Ode to Ondeh Ondeh

My inner Singaporean compels me to introduce everyone to another of my local dessert favorites, Ondeh Ondeh. These  to-die-for glutinous rice flour balls, filled with palm sugar and rolled in grated coconut, are a breakfast or dessert mainstay in Singapore and Malaysia. Pandan juice gives it a pleasant shade of green.

This dessert treat was at the table whenever my aunts popped in for visits. It is a little more difficult to find now, so you can still find it at selected restaurants and bakeries.

I use the Epulaeryu poetic format once again to pay tribute to this popular dessert. Here it is for those who are not familiar with it.

An Epulaeryu consists of seven lines in total.

Each line follows a specific syllable count:

The first line has seven syllables.

The second line has ten syllables.

The third line has seven syllables.

The fourth line has seven syllables.

The fifth line has ten syllables.

The sixth line has seven syllables.

The seventh line, also known as the "dessert line," summarizes the feeling or experience of the food and contains seven syllables.

Here is one:

Green mounds filled with joyful love

Are covered in grated sheets of white snow

Settle on pink rolling plane

That curls in frenzied delight

A savory explosion

Yet sugary addition

A treat both tangy and sweet.