Origins Of Cendol: Singaporean, Malaysian, Or Javanese? | On The Red Dot: Food Fight - Part 4/4

In an article about 50 of the world’s best desserts, CNN called cendol a Singapore creation. Malaysia went green with envy.

Food Fight sent host Chef Ming on a quest to get to the bottom of the dessert debate. What better place to settle the dispute of who created cendol than at Malacca? After all, a key ingredient of cendol is the gooey gula melaka named after the city itself. Surely if the founder of cendol is to be found, it would be in Malacca.

Instead of a straight answer, Ming is sent to Kuala Lumpur to chase down a surprising lead which takes him to another country, not Singapore, to attend a wedding where he unearths a plot twist to the story behind the creation of cendol. So, who wins the sweet victory in the end?

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About On The Red Dot: CNA's weekly programme documents the stories of ordinary Singaporeans and celebrates their resilience, identity and sense of belonging.
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[ShaerynNaggaryan]

Cendol is an ancient Javanese food and has been written in the Kresnayana manuscript (12th century AD)

Ancient Javanese food from the 9th century AD that still exists today

1.Dawet/Cendol -> kresnayana manuscript (12 AD)
2. Pecel -> ramayana manuscript (870 AD)
3. Wajik -> Nawaruci Manuscript (1533 AD)
4. Rawon -> bhomakarya manuscript Kediri Kingdom (900 AD)
5. Kerupuk -> Ramayana Manuscript (870 AD)
6. Dodol -> Prasasti Sanguran (928 AD)
7. Gurame fish -> Prasasti Taji (910 AD)
8. Rujak -> Prasasti Paradah (943 AD)
9. Salted fish -> Bhomakarya, Kediri Kingdom (900 AD)
10. Jadah -> Nawaruci Manuscript, Majapahit Kingdom. (14 AD)
11. Urap -> Prasasti Linggasuntan (929 AD)
12. Tape/Tapai Ketan -> Ramayana Manuscript (9 AD)
13. Lalapan -> Prasasti Jeru-Jeru, Medang/Ancient Mataram (930 AD)
14. Beef Déndéng -> Prasasti Taji (901 AD)

Keep barking, neighbour 🤪

[chocobrowniewin]

Malaysia and Singapore are the kids that argue who did it better, while mommy Indonesia shakes her head in the corner.

[diosundoro]

Every disputed SEAsian food ever:
🇸🇬: mine!
🇲🇾: mine!
🇮🇩: we have the manuscripts

[annissabilaa]

Makasih banget sama para ahli di indonesia yang bener" mempelajari asal usul budaya indonesia sehingga dapat mempertahankan citranya 🥰

Even without all the Javanese manuscripts, it's very easy to say that cendol must not have come from Malaysia nor Singapore. Their version of cendol is always served on shaved ice, which is only possible by means of modern-day freezers.

[kitarvin]

Cendol is mentioned in the Kresnayana manuscript, which dates back to the 12th century Kediri Kingdom, in Java.

[koplak]

Yang hebat itu orang INDIA..dia tidak meng clamp punya india. Tapi dia bilang dari JAVA..begitulah kalau dr negara yg memiliki banuak budaya..dia bangga dgn bidayanya dan tak suka mengakui budaya orang lain..SALUT buat ORANG INDIA

[energihijau]

Akhirnya CNA insider mau mempertegas dari mana cendol sesungguhnya berasal.... terima kasih atas kerja keras tim CNA .🎉🎉🎉

[irmansyahfii]

Itulah kenapa sejarah harus dijaga dan dihormati, bukan hanya sekedar membangun ekonomi tetapi aspek sejarah dilupakan

[MuhammadAthallahArsyaf]

The overwhelming feeling of satisfaction when the Indian vendor uttered the word ‘Java’ when asked about the origin, and he was able to give a simple justification on why it didn’t come from India 😂

[Therizinosaurus]

Kudos for the Indian cendol seller for actually telling the truth and doing his research. It's from Java, Indonesia. The oldest document for Cendol is from Java, Indonesia. You can look it up on Google, numerous sites mentioned this, doesn't take even 10 seconds to find one.
Indonesian immigrants brought the recipe to Malaysia and Singapore. Then spread to Neighboring ASEAN countries like Thailand, etc.
Funny how native Malaysian are the ones barking the loudest about how it's their food.

