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Cendol, also known as lot chong (), mont let saung (), nom lut (), lod song () and bánh lọt, is a traditional dessert characterised by soft, green, worm-like Gelatine dessert strands made from rice flour or mung bean starch, coconut milk and palm sugar syrup, typically served over shaved ice. The jelly is flavoured with pandan and combined with a creamy coconut milk base and the caramel-like sweetness of palm sugar. It is widely consumed in Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, and forms an established component of Southeast Asian food culture, commonly sold by at roadsides, Hawker centre and .
The dessert has a long and complex history reflected in regional variations that incorporate local ingredients and culinary techniques. Additional toppings may include diced jackfruit, sweetened red Adzuki bean or durian. Although most commonly green, it also appears in other colours, and umami and Frying exist. It is served during festivals, religious observances and traditional ceremonies across Southeast Asia.
This deep-rooted ingredient base is reflected in the dessert’s broad geographic distribution across both mainland and maritime Southeast Asia. Related forms are documented among Vietnamese, Khmer people, Thai people and Bamar people on the mainland and among Javanese people, Sundanese people, Malay, Minangkabau and Bugis in the archipelagic region, supporting interpretation of its development as part of a shared regional culinary heritage rather than attribution to a single ethnic or geographic origin.
Some Thailand sources suggest that an earlier form of lot chong, known as nokploi, formed part of Indian cuisine, reflecting the influence of Hinduism and Brahmin food and ritual traditions in Southeast Asia. Historical evidence of Thai nokploi, typically served with coconut milk, dates back to the reign of Narai (approximately 1672–1688 CE), when a typical household dessert set included four types of sweets, known as the “four-cup dessert set.
Other culinary experts link cendol to the Iranian cuisine dessert faloodeh, which was adapted in India as falooda before spreading to Southeast Asia. In Indonesia, cendol is closely associated with the Javanese beverage dawet, documented for several centuries. References in the twelfth-century manuscript Kakawin Kresnayana indicate that sweet rice-flour drinks resembling cendol were known in the Kediri kingdom of East Java. Some sources also suggest a Hakka people connection, with bánh lọt potentially originating among Hakka communities and brought by migrants to maritime Southeast Asia, where it became a popular rice-based sweet beverage in Tropical climate.
The earliest known written records referring to cendol (spelled “tjendol” in old Dutch orthography) date to the mid-nineteenth century in the Dutch East Indies. One of the oldest documented references appears in the 1859 Makassarese–Dutch dictionary. On page 391, the entry describes “tjêndoló” or “tjêndoloka” as a type of local delicacy made either from rice or sago flour, cooked into a porridge, then pressed through a bamboo frame with small holes to form small granules. These granules were then mixed with coconut milk and consumed with syrup. An editorial note later in the volume (page 934, under “Corrections and Additions”) specifies that “het Mal tjendol” (“the Malay cendol”) should be added after the term “tjêndoloka,” indicating that the word cendol was recognised as a Malay language in the regional linguistic context.
The term “tjendol” continued to appear in nineteenth-century Dutch colonial dictionaries and cookbooks from the Dutch East Indies. A notable example is the 1866 Oost-Indisch kookboek (East Indies Cookbook), which includes a recipe titled “ Tjendol of Dawet,” reflecting that cendol and dawet were already regarded as interchangeable terms at that time. Further lexical documentation appears in Jan Pijnappel’s 1869 Supplement op het Maleisch-Nederduitsch Woordenboek (Supplement to the Malay–Dutch Dictionary), where tjendol is described as a drink or semi-liquid preparation made from sago, coconut milk, sugar, and salt. Together, these nineteenth-century sources demonstrate that cendol was already a well-established preparation in the Malay–Indonesian world, recognised in both culinary practice and formal Linguistics.
In British Malaya, the term chendul was recorded as early as 1894 in a Malay-English dictionary compiled by British administrators Hugh Clifford and Frank Swettenham in Taiping, Perak.Clifford, H. C., Swettenham, F. A. (1894). A Dictionary of the Malay Language. Malaysia: authors at the Government's printing Office. It was defined as a liquid preparation made from cooked sago passed through a sieve and mixed with coconut milk, salt and sugar. By 1932, chendol appeared among the foodstuffs available in Kuala Lumpur, as documented in the Malay Concordance Project.
In Thailand, lod chong has a long history and even features religious symbolism. The oldest known Thai cuisine, found in Tamra Kap Khao Phiset by Mae Ob Chao Ka, second edition 1927, describes the dessert Narai Banthom Sin green pandan lod chong, as representing Vishnu resting in the cosmic ocean. The recipe instructs the pandan flavored dough to be pressed through a wide wooden mold into water, forming the strands characteristic of lod chong, demonstrating the integration of Hindu cosmology into Thai culinary traditions.
