Pandan coconut milk jelly

This is a great little dessert for the warmer months. It finishes a South-East Asian meal beautifully, but goes nicely with most other meals too. The use of agar-agar powder makes it suitable for vegetarians, and gives it a different texture to jellies made from gelatin. If you've never used pandan essence before, it is a real treat! It's bright green in colour, and has a distinctive sweet taste. I've heard it described as Malaysia's equivalent to vanilla.

Pandan Coconut Milk Jelly
Serves 6

Ingredients:
  • 150g pkt Maggi Coconut Milk Powder Mix
  • Enough water to make up 1 litre of coconut milk
  • 250g white sugar
  • 1 slurp (a few drops) pandan paste or essence
  • 13g pkt Rose Brand Finest Agar-Agar Powder

Method:
  • Combine the coconut milk powder mix with warm water to make up 1 litre of coconut milk (this results in a slightly weaker coconut milk than the instructions on the packet). Add to a medium to large saucepan, along with 250g white sugar, a slurp of pandan essence (this is optional, but it really is more fun when it's green!) and the agar-agar powder.
  • Stir over medium heat, making sure to remove any lumps (a whisk helps). Bring the mixture to the boil, stirring regularly to prevent the agar-agar sticking on the bottom of the pan.
  • Pour into jelly moulds (I use individual metal pudding basins, but you could use a single large mould or a bunch of those cute little fancy moulds used for Malaysian sweets). Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before placing in the fridge for about 30 minutes to finish setting.
If I'm being extra fancy, I serve the jellies surrounded by palm seeds, coconut gel cubes and balls of honeydew melon. But it's great on its own :)

Note: I've listed the brands of the ingredients that I used, but of course you can substitute other brands. You could also used tinned or fresh coconut milk. Just make sure that the proportion of agar-agar powder to liquid is about right (check the instructions that come with the agar-agar).

I've added this recipe to my Recipes page, which can also be found via a link from the Kitchenette page. For the most part, the Recipes page will contain recipes that I've either created myself or significantly adapted from someone else's recipe (in which case credit will be given).

At the moment, there are only two recipes there: the jelly recipe from this post; and a recipe for okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake). The okonomiyaki recipe is super easy to make, and really delicious :)