it doesn’t spend that much time in the pot at all before it floats up (and is done cooking).

Otherwise, do watch the video carefully on the technique needed for proper shaping.

Without further ado – the recipe!

4 Ingredients Onde Onde Recipe
by Javier Tan October-12-2024

Learn the technique to make the perfect Onde Onde with just 4 ingredients! They are nicely chewy on the outside with an amazing melty core!

Ingredients

  • Approx 15 leaves or 100g of Pandan Leaves
  • 1.5 Cups + 1 Tbspn or 340ml of Water
  • 1 and 3/4 Cup or 220g of Glutinous Rice Flour
  • At least 1/2 Cup or 100g of Small Chunks / Granulated Gula Melaka (best to standby 150g – 200g)
  • Coating – Approx 1/2 Cup or 100g of Steamed Shredded Coconut

Instructions

  1. Blend 100g of pandan leaves with 340ml water at medium speed. You can do it in 2 – 3 batches depending on your blender.
  2. Then, strain and squeeze using a spoon to extract all the pandan juice. Set aside the pandan juice to settle for 10 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, steam the freshly shredded coconut for approx. 5 minutes to soften. Once done, set aside in a wide plate.
  4. In a large bowl, pour 260ml of pandan juice into the glutinous rice flour until the batter. Mix well and lightly knead with your hands until the batter doesn’t stick to the sides of the bowl, and you can form a ball of dough without breaking.
  5. Set aside the dough to rest for 5 minutes and in the meanwhile, prepare a pot of boiling water.
  6. (You may refer to the video) Once ready, form a spherical ball of dough for each onde onde (approx 15g), and make an imprint at the middle so it’s almost like a bowl. Fill with gula melaka, and pinch to seal. Roll again and drop it immediately into the boiling water and remove only when it’s floating (you will be assembling at cooking at the same time!).This will take a bit of practice and experiemntation if it’s your first time.
  7. Then, remove with a slotted spoon to drain excess water and coat immediately with freshly shredded coconut.
  8. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Details

  • Prep time: 1 hour
  • Cook time: 20 mins
  • Total time: 1 hour 20 mins
  • Yield: 20 Delicious Onde Onde

Notes:

  1. If you would like to be updated for more recipes which I strive to create to perfection for sharing and for free, do check out my InstagramFacebook Page, or YouTube 🙂 Thank you so much for all of your support! Feel free to tag me or link back here!
  2. Serve fresh at room temperature immediately and best eaten on the day itself.
  3. Please do not copy and paste the recipe without my permission, but feel free to link back here!

Enjoy!
– Bakeomaniac, Javier Tan