These Indonesian style glutinous rice balls are bound to start a party in your mouth. Imagine these pandan coconut mochi-like balls are bursting with palm sugar liquid when you take a bite.
Author: Jaja Bakes
Course: DessertSnack
Cuisine: Indonesian
Servings: 25balls
Prep Time25 minutesminutes
Cook Time25 minutesminutes
Total Time50 minutesminutes
Ingredients
Coconut Coating
1 1/4cup(100gr)freshly grated coconut, from half coconut
In a heatproof bowl, mix coconut and salt together. Add pandan leaf on top. Steam for 10 minutes to prevent the coconut from going bad easily. Set aside.
Glutinous Rice Balls
Prepare the filling by shaving the palm sugar block with a sharp knife. Make sure to mince it as finely as possible to make sure the filling will be fully melted after cooking.
Prepare a large pot of water to boil Klepon while working on the dough.
In a large bowl, combine glutinous rice flour, rice flour, and salt until well combined. Add the pandan paste and slowly add in the hot water, while stirring with a spoon to form a dough. When the dough is warm enough to work with, knead the dough with hands and form it into a ball. The dough should be soft, firm, and not too wet or it will be too sticky to work with. Cover with a damp towel to prevent it from drying out.
Take a little bit of dough and make it into a 1 1/4-inch/3cm ball. Push an indent in the centre, making a large hole enough to put the filling. Place about 1/2 tsp minced palm sugar and gather the edges to close the seam. Roll it back into a ball with your palms.
Cook the Balls
Add 2 pandan leaves to the boiling water. Immediately put the ball into boiling water. Repeat making and boiling the balls with the remaining dough. Avoid overcrowding the pot and you can do them in several batches if necessary.
The balls are fully cooked when they float to the top. This usually takes around 4-5 minutes. Make sure to cook them a minute longer to ensure the filling fully melts. Remove them from the water with a slotted spoon once cooked. Put them in a strainer to remove the excess water.
Roll each ball immediately in the steamed grated coconut with a spoon.
The filling should be hot at the moment. Cool Klepon slightly before consumes to prevent burning your tongue.
Notes
If you do not have freshly grated coconut available, you can alternatively steam desiccated coconut until it softens. But if possible use the fresh coconut because it tastes better than the desiccated coconut.Make your own Pandan Extract to substitute the pandan paste. If you cannot find pandan paste or pandan leaves anywhere, just omit them. Add a few drops of green food coloring to make the iconic Klepon color.Klepon are best served on the same they are made. Do not store the leftovers in the fridge to prevent them from hardening and drying out, but freeze them instead. To thaw, warm them in the microwave until the balls soften.