In addition to its culinary history, lot chong became part of Thai social life and urban culture. In the early to mid-20th century, a version known as “Singapore lod chong” became popular around cinema districts in Bangkok, particularly near Yaowarat Road’s Singapore Pochana restaurant. Young people would often enjoy the dessert before or after watching films, making it a symbol of leisure and urban social gatherings.
One notable version is found in Phetchaburi, where lot chong is served with sweetened coconut milk and locally produced palm sugar, which is poured over the dish at the end rather than mixed into the coconut milk, producing a distinct caramel-like flavour. Beyond its role in daily life, lot chong is also associated with festivals and traditional ceremonies, highlighting its cultural significance as both a sweet treat and a marker of Thai identity.
A notable dessert application of bánh lọt is chè ba màu (“three-colour dessert”), a layered sweet commonly sold by street vendors and dessert stalls in southern Vietnam. It typically consists of green bánh lọt strands, sweetened red beans, yellow mung bean paste, shaved ice and coconut milk. The dish is closely associated with urban food culture in Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta and is commonly consumed as a cooling dessert during warm weather and festive or market occasions.
As bánh lọt entered urban food culture, it diversified into numerous forms. In addition to sweet versions, it was adapted into Umami, including Stir frying preparations with eggs and vegetables, noodle soups served with pork or shrimp, and mixed dishes combining the strands with plain white noodles. This versatility allowed bánh lọt to move beyond its original role as a dessert and become incorporated into everyday meals. From the south, it gradually reached central and northern Vietnam, although it remained less common in the north and was often regarded as a specialised or regional cuisine sweet.
The development of bánh lọt also reflects Chinese cuisine, particularly from Cantonese and Hakka traditions. Within southern Vietnamese communities, the dish has been correlated with Chinese-descended groups, and related names appear in Chinese dialects, such as mi kim bac in Hong Kong, banh mat ray in Cantonese, and mi ti chuot in Hakka, which describe its shape and preparation. hoa people are often credited with introducing techniques for pressing rice dough into thin strands, which were subsequently adapted using local ingredients and flavour profiles. Over time, Vietnamese cooks further expanded these influences, producing a wide range of sweet, savoury, and dry preparations that contributed to bánh lọt’s popularity in southern Vietnamese cuisine.
Mont let saung is strongly associated with Thingyan, the Myanmar New Year Water Festival, where it is often prepared and distributed by satuditha donors to revellers. Mont let saung also appears as an ingredient in the Burmese dessert shwe yin aye, reflecting the integration of this rice jelly-based preparation into multi-ingredient sweet dishes and its role in festive and communal culinary traditions.
In Java, the term dawet generally refers to the complete beverage comprising green cendol jellies, usually made from aren (Arenga pinnata) sago or rice flour, served with coconut milk and liquid gula jawa or palm sugar syrup. In Banjarnegara, Central Java, dawet has traditionally been served without ice. However, the addition of or shaved ice is now common.
In Indonesia, cendol is frequently served with additional ingredients such as tapai (fermented sweet cassava), Grass jelly, diced jackfruit, durian flesh and sweetened or chocolate condensed milk. Serving styles vary by region, with cendol typically presented in tall glasses in Java, while in West Sumatra it is more commonly served in bowls. Textural quality is considered an important characteristic of the dish, and achieving the desired chewiness depends on maintaining a balanced proportion of rice flour and sago flour in the jelly mixture.
Numerous regional variations exist across Indonesia, reflecting local ingredients and culinary practices. In Central Java, Javanese es dawet ayu from Banjarnegara is a well known regional style, while another variant, es dawet ireng from Purworejo, features black cendol. Ireng is the Javanese word for “black”, and unlike the green pandan coloured jelly, this variant derives its colour from merang, the ash of burned rice stalks mixed with water. In Bayat Village in Klaten Regency and Jabung Village in Ponorogo Regency, cendol is made from aren flour, producing a pale and translucent appearance.
In Karanganyar Regency, dawet ungu, a purple variant, is prepared using sweet potato, while dawet beras from Tegal is made from rice flour and is white in colour. In Tegal, the drink is traditionally prepared by striking a lime into a bowl before adding the cendol and liquid palm sugar. A well known speciality from Surakarta (Solo) is dawet telasih, which combines cendol with black sticky rice, rice pudding, fermented sticky rice, basil seeds, coconut milk, sweetened syrup, and ice. In West Sumatra, cendol, locally known as cindua, commonly appears in two colours, green and red, reflecting local ingredient preferences and colouring practices, with the red variant prepared from a mixture of sago palm flour and rice flour and coloured using extract derived from gambier sap.
