Malaysian Gula Melaka (Tapioca Dessert)
By: Leyla Hur
Published: Friday, May 20, 2011 - 8:56pm

Ingredients




200 grams (1 cup) Sago pearls
200 grams (1 cup) pure cane sugar block* (or palm sugar)
3 cups water
1/2 cup water
1 can coconut milk

Preparation

1 Bring 3 cups water to boil, add the sago pearls. Stir frequently to prevent from sticking, especially once the sago changes colour to transparent. Pay special attention to the bottom of the pan to prevent it from sticking. Cook until all sago has changed to transparent colour. 2 Drain the sago in a sieve rinsing it in cool/running water. (You may want to do this in several portions so that the sago does not clump in one lump in the sieve making it hard to drain.) The very starchy water will clump through the sieve, so pay attention to the underside of the sieve and make sure you keep it under running cold water. 3 Pour the sago into one large mold, or into individual cups. Put into the fridge and allow to cool. 4 In a saucepan, add the chopped cane sugar and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil making sure all the sugar is dissolved. When it just starts to coat the back of a spoon, it is ready. Remove into a little milk jug (or pyrex measuring cup) and put it in the fridge to cool. 5 Serve the gula melakah with a little bit of coconut milk and cane sugar syrup. Enjoy! 6 If you don't want to use the pure cane (or palm) sugar block, you can also use some black molasses as an alternative. However, if you can find cane or palm sugar, I recommend using it because the flavour makes it 7 Even more unique.

About


Some people don't know this, but I spent the first two years of my life living in Malaysia. I had a Malay nanny and my first language was Malay. Mum and I would go to Malaysia and stay for six months, only returning to Hong Kong long enough to renew our visas for another six months.
At the time, my Grandfather was in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and was posted in Penang. Being so close to Hong Kong, and Mum wanting them to bond with their first granddaughter, and me with them; we lived there together with them. Dad would come and visit as often as he could get away from his work, and we had a really enjoyable time and life there.
We loved Penang to such a degree that even after my Grandparents were posted back to Australia, our family would return to Penang several times a year. We always stayed at the same hotel, in the same rooms... at the Rasa Sayang Hotel on Batu Ferringhi Beach.
The hotel is a few months older than I am and so we "grew up together", and since we'd become regulars, everyone in the hotel watched me grow up.
As a child, I did not like to eat, so often one of the waitresses would take me into the kitchen and let me choose what I wanted to eat. Usually, it was a little taste of this and a little taste of that, and "this" and
"that" was usually what the chefs were preparing.
For me, Rasa Sayang was a second home. It was my palace, and I grew up traipsing all over the place. I knew about the secret tunnels, the short cuts to get you from one side of the hotel to the other without ever coming outside. I'd sit and eat with the staff, play hide-and-seek in the ballrooms. Go into the kitchen and grab items out of the fridges to munch on. It was home and I was given full-access and full-allowance to all areas.
It was very eye-opening when I was about 10 and I was in the staff only area and noticed (for the first time) a huge white board. There on the top line was my family name, our room number, check-in and check-out dates, and in big bold lettering VIP FULL ACCESS ALLOWANCE ("Leyla"). I guess that explained why I was never stopped or turned away and EVERYONE (even new people) knew my name. And if I was ever stopped by someone new and they asked my name, when I told them, they gave me free pass with full apologies.
No wonder I grew up with a sense of entitlement!
It truly was paradise, and those years were wonderful, carefree, and free.
One of my families favourite dessert is the Malaysian favourite Gula Melaka. It is a sago (tapioca) pudding that is drizzled with coconut milk and pure cane sugar syrup.
I've not had it in 20 years!
Today, I made it for the very first time. With a single mouthful, my mind and memories beam me back to the sticky heat of the Malaysian tropics. The sights, the sounds, the smells... and I am once again in paradise.
Have you ever eaten anything that instantly transported you back to someplace you love? And in that instant, tears of joy spring to your eyes, and you have to catch your breath for the sheer joy will cause you to cry out in bliss? Maybe that is my reaction with certain foods, and it most certainly was when I took that first mouthful of gula melaka.
Tapioca pearls playing in my mouth while the taste of the coconut milk and cane sugar syrup danced to a tune I'd longed for for so long. I was in sheer bliss.
My husband watched me and chuckled at the expressions on my face turn from tears of reminiscing, to obvious time-travel transportation back to a place and time far from our living room, to the ecstasy of bliss that my wide smile brought. Complete silence as I enjoyed every last taste, and then my momentary time travel deposited me back into our living room.
This dessert , that is so easy to make, so refreshing, evoked memories of  a "home" and a life that was so different from the one I live today. For me, it "took me back", for my husband, it created a new taste in his mouth as it was his first time trying it. And loving it too.
Best thing about it, it is completely vegan so everyone can enjoy it!
Give it a try, I think that you too will love it.
Happy Cooking, Happy Eating!
http://cookingwithleyla.blogspot.com/2011/05/malaysian-gula-melaka.html

Comments:
Yoke Chor-Hansen

Thank you for this article.
I am a Malaysian chinese, moved to Stockholm, Sweden late 80's. Have not tasted this gula melaka for more than 22 yrs now. Am thinking of tapioca pudding, loved this even plain tapioca pudding without gula melaka - have not done this ages and ages ago. Now pondering on cooking it at the same time afraid to do it.
Rgds
Yoke
Stockholm