Tub Tim Grob (Red Ruby Coconut Milk Dessert)

Ingredients

• 300 g Fresh water chestnuts, peeled and diced into 1 cm cubes
• 1 tsp Red food colouring, liquid; sufficient for a deep red
• 100 g Tapioca flour, not tapioca pearls; for coating
• For the sweet coconut milk
• 500 ml Coconut milk, full-fat; chilled after sweetening
• 60 g Palm sugar, shaved or chopped
• 1 pinch Salt
• To serve
• 250 g Crushed ice, prepared just before service

Method

1. 1
   Place the diced water chestnuts in a bowl, add the red food colouring, and toss to coat evenly so the colour penetrates the cut surfaces rather than sitting as a thin film that will wash off in the boiling water. Set aside for 10 minutes. The pieces are ready when the colour is absorbed and the surface is uniformly deep red.
2. 2
   Add the tapioca flour to the bowl and toss the water chestnuts until every surface is coated, so each piece carries an even layer that will cook into a smooth, unbroken shell rather than a patchy one with thin spots. Shake off any loose excess. The coating should be dry and opaque white — no bare patches visible.
3. 3
   Bring a generous volume of water to a full boil and drop in the coated water chestnuts, stirring immediately so the pieces do not cling together and fuse before the coating sets. This is where the dish lives or dies: at 60 seconds the coating remains powdery and under-gelatinised; beyond 2 minutes it begins to dissolve and lose structural integrity. Cook for exactly 90 seconds, at which point the coating turns from opaque white to translucent and acquires its characteristic chewy resilience.
4. 4
   Lift the pieces immediately with a slotted spoon and rinse under cold running water so that the heat inside the coating is arrested at once and the outer surface does not continue softening on its way to the bowl. The coating should feel slightly yielding under gentle pressure, with the firm water chestnut detectable within.
5. 5
   Combine the coconut milk, palm sugar, and salt in a saucepan over low heat, stirring until the sugar is fully dissolved; keeping the heat low prevents the coconut milk from splitting and turning grainy, which would break the clean, silky sweetness you are after. Remove from the heat, cool to room temperature, then chill completely. The liquid should taste sweet with a clean saline edge.
6. 6
   At service, place a mound of crushed ice in each bowl and pour the cold sweetened coconut milk over the ice so the liquid chills instantly on contact rather than melting the ice into a diluted pool. Float the coated water chestnut pieces on top. The coconut milk should be visibly cold, with the ice intact and the red jewels resting on the surface.