Tub Tim Grob

Wey came into the kitchen yesterday and pointed an accusing finger at the bowl of colorful jewels I was stirring, and said: "So, you are using artificial colors! Didn't you say not to eat anything with articifial colors??" Guilty as charged, son, but the colors mainly were for the photos. I abhor anything colored unnaturally, and at the wet market, the ladies who sell fresh 'oily' noodles know that I would only buy the light-color noodles. It is a very Asian thing to color most desserts, and colors can range from bright pastel pink (as in air bandung, which I'd sip with a lot of fear) to green-colored unripe mangoes to red sticky kueh kosuie). Most of these colors are not approved by the health authorities but are used rampantly.

Tub tim grob means red rubies in coconut milk, but I find the tapioca-covered water chestnuts to look very much like pomegranate seeds. This is a Thai dessert that my friend K of Ohio loves, and it's been years since I last made it. My jackfruit tree, given to me by K, has been producing a lot of fruits recently and so I decided to make this simple but very refreshing and addictive dessert. Tub tim grob is fantastic after a big barbie meal because the water chestnuts, shaved ice and coconut milk will cool your body. I think tub tim grob is a variation of the most famous (and yummy) Malaysian dessert, ais batu campur (acronym being ABC). Now ABC, that's another thing to blog about, another day.

Tub Tim Grob (6 servings)
300g peeled fresh water chestnuts
1 1/2 cups (approx) tapioca flour
4 pieces fresh pandan leaves
6 large red dates (optional)
150g palm sugar (gula melaka) or white sugar
1 1/2 cup water
2 cups fresh thick coconut milk (no substitute please)
1/2 t salt
3 to 4 cups shaved or crushed ice
A large bowl of ice water
2 cups jackfruit, sliced finely

1. Cut the water chestnuts into small cubes, about 0.5 mm square or slightly larger. Use liquid color if like. If you are like me, omit the colors or use natural plant colors like the pandan leaves. Toss the colored water chestnuts in lots of tapioca flour, the more flour sticking to the water chestnuts the better.



2. Put the thick coconut milk and salt into a small pot and heat it until just before it boils. Let cool completely and chill.

3. Boil about 3 litres of water in a medium-sized pot. Using a coarse sieve, shake off the excess flour and drop half the coated water chestnuts into the boiling water, using a fork to stir the water well so that the water chestnuts will not stick together. After about a minute, the water chestnuts will rise to the top. Using a slotted spoon, scoop out the water chestnuts and put them into the bowl of ice water (so they won't stick and also maintain a good bite), stirring again so they won't stick together. Put into fridge. Repeat with the remaining water chestnuts.

For home consumption, do not color the water chestnuts (back).

4. Put the 1 1/2 cup water, the pandan leaves, red dates and sugar into a small pot and boil until the syrup is thickened, but not too thick because upon cooling the syrup will thicken further. The syrup should just coat the back of a metal spoon and run off immediately. Throw away the pandan leaves. Pour the syrup through a fine sieve to remove any residue if using palm sugar.

Remember to strain if using gula melaka.

5. To serve, put a bit of shaved ice into a bowl, add some water chestnuts, a red date, some jackfruit, lots of coconut milk and some syrup. Enjoy, and forget about the coconut oil that's running into your blood vessels.