Learn how to make soft yet lightly chewy onde onde filled with aromatic coconut sugar. The first bite will create that burst of melty coconut sugar inside your mouth. Made with natural pandan and blue pea flower extract for natural colors. All the tips you need to know.
My kids love Onde Onde or Sweet Glutinous Rice Balls I made. I was thrilled that she does because another reason of me cooking so much is that so I can share with my kids the food I grew up eating (I think I’ve said that 10,000 times! forgive me!) Onde onde or ondeh ondeh is one of the popular snack/desserts in Southeast Asia. In Indonesia, they are called klepon too. It was also one of my Dad’s favorite sweets. Making this Onde Onde was rather a bittersweet feeling. Sweet because it was so easy to make and such a tasty snack. Bitter because I don’t think I have yet fully recovered from losing my Dad and this reminded me of him. I know he’s smiling from up there seeing me making this Onde Onde. This is for you Dad (and your two grandkids you’ve never met in person)
SPECIAL INGREDIENTS FOR ONDE ONDE
1. Glutinous Rice flour
Glutinous rice flour is not the same with rice flour. So make sure you get the right one as the regular rice flour will not give the same texture. DO NOT substitute with any other starches. There is no substitute for glutinous rice flour in this recipe.
2. Unsweetened grated coconut
This is usually available at Asian grocery store,usually in the frozen form. Make sure you get the finely grated and not long shredded pieces.
3. Palm sugar / Coconut sugar
This is the “star” of onde onde. The filling of onde onde is made with only palm sugar. Known as gula Melaka or gula Jawa/ Gula Aren in Indonesia. They are usually in dark brown color. Closest substitution is coconut sugar, which is what I use
HOW TO MAKE ONDE ONDE FROM SCRATCH (PANDAN FLAVOR AND BLUE PEA EXTRACT)
1. STEAM GRATED COCONUT
If the grated coconut is a bit wet, squeeze out any excess liquid. Steam the grated coconut with a bit of salt over high heat for 5 minutes. Remove and set aside
2. PREPARE PANDAN DOUGH
Mix glutinous rice flour and sugar in a mixing bowl. Bring pandan juice to a boil
Pour this into the flour mixture
Use a spatula to stir to combine at first because it is still too hot to knead the dough with your hand
When it’s not too hot anymore, use your hand to knead into a rough dough
Add the oil and continue to knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover and set aside
3. PREPARE BLUE PEA FLOWER DOUGH
Repeat the same steps for this dough. Pour the hot boiling juice into the flour mixture.
Use a spatula to stir to combine at first because it is still too hot to knead the dough with your hand. You will get a ragged dry dough at this point. When it’s not too hot anymore, use your hand to knead into a rough dough. Add the oil and continue to knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover and set aside
4. FILL AND SHAPE
Divide each dough into 15 pieces and roll into balls.
Work with one ball at a time while keeping the rest covered. Use your thumb to make an indentation on the ball
Fill it up with coconut sugar
Gather the sides to seal and roll into a smooth ball. It is important to roll it into smooth balls. Dab your fingers with some water if necessary to make sure that it’s smooth when you roll it. Any seam is a potential for the coconut sugar to leak out when you boil them
5. COOKING
Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil.
Add 4-5 balls at a time and cook for about 5 minutes or until they float to the top. The sugar inside the Onde Onde will have melted inside
6. ROLL WITH GRATED COCONUT
Remove with a slotted spoon and roll in the grated coconut. Serve at room temperature, as a dessert or your afternoon tea snack
IMPORTANT TIPS
1. MAKE SURE THE LIQUID IS BOILING HOT
It is important to bring pandan juice and the blue pea flower extract to a boil and pour it directly into the flour mixture. This is the part that creates that flexible dough that won’t crack when you shape them
2. ADD THE OIL LAST
Adding the oil last and continue to knead will give you smooth non-sticky dough that is easy to work with. Don’t skip the oil. You need it
3. DAB WITH WATER IF NECESSARY
After you fill the dough with palm sugar, make sure you roll it really smooth. If the dough feels dry, which it shouldn’t if you keep them covered and use hot boiling water to make the dough, then dab the dough with a bit of water with your fingers and roll until it is smooth and no cracks. Any cracks will leak out the melted coconut sugar when you cook them later
HOW TO STORE AND REHEAT ONDEH ONDEH
STORAGE: Ideally ondeh ondeh is best consumed on the same day. BUT, if you have leftover, you can transfer them to a container with a tight lid and keep them in the refrigerator.
REHEATING: They will harden after refrigeration. You can simply reheat them using a moist heat like a steamer. Steam them over boiling heat for 2-3 minutes and they will soften again. You can also reheat them in the microwave. Cover them with a wet paper towel and then microwave on high for about 30 seconds or so or longer until heated through.
DID YOU MAKE THIS ONDEH ONDEH / KLEPON RECIPE?
I love it when you guys snap a photo and tag to show me what you’ve made 🙂 Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I’ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real!
Recipe was first published in 2017 and updated in August 2020 after few rounds of testing to update with a better recipe and process, and also to update with new photos, and a video.
