Chendol Melaka (Siglap)

$6.70; prepared fresh in the mornings, ready ~10+/11am

Located in Soy Eu Tua coffee shop, Nyonya Novelties pink stall signage

Intensely aromatic, while not lacking in umami. The sambal belachan? was unique, jam like texture and while you expect it to be bitter, it was but a hint. Doesn't go easy on the heat ofc but it was sweet and very bright.

The chili really elevated the nasi ulam and the heat creeps up on you. First time trying this and find that it's absolutely delicious, despite the fear that it might be all aromatics and no flavour just from the picture

Nasi Ulam is such a rarity these days. I am sure it being terribly labourious to prepare is the main reason for that. And its limited availability leads to less awareness of this Peranakan rice salad, which equals to less demand. Sigh....
Anyway, if you miss eating this classic, or want to give it a try (in case one day it goes the way of the dinosaurs), you can get a good rendition from "Chendol Melaka", a little stall inside the coffeeshop at the corner of Upper East Coast Road and Jalan Tua Kong. Besides selling their namesake, they also have Nasi Ulam made the traditional way. Which means the rice packs an incredible amount of fragrance and flavours, thanks to the copious amounts of finely sliced and chopped up herbs and spices. This list includes laksa leaf, torch ginger flower, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf and many more. The vegetables, such as the four-cornered bean and long bean, are also cut into fine pieces before being tossed with the flakes of cooked fish and fluffy rice grains.
Served at room temperature, the Nasi Ulam is wonderful eaten on its own. You can however, add on some of their home-made sambal belachan if you like your food spicier. I think it's shiok either way.
As previously mentioned, this is not easy to make. Hence, quantity is limited. I recommend going to the stall early to avoid disappointment.

There are three basic ingredients to chendol - the green jelly like wormy thing called chendol, gula melaka (brownish coconut sugar) and coconut milk. First, coconut milk should be fresh for that fragrance, gula melaka should be thick and natural and not artificially sweetened, and most importantly the greenish chendol must be authentic and genuinely made from pandan, so it's tender with subtle pandan flavour. Chendol should look dirty green (don't eat any chendol that looks bright green, it's not the real stuff).
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This stall has its "chendol" (only the green stuffs) done right. In fact very well. The gula melaka was too watery and the fragrance from the coconut milk was lacking. Overall better than most definitely, but not good enough to deserve its reputation as one of the best in Singapore.

Nasi Ulam - Nasi means rice in Malay while ulam means the assortment of herbs. Cooking this dish is not difficult, but the preparation takes a lot of time. 17 different types of herbs and spices are mixed with rice. 

Read more: http://www.misstamchiak.com/chendol-melaka-jalan-tua-kong/

The chendol here is authentic! Don't have to drive all the way to Melaka to eat authentic Nonya Chendol. They have other Nonya kueh which is so nostalgic for me. Try their Nasi Ulam when you are there.