Che Dua Non Rau Cau (Young Coconut Soup with Pandan Agar), Sweetened with Monk Fruit

Method

1. Rinse the pandan leaves, cut them small, blend them with 100ml water and strain, keeping 100ml pandan extract.
2. Mix 5g soft agar jelly powder with 90g kOBE Monk Fruit Blend. Bring about 600ml water to a boil, pour in the sweetener and agar mixture and stir until dissolved.
3. Add 100ml pandan extract to the pot, stir, turn off the heat, pour it into a mold and leave it to set.
4. Rinse the young coconut meat and cut it into strands. Put the tapioca pearls into a pot of cold water and boil until they turn clear, then turn off the heat.
5. Drain the tapioca pearls, add 300ml water and 400ml coconut milk to the pot and stir.
6. Once it boils, add the remaining 180g kOBE Monk Fruit Blend and the coconut strands, stir, cook for about 5 more minutes and turn off the heat.
7. Turn the agar out of the mold and cut it into strands the size of the coconut. Wait until the soup is cool, then stir the jelly in.

Tips

• The soup is much better cold with a few ice cubes.
• Cut the agar the same size as the coconut strands so the bowl looks even.
• Mixing the agar powder with the sweetener before it hits the boiling water keeps it from clumping.
• Wait until the soup is fully cool before the jelly goes in, since heat softens and melts the strands.
• The sweetness reads more clearly once the soup cools, so hold off on adding more while it is still hot.