[nowsewing]

Bangsa yang baik adalah bangsa yang menghargai asal-usul sebuah budaya.

[Ffdipedie]

the beginning of the problem was because Singapore and Malaysia incorporated Javanese into what they called Malay, even though Malays and Javanese had never been one name. Malays are Malays, and Javanese are Javanese. Incorporating Javanese into Malay is a political decision by Malaysia to make the Malay community a majority compared to Chinese and Indians in the country. You can see Javanese people everywhere will still be Javanese, in Suriname, New Caledonia, the Netherlands and others, they are not called Malay, and they don't even know what Malay is. because of Malaysia's racial concept, there are many disputes, Malaysians feel that all ethnicities in Indonesia are the same as them, and ethnicities in Indonesia, on the other hand, do not feel the same. because they actually differ in culture, language, culinary and even religion. Malaysia's racial concept has destroyed ethnic harmony in Southeast Asia. not only degrading Chinese and Indians under Malay supremacy, but also considering there are no other ethnicities, there are only Malays. Even though the Malays are an ethnic minority with around 40 million worldwide, it is too few to be what they claim to be a Malay race. There is no concept of the Malay race outside of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. because Southeast Asia is an Austronesian society as a sub-Mongoloid RACE

[yitnawulan]

i love singaporean people, they know how to accept the fact.

[tessaayuningtyassugito]

When I was 9-month-old baby, in 1990 my parents opened Central Javanese Restaurant in West Jakarta. Weirdly enough they named the restaurant Pondol-Pondok Es Cendol despite the fact that we serve varieties of Central Javanese Cuisines.

Almost 33 years later, we are still standing serving premium Cendol (you can choose varieties of toppings in our rest.; durian, kopyor/macapuno, young coconut, jackfruit, tape ketan/fermented glutinous rice, even ice cream for more modern twist) and other traditional Central Javanese desserts. My brother and I are beyond grateful for this humble dessert. Ocean of Cendol literally paid our tuition fee in Europe & US.

I came back from Finland after graduating as a food scientist to help my dad running the business since 2015, after my mom passed away. Feel free to come by and try our version of Cendol.

Since both of my parents are from Central Java, our cendol is considered Dawet, slightly different from the Cendol from Bandung. For more firm chewy texture, we use mainly mungbean flour instead of rice flour.

Thank you CNA Insider for making this. Truly interesting & elaborate research about Cendol.

[arizals]

Sebagai orang indonesia, sebenarnya kami bangga apabila makanan indonesia juga dapat dinikmati oleh negara-negara lain. Tetapi apabila makanan tersebut diklaim oleh negara-negara lain, maka kami merasa tidak rela. Oleh karena bagi kami makanan tidak hanya sebuah masakan, tetapi juga warisan dari nenek moyang kami

[peacechan]

I found it interesting that in Singapore and Malaysia cendol is a shave ice dessert. While Indonesian cendol is basically Indonesian bubble milk drink

[robbyburnpipe]

I'm from Sarawak. And I absolutely sure that Indonesia are the 1st to introduce Cendol in Malaysia.

[yueliew]

When the Chinese Malaccan and Penangnite married Javanese (and Malay) to form what is known as Peranakan, the Javanese bride/groom brought the Cendol knowledge with them. The Melaka cendol seller mentioned cendol was for happy occasions (but doesn't know its from Java) which resonate with the video later showing Dawet was serve at Java weddings...My great grandma was a Malaccan peranakan and often told us cendol was from our Java ancestors side...

[alphazar]

I’m Malaysian. There’s a famous cendol shop in my hometown run by an Indian Muslim. His shop was the oldest cendol shop around, since before merdeka.
One day the newspaper published an interview with the owner of the cendol shop. He said his late father learned to make cendol in Java, his father then migrated to Malaya and opened a cendol stall in the 1930’s. The cendol shop owner still keeps the newspaper, laminated and displayed proudly.