Lod Chong (Pandan Noodles in Coconut Milk), Sweetened with Monk Fruit

Method

1. Set a pot over the stove, pour in 500ml fresh coconut milk, add 315g kOBE Monk Fruit Blend and half a teaspoon of salt, and warm it over the lowest heat. Drop in a few pandan leaves tied together for fragrance.
2. Stir gently until everything dissolves, and the moment the coconut milk shows its first small bubbles take it off the heat so it does not split. Let it cool.
3. Blend the pandan leaves with 1.5 liters of clear limewater, then strain out the green juice.
4. Mix 200g rice flour, 50g tapioca starch and 40g mung bean flour, pour the pandan liquid in slowly and stir until no lumps remain.
5. Strain the batter into a pot and cook over low heat, stirring steadily, until it thickens. It is done when a spoonful falls in a thick ribbon and the color turns translucent.
6. Set out a bowl of iced water. Load the batter into a noodle press and press it down into the ice water. Leave the noodles 5 to 7 minutes, then lift them out and drain.
7. Spoon the lod chong into glasses, pour over the cooked coconut milk and add ice.

Tips

• Without a noodle press, a plastic bag with the corner snipped off works like a piping bag.
• Butterfly pea flower, gardenia seeds or beetroot give the noodles a different color.
• The batter is cooked when a spoonful falls in a thick, trailing ribbon and looks translucent, since a cloudy batter presses into broken strands.
• Chill the noodles in a bowl of ice water 5 to 7 minutes to firm them up, as pulling them out early leaves them limp.
• Take the coconut liquid off the heat at the first small bubbles, since a hard boil splits it.