What is "klepon"

Klepon (pronounced Klê-pon) is a traditional rice cake from Java, Indonesia, and now popular in Indonesia and Malaysia. It is a boiled rice cake, stuffed with liquid gula jawa ( palm sugar), and rolled in grated coconut. Klepon is green because it is flavored with a paste made from the pandan or dracaena plant whose leaves are used widely in South East Asian cooking. In other parts of Indonesia, such as in Sulawesi, Sumatra and in neighboring Malaysia, klepon is known as onde-onde. However, in Java onde-onde refers to the Chinese Jin deui, a rice cake ball coated with sesame seeds and filled with sweet greenbean paste. Although popular across Southeast Asia, klepon may have originated in Java.

Klepon, along with getuk and cenil, are often eaten as morning or afternoon snacks. One must take care when consuming klepon, because a freshly boiled one usually contains hot palm sugar liquid.

In the 1950s, klepon was introduced by Indo immigrants to the Netherlands and is readily available in Dutch or Chinese Indonesian restaurants and supermarkets throughout the country.