On CNY my grandma pulled out a bunch of her old cookbooks which, much to my disappointment, were all written in Indonesian. Being the ABC (Australian Born Chinese) that I am, my knowledge (or lack thereof) of any language except English left me worried that I’d never again eat these Asian delights.

In fear of a life without authentic home-made Asian desserts I asked my Grandma to teach me how to make some. The first on the list was Onde-Onde: sweet potato glutinous rice balls covered in coconut with palm sugar (Gula Melaka) inside.

It’s been years since my grandma’s made these and after giving it a shot, I can see why. Unlike cakes where you just chuck all the ingredients in a bowl, mix and bake; Onde-Onde involves kneading, rolling, balling, boiling and then rolling again.

The balls are mostly just glutinous rice flour, sweet potato and pandan juice. After kneading it to the right consistency (under the strict direction of the Masterchef) you roll it out and cut them in the small bits.

Each bit is then filled with palm sugar.

Then rolled into balls and ready to boil.

Once they’re boiled they’re rolled in fresh coconut shavings and you’re done.

The recipe isn’t exactly hard, it just takes a lot of time considering each ball is made individually. But it’s so worth it. As soon as I popped one into my mouth and the palm sugar came oozing out … drool …  I’d died and gone to heaven – kuih heaven.