Klepon (Sweet Indonesian Rice Balls)

Klepon is a tasty Indonesian street food that you’ve got to try! Bite into a deliciously chewy rice ball, flavored with pandan, palm sugar syrup, and grated coconut – this little treat is popular throughout Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore! 

If you’ve never seen one before, Indonesian klepon can look quite mysterious: little green balls of dough, covered in shredded coconut. It’s quite the unique treat! Designed to be a one-bite dessert (you can bite it in half, but it gets messy).

this recipe

What is Klepon

Klepon (pronounced klē-pon; also written as kelepon) is a sweet Indonesian street food, made up of chewy glutinous rice flour balls containing sugar syrup, flavored with pandan. These Indonesian rice balls are usually covered in shredded coconut. 

Texture-wise, klepon are quite similar to Japanese mochi, however the sugar syrup filling is liquid, while mochi tends to have creamed or solid fillings. 

Why is klepon green

Klepon is green due to the addition of pandan extract, which adds the green color as well as pandan flavoring to the dish. In some cases, green food coloring is used instead of pandan extract – this creates the same green dessert, but it lacks the flavor present when using pandan extract.

Suji leaves are also used sometimes (either by themself, or in addition to pandan leaves).

What is onde-onde

Onde onde (also spelled, ondeh-ondeh) is the name used for klepon in Malaysia and Singapore. There is no major difference in terms of ingredients or preparation, just a different regional name. (Likewise, klepon is the Javanese regional name for onde-onde.)

Ingredients

For the sugar filling

• Palm sugar
• Water
• A pinch of salt
• Fresh pandan leaf (optional)

For the glutinous ball

• Glutinous rice flour
• White rice flour
• Salt
• Hot water
• Pandan paste (optional; also called pandan extract)

For the topping

•  Fresh coconut, grated

How to make Indonesian klepon

Klepon is easier to make than you’d think. It takes less than 30 minutes! In a saucepan, cook the palm sugar, water, salt and pandan leaf together over a medium to low heat until the mixture thickens slightly. Set it aside to cool. This is your palm sugar filling. 

In a large mixing bowl, mix the glutinous rice flour, white rice flour and salt. Add the hot water gradually, and make sure to keep stirring until all the water has been added and properly mixed in forming a dough. Next add the pandan paste, and knead the dough until it becomes smooth and easy to fold. 

Using a scoop measure our about half a tablespoon of the dough, form it into a ball, and using your fingers, push a little hole into the center of the dough ball – effectively turning it into a small cup.

Add half a teaspoon of the palm sugar syrup into the mini dough cup. Pinch the edges of the dough shut and roll slightly to achieve the spherical shape once more (if they’re not sealed properly, they may leak). Repeat the dough ball process until there’s no dough left.

Add the uncooked klepon balls to boiling water in a large pot. Boil for about 20 minutes. As they cook, the klepon will start to float. Make sure to allow them to float for at least 10 minutes to ensure everything is properly cooked through.

Use a slotted spoon to remove the klepon from the hot water, and immediately coat with the grated coconut. Allow to cool slightly before eating, enjoy! 

It’s okay to use both a block of palm sugar, which can be chopped or crushed, as well as granulated palm sugar. Gula Jawa tends to come as a cylindrical block which needs to be chopped (very easy to do), however the granulated version does tend to melt a little easier. (As we’re pre-melting the palm sugar in this recipe, you won’t need to worry about the sugar syrup not melting sufficiently inside the klepon, as might be the case if you just added a palm sugar cube into your klepon cube.)

If you’re unable to find palm sugar, coconut sugar (as well as coconut palm sugar) is a very close substitute.

Using gloves

As you’re working with a sticky dough, it’s convenient to use gloves while preparing klepon. It stops the dough sticking too much to the warmth of your fingers.

Getting grated coconuts

If you live in Jakarta (or many other Asian cities), the local coconut vendors will happily grate coconuts to your liking. If you’re in North America or Europe, there probably isn’t a local coconut vendor nearby that’s willing to help.

Instead, you can opt to buy grated coconut from specialty Asian shops. The tastier alternative, is to get a fresh coconut and grate it yourself (though this can be a bit time-consuming).

Lastly, you can opt for desiccated coconut. However, this tends to be the least tasty option as it has a much drier consistency than freshly grated coconut. You can steam the desiccated coconut to add a little moisture to it.

Coating the kelepon

The easiest way to coat your klepon with grated coconut is actually to use a fork and scoop the coconut over the klepon. 

This was a surprise to me when testing, as I figured I could just drop a klepon ball into the coconut bowl and roll away. Turns out this is messy, and it also sometimes ended up damaging the klepon’s shape. 

Crumbly klepon

If you klepon is crumbly or has a lot of cracks, this is a sign that there’s not enough moisture in your dough recipe. Assuming you’ve been following this recipe closely, that shouldn’t be the case, but it may occur if you live at a high altitude or work in a dry/warm kitchen. Work a touch more hot water into the dough, and knead. 

Serving suggestions

As klepon is usually found at local vendors and street stalls, it is not usually served alongside anything. I’ve got it wrapped in pandan leaves or newspapers, as well as in small cardboard boxes. However, if you’re looking to make it at home, I’d recommend having an Indonesian food night! Start with nasi goreng for dinner, and serve these klepon as dessert! 

Storage

Klepon is best eaten fresh (same day). Do not refrigerate them as this will dry out the glutinous rice flour. Instead, store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days.

Can you freeze klepon

The honest truth is that klepon doesn’t freeze very well. Klepon can be frozen for up to a month, but tends to lose a lot of its texture once thawed. For best results, the klepon should be frozen while still very fresh. To serve, thaw for one to two hours, then warm in the microwave for 20 seconds (or until soft to the touch), and eat immediately. 

Braver options. If you’re feel confident, there’s a lot of room for variation by switching out the pandan paste for other extracts, and then further switching out the fillings accordingly. You can even swap out the grated coconuts topping! For example, vanilla paste, with a melted chocolate center, and birthday cake sprinkles as a topping! 

Final thoughts

That’s basically everything you need to know if you’ve wondered how to make klepon at home. If you’ve never tried it before, klepon is a unique in its green appearance, and fun in its one-bite design. Give it a shot, and let me know your thoughts in the comments below.