A healthy dessert?!

Who doesn’t love desserts right?! Singaporeans love dessert, cold or warm. I personally would find excuses just to get a scoop of ice cream or even a cooling Cendol. My best excuse is – the weather.

So if you are a dessert lover and need an excuse to eat a dessert, here’s one. Let me take you back to the early 1930s. Singapore is still a hot and sunny island, we established that have not changed. But what change is the desserts in Singapore.

Back then; Cheng Tng was among the most popular dessert in Singapore. Cheng Tng come served in a clear glass bowl. Cheng Tng is a dessert that consists of various common ingredients such as fried longan, barley, gingko nuts, lotus seeds, red dates, sago, sweet potato, winter melon and it goes on and on and on. These chosen ingredients are soaked in a saturated broth with fragrance from Pandan leaves.

Most common Cheng Tng consists of red dates, dried longan, gingko nuts, and barley. It is boiled and cooked with the broth.

Have I mentioned that this dessert can be served cold or hot? Yup folks, you can serve it hot or cold depending on your preference and more likely the weather of the day too.

Photo credit: PinkyPinggu

Here’s some fun fact for you:

1. This dessert can be found in many hawker centres. Although, many Singaporeans predict that it would be extinct from our local food culture.

2. This dessert is so easy, you can actually do it at home for a much cheaper price (one Cheng Tng is about $2 - $3).

3. This is actually a very healthy dessert. The ingredients used in the dessert carry significant health benefits such as follows:

Red Dates:

• Stimulates the production of white blood cells, which improves immunity

• Decreases cholesterols level in your bloodstream, which helps protect the live

• Calming effect on the nervous system

Gingko Nuts

• Lowering cholesterol level

• Protection against cancer

Interesting isn’t it? So next time you crave of a (healthy) dessert, you know what to order for yourself!

Here are the my best Cheng Tng stalls in Singapore:

• No Name Cheng Tng – Blk 69 Bedok South Avenue 3, #01-468.

• Ye Lai Xiang Hot and Cold Cheng Tng – Stall 31, Bedok Corner Food Centre, 1 Bedok Road.