Khmer. Dessert. Served at Mekong (#5 and #6).

Lod chong

Num lot, in drink pouches

Lod chong combines pandan jelly, salted coconut milk, palm sugar syrup, and ice. Related desserts are called num lot in Cambodia and bánh lọt in Vietnam.

This version includes jackfruit and toasted coconut flakes.

The coconut milk is thinned and salted, and the syrup carries the flavor. It should be cold, drinkable, and not too sweet.

Makes
Makes 12 pouches, about 8 oz each.
Do ahead
Make the jelly, syrup, and coconut milk the day before, and cut the jackfruit the day before. Toast the coconut a few hours ahead. Fill the pouches at the last minute.

Ingredients

Scale

Pandan jelly worms

  • 132 gmung bean starch (hoen kwe flour)
  • 90 gcornstarch
  • 1.5 Lfresh pandan juice (about 1560 ml), from 60 to 75 pandan leaves blended hard with 1600 ml water, strained and squeezed. If you can't get leaves, use 3 tsp pandan extract plus water.
  • ¾ tspfine salt
  • ½ tsplye water (alkaline water)

Palm sugar syrup

  • 600 gThai or Khmer palm sugar (the pale discs or tubs, not gula melaka)
  • 300 mlwater
  • 3pandan leaves, knotted
  • ¾ tspsalt

Salted coconut milk

  • 3 cans (1.2 L)full-fat coconut milk
  • 350 mlwater
  • 3pandan leaves, knotted
  • 1 tspsalt

Jackfruit

  • 450 gripe jackfruit, fresh if the shop has it, otherwise canned in syrup

Toasted coconut

  • 1½ cupslarge unsweetened coconut flakes (chips, not desiccated)

Per pouch, about 8 oz

  • 3 tbsppalm sugar syrup
  • 5 to 6 tbspdrained jelly
  • 3 tbspjackfruit
  • 4small ice cubes
  • 100 to 110 mlcold coconut milk
  • a pinchtoasted coconut flakes

Method

  1. Make the pandan juice: blend 60 to 75 pandan leaves hard with 1600 ml water, then strain and squeeze.
  2. Whisk the starches and salt into the cold pandan juice with no lumps. Add the lye water. Sieve into a heavy pot.
  3. Cook over medium heat with a silicone spatula going constantly, 8 to 12 minutes, from opaque green to translucent, glossy, and thick. It scorches easily. It is done when it pulls from the sides and is fully translucent.
  4. Have an ice bath ready before you start. Press the hot jelly through a 3 to 5 mm stainless strainer or steamer insert into the ice water. Work fast; if it sets in the strainer, reheat it slightly. Store submerged in water, airtight, in the fridge. It is best within 24 to 48 hours.
  5. For the syrup, simmer the palm sugar, water, pandan, and salt over medium-low until dissolved and lightly thickened, 5 to 8 minutes. Strain and cool. Do not reduce it hard. It lasts weeks in the fridge.
  6. For the coconut milk, bring everything to a gentle simmer, not a boil. Cool and refrigerate. Re-whisk if it splits.
  7. Fresh jackfruit: pull the pods, seed them, and slice into thin strips. Canned: drain, rinse well to get the syrup off, pat dry, and slice. Keep it covered in the fridge.
  8. Toast the coconut flakes in a dry pan or a 325°F oven, stirring, until the edges go dark brown and the kitchen smells of it. Cool completely and keep airtight.
  9. Before serving, drain the jelly, rinse it warm to soften, soak it cold, and drain again.
  10. Fill each pouch with everything cold, in this order: syrup, drained jelly, jackfruit, ice, coconut milk, then a pinch of toasted coconut as the last thing. Seal, add a boba straw, and serve immediately. Shake before drinking.

Notes

  • Use pouches that hold at least 10 oz so they do not burst when shaken. Filling all 12 takes about 8 minutes with everything staged.
  • Use both starches; cornstarch alone makes the jelly too soft. The lye water keeps the green vivid.
  • The syrup is thinner and paler than a cendol syrup on purpose; Thai and Khmer palm sugar taste of caramel and butterscotch rather than molasses. If the shop only has gula melaka, use it, but cut it to 500 g so the molasses doesn't take over.
  • The coconut milk is thinner and saltier than in cendol, so it drinks like a cold drink rather than a cream.
  • Jackfruit is what makes this lod chong rather than cendol. If you cannot find it, skip it rather than substitute; red beans would make it cendol again.
  • Desiccated coconut disappears in the liquid. Big flakes stay crunchy for a minute and then soften into the coconut milk, which is fine, because a pouch is gone in a minute. Toast them a few hours ahead; they go stale fast.
  • For a Lao touch, add a small pinch of toasted rice powder (khao khua) with the coconut flakes. Try it on two pouches first.