In regions such as Penang, cendol became deeply embedded in local food culture, initially sold by itinerant street vendors before becoming a staple of permanent hawker stalls. Localisation occurred through the culinary practices and preferences of different communities, and the dessert has long been consumed by Malay, Peranakan, Chinese and Indian populations, while also being documented in colonial-era sources as a distinctive regional specialty. Over time, a range of variations developed with the addition of ingredients such as red beans, creamed corn, glutinous rice, durian, ice cream and additional shaved ice. In some areas, coconut milk is replaced with santan sawit (Palm kernel milk) in a variant commonly known as cendol sawit.
Drawing on this tradition, ais kacang developed as a more elaborate shaved ice dessert, combining a variety of ingredients such as red beans, sweet corn, grass jelly, attap chee (Arecaceae), and coloured syrups, often topped with a drizzle of condensed milk. In many Malaysian variations, cendol continues to serve as a central component, linking ais kacang directly to its earlier forms and highlighting the continuity of the region’s hawker dessert culture.
In Malaysia, cendol has been officially designated as a heritage food by the Department of National Heritage. In Singapore, cendol is included in the Submission to UNESCO for the Nomination of Hawker Culture, reflecting its status as a culturally significant dish within the city-state’s street-food tradition.
In Javanese culture, cendol plays a ceremonial role during the Midodareni ceremony, held a day before the wedding. Parents perform the dodol dawet (“selling dawet”) ritual after the siraman bridal shower, offering cendol to guests who pay with terracotta coins later given to the bride as a symbol of family earnings. This ritual expresses the parents’ hope that the wedding will be well attended, “as plentiful as the cendol jellies being sold,” while reinforcing prosperity, community participation, and blessings for the newlyweds.
Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei
In Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, cendol developed within the broader context of urban Hawker centre, particularly in port and trading centres, where it adapted to local preferences while retaining its essential elements of rice flour jelly, coconut milk and palm sugar syrup. During the British Malaya, the increased availability of commercially produced ice, especially in major Malayan ports such as Malacca and Penang, contributed to the widespread emergence of iced versions of the dessert. Ice brought ashore from Refrigeration trading vessels was utilised by local vendors, who combined it with existing components such as coconut milk, palm sugar and various toppings, including Red bean.
Cultural role
Intangible cultural heritage
Cendol is formally recognised as part of the National dish of several Southeast Asian countries. In Indonesia, five regional traditions of cendol preparation have been recognized as intangible cultural heritage by the Ministry of Education and Culture. Three Javanese cuisine traditions, dawet, dawet camcau and dawet sambel, were registered in 2010 and 2018 under Yogyakarta province. Es cendol was recognized in 2016 under West Java, while cendol was recognized in 2020 under Riau Islands.
Cindolo in the Bugis house relocation ceremony
Cindolo is associated with mabbule bola, a traditional house relocation ceremony among the Bugis of South Sulawesi in which a stilt house is collectively lifted and repositioned by community members. Following the completion of the relocation, cindolo, prepared from glutinous rice flour, palm sugar, and coconut milk, is customarily served as refreshment for participants. The practice functions as an expression of communal reciprocity and hospitality and reflects the wider concept of mutual cooperation, as well as social cohesion and collective responsibility within Bugis customary society.
Mont let saung and cendol in festivals and celebrations
In Myanmar, mont let saung is commonly consumed during Thingyan, the Burmese New Year, as part of the festive celebrations. Across other parts of Southeast Asia, cendol is a traditional dessert featured in cultural and religious festivals. In Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore, it is particularly popular for Break fast during Ramadan, typically served with shaved ice and palm sugar syrup. Its refreshing qualities make it well suited to the tropical climate, and it is often included alongside other local sweets in festive meals.
Symbolism in wedding rituals
Lod chong in Thailand and cendol ( dawet) in Java, Indonesia hold important symbolic roles in traditional wedding ceremonies, reflecting cultural values and auspicious wishes for the couple. In Thai weddings, lod chong, historically called nokploi (“released bird”), is served as part of the four-cup dessert set (ชุดขนมกินสี่ถ้วย). It represents enduring and smooth love, alongside other sweets symbolising fertility, blossoming affection and steadfastness. The dessert’s green colour and noodle-like form evoke parrot, which in Thai folklore signify fidelity and auspiciousness. Its inclusion in the wedding set reflects Brahmin influence from South India, integrating symbolic meanings of nature, love and prosperity.
See also
External links
Categories: Frozen Desserts, Indonesian Desserts, Malaysian Cuisine, Non-alcoholic Drinks, Singaporean Cuisine, Bruneian Cuisine, Foods Containing Coconut, Malay Words And Phrases, Burmese Cuisine, Thai Desserts And Snacks, Indonesian Words And Phrases, Street Food In Indonesia, Burmese Desserts And Snacks, Vietnamese Desserts, Cambodian Desserts, Laotian Desserts, Cuisine Of Timor-leste, Rice Flour Dishes, Javanese Cuisine
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