ONDE-ONDE (PANDAN, PALM SUGAR, AND COCONUT DUMPLINGS)

These Indonesian poached rice flour dumplings, coated with shredded coconut, are plump with a filling of melted palm sugar that floods the mouth when bitten into. Pandan, the aromatic leaves of a perennial grass, gives them a green color and a vanilla-like scent.

MAKES 18 DUMPLINGS

Ingredients

• 1⁄4 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 mature coconut, cracked open and finely grated, or 1 cup desiccated coconut, steamed
• 7 fresh pandan leaves, rinsed or 10 frozen, chopped
• 2 cups mochiko (glutinous rice flour)
• 1⁄4 tsp. pandan paste or 1⁄2 tsp. green food coloring, mixed with 1⁄4 cup water
• 1⁄3 cup grated palm sugar, divided into 18 balls

Instructions

Toss salt and coconut in a bowl; set aside. Purée pandan leaves and 1⁄2 cup water in a food processor into a pulp. Press over a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl to extract juices; discard solids. Stir in flour and pandan paste; knead dough until smooth. Divide dough into 18 balls. Bring a 6-qt. saucepan of water to a boil. Working with 1 ball dough at a time, press a finger into ball to make a pocket; fill with 1 ball sugar. Pinch edges of dough around sugar; roll into a ball. Working in batches, cook dumplings until they float, 3–4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, drain dumplings briefly; roll in coconut mixture. Serve warm or at room temperature.