Onde Onde (Ondeh Ondeh) - Klepon
Ingredients
Pandan Dough :
- 125 gr glutinous rice flour 1 cup + 2 Tbsp
- 13 gr sugar 1 Tbsp
- 110 ml pandan juice 7 Tbsp
- 1 1/2 tsp cooking oil
Blue Pea Flower Dough:
- 125 gr glutinous rice flour 1 cup + 2 Tbsp
- 13 gr sugar 1 Tbsp
- 10 gr dried blue pea flowers 1 1/2 Tbsp
- 130 ml water 9 Tbsp
- 1 1/2 tsp cooking oil
Filling :
- 100 gr palm sugar 4 oz, (gula Melaka, gula Jawa)
Coat with:
- 200 gr grated coconut (unsweetened) 8 oz
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- If the grated coconut is a bit wet, squeeze out any excess liquid. Steam the grated coconut with a bit of salt over high heat for 5 minutes. Remove and set aside
- Cut or shave the block of gula Melaka/gula Jawa into small tiny pieces. Set aside
To prepare pandan flavor dough:
- Mix glutinous rice flour and sugar in a mixing bowl. Bring pandan juice to a rolling boil and then pour this into the flour mixture immediately. Use a spatula to stir to combine at first because it is still too hot to knead the dough with your hand. You will get a ragged dry dough at this point. When it's not too hot anymore, use your hand to knead into a rough dough. Add the oil and continue to knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover and set aside
To prepare blue pea flower dough:
- Put the blue pea flower in a saucepan with 130 ml of water and bring to a boil and then turn off the heat and let the flower steep in the hot water for 10 minutes. Strain and pour this back into the saucepan and bring it back to a rolling boil and then measure out to get 110 ml of juice. Make sure the juice is really hot
- Pour the hot boiling juice into the flour mixture. Use a spatula to stir to combine at first because it is still too hot to knead the dough with your hand. You will get a ragged dry dough at this point. When it's not too hot anymore, use your hand to knead into a rough dough. Add the oil and continue to knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover and set aside
Fill and shape the dough:
- Divide each dough into 15 pieces and roll into balls. Work with one ball at a time while keeping the rest covered. Use your thumb to make an indentation on the ball and then fill it up with coconut sugar. Gather the sides to seal and roll into a smooth ball. It is important to roll it into smooth balls. Dab your fingers with some water if necessary to make sure that it's smooth when you roll it. Any seam is a potential for the coconut sugar to leak out when you boil them
Boiling:
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add 4-5 balls at a time and cook for about 5 minutes or until they float to the top. The sugar inside the Onde Onde will have melted inside
Roll in grated coconut:
- Remove with a slotted spoon and roll in the grated coconut. Serve at room temperature, as a dessert or your afternoon tea snack
14 comments
yummmm.. love the blue pea ondeh ondeh! made it, its beautiful and didnt have enough! lol
thank you Marvellina for the recipe!
Hi Lilian, I’m so glad you like them 🙂
Thank you for generously sharing! Can I freeze the shaped balls before cooking them another day?
Hi Min, yes you can. Just make sure you seal the onde onde really good or the sugar tends to “leak” during boiling
Hi, I only have desiccated coconut. What do I do to make this recipe with it? Thanks.
Hi Alison, you can try to steam the desiccated coconut to moisten it or soak it in some coconut milk to let the coconut absorbs some of the liquid, then just wring out any excess liquid before using so they won’t be soaking wet. I hope it makes sense
Hi Marv, the dough was very sticky and I had to add some glutinous rice to get the dough off my hand and mixing bowl. Hope it is alright to do so. Also, most of my boiled balls had pin hole leak! Also, I boiled for 5 mins and not all sugar melt completely. What did I do wrong? Your comments are greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Did you add some oil to help you knead the dough? You need to make sure that the water is really rolling boil and not just hot, otherwise the dough won’t be flexible and when you try to roll them, they will “crack” (pin holes) and the filling will leak when you boil. Finely chop the sugar will help it melt faster during cooking too.
Hi Marv, I did what you mentioned but I still had pin hole leak in each ball. How long do you rest your dough before you roll them? Do you boil each ball as you roll? My balls seems fine but I realized they started to leak when I make more balls. Not too sure what I did wrong again.. arg.. I really like your easy recipe and hope they will all come out without any leaks.. 🙁 Anymore advice?
Hi Lee Han, I didn’t rest it for very long. I pretty much worked on the dough to fill it up. I didn’t boil each ball as I roll either. I did that after I was done filling and rolling. It sounds to me that the shaped ball may have dried out a bit as you work on others. Maybe you can try to cover them with a damp cloth while working on others. At any point when you roll them into balls and if you feel that the dough is a bit dry, you can always wet your palms and roll it smooth again with no cracks whatsoever.
I tried the recipe but the texture when I bite it turns out to be hard. Why is this so? Is it because of tapioca flour?
This recipe uses “glutinous rice flour” NOT tapioca flour/starch. You can’t substitute glutinous rice flour with tapioca starch. They won’t give the same result.
Hi,
Can you make the dough with a stand mixer or soes it have to be by hand? I’ve done it with hand & it gets pretty hard to knead
Thx before
Hi Angie, yes you can definitely use a stand mixer to knead the dough. Another method that I’ve tried, instead of cooking a small portion of the dough, is by boiling the pandan juice and then pour it to the flour mixture and then stir to mix and when it’s cool enough to handle, knead by hand. It’s much easier to knead because the dough is flexible now. You can of course also do this with a stand mixer.