Okay, I admit the title is misleading. I don’t think there are any signature desserts specific to the city of Melaka. But the fact that the best grades of gula melaka (palm sugar) can be found in the historial city of Melaka deserves honourable mention. For want of a better name, I’ve conveniently lumped all the sweet desserts that we’ve consumed during our Malaccan visit into a 2-part post. Those of you with a sweet tooth, do I hear a distant “Hurrah”? :D
Cendol, in its simplest form, consists of five main ingredients. Shaved ice, green ‘worms’ (made from green pea flour and pandan leaves), red beans, coconut milk and gula melaka (palm sugar). But I think the critical ingredient is the gula melaka. That’s probably why cendol from Melaka is soooo damn good, because nothing beats the palm sugar that can be sourced from Melaka.
Non factory-made gula melaka is sold in large jars in Melaka. They’re about RM10 (AUD$3.33) per 500g. How can you tell it is fresh and good? Mum tells me the pieces should be a lighter brown in colour and slightly soft to the touch. The gula melaka should also have a confidently rich and deeply fresh smell as opposed to a restrained, packaged scent.EatingAsia has spoken very eloquently about cendol and gula melaka. I strongly suggest you read that post here. I totally 100% agree with Eating Asia that “Malaysian and Indonesian palm sugar is unlike any other sweetener – rich and complex, with a whole host of notes that go well beyond the realm of ‘sweet’. Brown, dark brown, and muscovado sugars can’t touch it. Nor can Thai or any of the other ‘upper’ Southeast Asian palm sugars. It must be tasted to be believed (unfortunately the good stuff isn’t exported). It’s the perfect partner for coconut in any form – and cendol’s shaved ice provides the ideal backdrop for a palm sugar-coconut pairing.” I’ve successfully brought over 2 blocks of Malaccan gula melaka back into Melbourne this time round. Can’t wait to try making Malaysian desserts with such prime ingredients. I’m surprised I wasn’t featured on Border Security, customs just let me out without checking, even though I openly declared all my goods.
This was a very very good bowl of cendol… I loved it. It’s the gula melaka… just spoon in one mouthful, and you can detect the deeply aromatic hints of smoked wood within a cinematic backdrop of an indescribably complex and wonderfully layered sweetness. The shaved ice was coarse-ish. The green ‘worms’ had a firmish texture and they were slightly salty, which is just the way I like it. Fact that I didn’t really notice the taste of pandan leaves didn’t bother me. The red beans were still whole and not overcooked to the point of disintegration. Tua koh’s discerning palate did detect that they used tinned coconut milk instead of freshly squeezed grated coconut. I personally didn’t notice the difference, but maybe it’s because I’ve forgotten the taste of freshly squeezed coconut milk.
On a side note, dad has tried out both of the Malaccan cendol places (Makko Nyonya, Donald & Lily’s Nyonya) that EatingAsia has spoken about in 2007. Dad notes that both places serves reasonably good cendol, but still he prefers No. 1 Kopitiam’s cendol. Maybe the quality has changed in recent years. I’ve tried Donald & Lily’s a number of times in the past as well, and I agree with dad, No. 1 Kopitiam’s Nyonya Cendol will currently stay as our family’s favourite cendol stall.
Asian’s generally don’t like their cakes overly sweet and rich. I think that’s why Nadeje’s 1000-layer crepe cakes are so hugely popular with us. Aunty Adeline recommended this place to us, mum received her text while we were driving up towards Melaka. There are 2 branches, but the one listed above has a more relaxed café feel to it as opposed to the main branch’s (reportedly) hurried, takeaway-shop feel across the road. It’s quite difficult to find, so you might want to check the shopping centre map or ask information desk at Dataran Pahlawan Megamall.
There were several flavours. Original, chocolate, cheese, green tea, strawberry… I suggest you take the original. I thought these cakes were really good. Not overly sweet, the cream was light, and I loved the fluffy and springy texture of eating through several layers of crepes. I’d probably choose this mille crepe cake preferentially over most of the rich rich and sweet cakes that one can normally find in Melbourne. But the jury is out there as to whether this dessert qualifies as a cake, or is it essentially a stack of crepes. I love eating crepes… lol! Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
