This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclaimer.
A popular local snack in Singapore and Malaysia, I really think it’s difficult to find someone who doesn’t like this delicious South East Asian snack.
What is Onde Onde or Klepon
Onde Onde or Klepon (in Indonesia) is a delicious and aromatic local asian snack made with glutinous rice flour, filled with melted gula melaka (coconut palm sugar) and coated with freshly grated coconut. The skin is also basically a boiled rice cake. If this is cooked otherwise, for example, deep fried or air fried, it becomes Jian Dui, a Chinese pastry that’s coated in sesame seeds and typically filled with mung bean paste or peanut paste. If it’s steamed, then it becomes Ang Ku Kueh, another South East Asian snack filled with mung bean paste, coconut and gula melaka, peanut paste, chestnut paste or even purple sweet potato paste. And the fact it’s using glutinous rice flour means it’s gluten-free!
There are various versions of klepon recipes available out there. Some are made with fresh pandan leave extract, some are made with sweet potatoes which give its natural yellow or purple shade to the skin and the softest version compared to the rest. Whichever version it is, I love the melted gula melaka flowing out like a lava that kind of explode in my mouth. That’s pure bliss!
What is the meaning of Onde Onde or Klepon?
I tried using Google translate to see what the name means. I used Klepon, ondeh, onde, nada. So whatever it’s called is really just a name for the snack.
Ingredients for making Klepon
- Glutinous rice flour, hot water, vegetable oil – Glutinous rice flour is key to making the pliable sticky stretchable skin. Using hot water when kneading the dough kinda cooks the dough making it less likely to crack when sealing the gula melaka. Vegetable oil make the dough more pliable.
- Gula melaka – This is one of the key ingredients in this recipe. There is probably no other sugar that tastes like gula melaka, it’s basically coconut palm sugar and tastes really unique and aromatic. Chop it as fine as possible so that it melts within. The wonderful flavours really just explode and flow out like lava when you bit it.
- Fresh grated coconut, pandan leaves, salt – In Asia, it’s probably much easier to get fresh grated coconut. Steam it with pandan leaves and salt so it absorbs the aromatic pandan flavours while salt elevates the taste even better. Alternative, use frozen shredded coconut or desiccated coconut.
- Natural food colouring powder – To give the colour of yellow and purple in this recipe, I used natural food colour powder, that is, the purple sweet potato powder and pumpkin food colouring powder. Food colouring powder might be drying, so do add more water or oil to the dough.
Watch how to make Onde Onde on YouTube
Pin now, cook later
Onde Onde (Klepon)
Ingredients
Yellow Onde Onde
- 1 tsp pumpkin food colouring powder
- ⅛ tsp fine salt
- 10 ml vegetable oil
- 80 g glutinous rice flour
- 75-100 ml hot water
Purple Onde Onde
- 1 tsp purple sweet potato powder
- ⅛ tsp fine salt
- 10 ml vegetable oil
- 80 g glutinous rice flour
- 75-100 ml hot water
Grated coconut
- 100 g grated fresh coconut
- ¼ tsp fine salt
- 2-3 pandan leaves washed
Filling
- 80-100 g gula melaka
Instructions
- Mix together 100 g grated fresh coconut and 1/4 tsp fine salt in a heat-proof plate. Place 2-3 pandan leaves knotted on top.Steam the coconut for 10 minutes over medium high heat. Then remove the pandan leaves and let the coconut cool completely.100 g grated fresh coconut, 1/4 tsp fine salt, 2-3 pandan leaves
- Chop the 80-100 g gula melaka as fine as possible.80-100 g gula melaka
- Mix 80 g glutinous rice flour, 1/8 tsp fine salt and 1 tsp purple sweet potato powder in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre.1/8 tsp fine salt, 80 g glutinous rice flour, 1 tsp purple sweet potato powder
- Add 75-100 ml hot water gradually (more or less depends on the absorbability of the flour).Mix with a spatula to form a loose dough.75-100 ml hot water
- Then manually knead the dough when the dough mixture cooled down.
- Gradually add 10 ml vegetable oil. Knead the dough into a soft, shiny, and pliable dough. Cover and rest for 15 minutes.10 ml vegetable oil
- After 15 minutes, divide the dough into 9 equal portions. And keep the dough covered.
- Repeat the same for the other colour by mixing 80 g glutinous rice flour, 1/8 tsp fine salt and 1 tsp pumpkin food colouring powder in a large mixing bowl. Add 75-100 ml hot water gradually (more or less depends on the absorbability of the flour). Knead the dough then add 10 ml vegetable oil, and knead the dough into a soft, shiny, and pliable dough. Cover and rest for 15 minutes.1 tsp pumpkin food colouring powder, 1/8 tsp fine salt, 10 ml vegetable oil, 80 g glutinous rice flour, 75-100 ml hot water
- Press each dough ball into a little bowl. Scope 2 tsp of the chopped gula melaka into each dough. Press to seal the dough well so that there is no crack line on the dough. If there is a crack, use some water to seal the crack.
- Make the onde onde in small batches. Otherwise the dough breaks after a while and the filling will leak out easily.
- Add the onde onde into a pot of boiling water over medium high heat.Stir to make sure the onde onde does not stick to each other or the pot. Once they float, keep boiling for another one minute.
- Then remove the onde onde from the pot of water. Coat each onde onde evenly with the steamed grated coconut.
- Serve within the same day.
Steamed Garlic Prawns with Tofu and Vermicelli (蒜蓉粉丝豆腐蒸虾)
29 March 2024 at 6:40 pmI read that the recipe uses glutinous rice flour. Is rice flour the same and can I use rice flour instead?
29 March 2024 at 6:42 pmThanks for visiting. Yes you have to use glutinous rice flour, it’s irreplaceable and it’s not the same as rice flour.
3 April 2024 at 1:03 amSooooooo nice
Compliments
9 April 2024 at 11:17 pmThank you!