Sweet Rice Dumplings with Palm Sugar and Coconut
Like an American “popper” snack, this diminutive sweet enjoyed in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore should be eaten whole: when you bite into it, the dumpling squirts lovely melted palm sugar into your mouth. The lightly smoky, caramel-like sugar then blends with the chewy rice dough and rich grated coconut in your mouth. These dumplings, also called klepon, are typically celadon green, since the dough features pandan (screwpine) leaves, a beloved ingredient in many parts of tropical Asia (see the Note below on buying the leaves). I like to amplify their herbal essence with vanilla. If pandan leaves are unavailable, just the vanilla and water are fine. Many cooks add food coloring for a cheery mint-green note; I prefer not to. Seek out Malaysian and Indonesian palm sugar (called gula melaka and gula jawa, respectively) for the best results. It is sold at Chinese and Southeast Asian markets, usually as thick cylinders wrapped in paper or plastic. The reddish-brown sugar is solid but moist. Shave off thin pieces with a knife to measure it out easily. If palm sugar is unavailable, combine 1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar and enough molasses (a good tablespoon) to moisten the sugar well enough to roll it into balls.
Resembling gladiola leaves, spear-shaped pandan leaves are sold at Southeast Asian and some Chinese markets. Fresh leaves are usually bound by rubber bands and look like a rolled-up green belt. Frozen leaves are typically folded in half and sold in long Cryovac packages, usually shelved near other frozen tropical items, such as banana leaves and grated coconut. Frozen pandan comes from Thailand or Vietnam and is labeled bai toey or lá dứa in Thai or Vietnamese, respectively.
