Gudir for Goondus

It's 2015!

I'm in a bit of disbelief because it's no longer "we're visiting Japan next year" but "we're visiting Japan this year!". I feel like I've been planning the epic journey for way too long, I just want to go already!

Part of our trip to Japan includes stopovers in Singapore. Now, as any self-respecting Singaporean will attest, a stopover in Singapore means eating lots of local food. Additionally, if you're a (ugh) foodie like me, it also means stocking up on ingredients/tools to bring back home to Perth so that one can recreate Singaporean delights in one's Ozzie kitchen.

I've already warned the hubby that I'll be making a pit stop into lots of local bakeries (I must admit, I haven't even used some of the cool tools I bought on my last trip!) to buy a few more toys.

On the list is pretty jelly moulds like my fantail goldfish mould below, which I bought from a random supermarket in Sandakan, Sabah. I've got a few merlion moulds hiding in the house somewhere and I'm hoping I'll get more unique moulds while I am in Singapore.

Speaking of jelly.... I've been meaning to make agar agar gudir (gudil to some) for a long time. It's another one of my favourite childhood sweets. It's one I associate with my nenek (grandmother) because it was a staple feature on her dining room table aside from her kickass fried chicken. I never could stop at eating just one piece.

While there are variations to agar agar gudir (I've seen green ones and pink ones), the original agar agar gudir is a deep brown "layered" jelly - the clear layer being a gula melaka (palm sugar) flavoured jelly and the cloudy layer being a coconut custard of sorts. I use "layered" in apostrophes here because unlike some layered desserts, you can't actually separate the two layers because there's no distinct separation. This is because the jelly mixture is made in one pot; the layers are naturally created from the custard floating to the top of the mix. So in a way, the layers kind of meld into each other. 

When I first found out the name of this lovely jelly, I chuckled then went, "oh, agar agar goondu?". For the non-Singaporeans, goondu is a Tamil word meaning idiot/moron/twit. Mum and I had a good laugh over my mangling and since then, I've always called it agar agar goondu. Especially when I'm trying to con mom into making some for me. Heh.
 
Anyway, with mum now in Toowoomba, I have no one left to wrangle agar agar gudir from and it's up to me to make it for myself. I had the ingredients for agar agar gudir nicely stashed in our burgeoning pantry, I just never got around to looking up a recipe and trying it myself. Fate intervened a few days ago when I saw a recipe online in one of the Facebook cooking groups I follow. It looked super easy so I tried it... and it was!

I did tweak the recipe because it asked for 50g of caster sugar - I just replaced that with palm sugar because I didn't see the point of putting in two types of sugar. I'm a gula melaka fiend as well so I'd rather have pure, unadulterated gula melaka goodness.

I might still make a few more modifications because it seemed like the coconut custard portion was too thick for my liking. I'm also working on a rose syrup gudir jelly recipe so it might be awhile yet.

Also, I need to look for clear agar agar - I suspect my agar agar gudir was a bit light coloured because I only had white agar agar powder. Boo. 

Anyway, have fun making agar agar gudir. It really should be renamed agar agar goondu... cos even a goondu can make it! :D

Agar agar Gudir
(adapted from an online recipe I found in a Facebook group)
1 packet plain agar-agar powder (10g)
A pinch of salt
800ml water
2-3 pandan (screwpine) leaves
200ml coconut milk
2 eggs
250g Gula Melaka (palm sugar)

Method:

1. Knot the screwpine leaves and place in a saucepan with the water.
2. Bring water to the boil in a saucepan. 
3. Lower to a simmer and add agar agar powder, gula melaka and salt. Stir until everything is dissolved.
4. Increase the flame and pour in the coconut milk and egg mix. Stir through until the mixture has "curdled" at the top of the pot. 
5. Turn off the flame and pour the mixture into moulds. 
6. Allow to cool at room temperature before putting the jelly into the fridge to set.