Ye Tang Chendol: Penang-style chendol with pandan jelly, silky coconut milk & luscious durian
Ye Tang Chendol is known to be a hidden gem in Beauty World among foodies. They specialise in Penang-style chendol, which is a Southeast Asian dessert. There is simply no better way to beat the hot weather found in the region than with a bowl of this icy goodness!
A large banner hung on one of the wall pillars in the hawker centre, pointing to the direction of Ye Tang Chendol. Without that, I would have not been able to locate the secluded stall that was located on the furthermost corner of the floor.
Like most of the stalls in Beauty World Food Centre, the stall was clean and tidy with all the ingredient tubs neatly lined up. The machine used to shave ice was also clean and had no water residue pooling underneath.
What I tried at Ye Tang Chendol
I wanted to try all the ingredients that were sold by the stall. Hence, I ordered the Red Bean Chendol with Corn (S$3.30) and Durian Chendol with Attap Seeds (S$4.60).
Regardless of the choice of ingredients, the base of this cold dessert remains consistent.
The combination of coconut milk and gula melaka is the reason I prefer chendol to ice kachang (literal translation: ‘bean ice’). I gleefully watched Auntie ladle over cold-pressed coconut milk and gula melaka (palm sugar) onto the perfectly shaped shaved ice.
The gula melaka had a thick consistency but sank into the ice bed seamlessly. This created the beautiful brown stripes representative of chendol. Unfortunately, even though I usually enjoy desserts that are less sweet, I wished that more gula melaka syrup had been poured over the ice shavings.
On the other hand, the coconut milk was super silky and fragrant. Its thinner consistency paired well with the sticky palm sugar syrup, and flavoured the ice with a subtle sweetness. It was also rather gratifying to know that cold-pressed coconut milk is packed with nutrients and minerals.
The second must-have component of chendol is pandan-flavoured jelly. This hawker stall makes these rice four jellies from scratch while many other chendol stalls use green food colouring to brighten the colours. Here, the jellies’ flavours are derived from aromatic pandan leaves.
The use of kidney beans is the key differentiating factor from other styles of chendol (which add red beans instead). In comparison to red beans, kidney beans are larger and darker coloured. Taste-wise, kidney beans are meatier and less mushy. Personally, I prefer the mushy texture and sweetness of red beans.
The creamy corn mixture tasted like a store-bought item that I used to purchase from supermarkets. There were individual pieces of corn kennel in the creamed corn mixture.
Although I did not ask Auntie if it was house-made or not, I loved its familiar taste that reminded me of my childhood snack. The corn kernels also added more sweetness to the dessert, which I enjoyed.
As a durian fanatic, the Durian topping was my favourite of the lot. Using an ice cream scoop, Auntie added a dollop of creamy and fragrant D24 durian pulp onto the peak of the shaved ice mountain.
I loved that strands of durian flesh could be pulled out and it wasn’t just a mush of the fruit. The flesh was also quite fresh — firm-textured and not watered down at all.
Auntie recommended adding more Attap Seeds to the Durian chendol bowl. She believes that the 2 ingredients complement each other. For an additional 60 cents, more than 6 attap seeds were thrown into the dessert construction.
Once again, the plump and firm palm seeds were fresh and possessed such a unique texture. They were slightly chewy like boba pearls but retained firmness throughout the morsel. It definitely contrasted against the textures of the smooth durian pulp.
Final thoughts
As far as refreshing desserts go, I am glad to have found another hidden gem that offers quality chendol. As the weather in Singapore remains rather warm throughout the year, Ye Tang Chendol would definitely be one of my top dessert shops to quench my thirst on a hot day.
Expected damage: S$3.30 – S$4.60 per pax
Order delivery: foodpanda Deliveroo
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