Getuk ubi is a soft, dense cake of steamed cassava mashed while hot with a little sugar and salt and pressed firmly into a tray. It is finished with a moist layer of grated coconut cooked in gula melaka syrup, so each square pairs plain, gently sweet cassava with a caramel-rich coconut top. Makes 16 pieces in about 2 hr 15 min.
Prep25 min
Cook50 min
Cooling1 hr
Total
2 hr 15 min
Yield
16 pieces
DietGluten free, Vegan
Ingredients
Adjust yield
pieces
Scales from a half to a double batch; give a bigger batch a little more time.
2 lb (900 g)cassava (tapioca root), peeled, cut into 3-inch (7.5 cm) chunks, woody core removed (about 750 g prepared)
¼ oz (6 g)pandan leaves, 2 leaves, knotted
⅓ cup (70 g)granulated sugar
¼ tsp (2 g)fine salt, for the cassava base
1 tsp (5 ml)neutral oil, for the pan
6 tbsp (80 g)gula melaka (palm sugar), chopped
2 ½ tbsp (40 ml)water
¼ oz (3 g)pandan leaf, 1 leaf, knotted
1 ⅔ cups (200 g)fresh grated coconut, white part only, or thawed frozen unsweetened
Rinse the cassava chunks, lay them in a steamer with the 2 knotted pandan leaves and steam over high heat until completely soft and easily pierced all the way through with a knife, 35 to 45 minutes.
Grease the pan with the neutral oil and line the base with parchment.
Working while the cassava is hot, discard the pandan, pull out any remaining stringy fibers and mash the cassava with a potato masher or pestle together with the granulated sugar and 2 g fine salt until smooth and sticky.
Press the mash firmly and evenly into the pan with an oiled spatula.
For the topping, simmer the gula melaka, water and knotted pandan leaf in a wok or pan, stirring, until the sugar melts, about 3 minutes. Strain out any grit and return to the pan.
Add the fresh grated coconut, coconut milk, cornstarch and the pinch of salt and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the coconut has absorbed the liquid and looks moist but clumps together, 6 to 8 minutes. Discard the pandan leaf.
Spread the warm coconut topping evenly over the cassava and press it down lightly.
Let the cake cool to room temperature, about 1 hour, then cut with an oiled knife into 16 squares.
Tips
Mash the cassava while it is hot; once cool it turns stiff and lumpy.
Remove every bit of the woody core and fibers, which stay tough even after steaming.
Use frozen peeled cassava chunks if fresh root is hard to find; steam from thawed.
Contains coconut; check with your doctor if you avoid tree nuts.
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How long does it take to make getuk ubi (pressed cassava cake with sweet coconut)?
Plan on 25 minutes of prep and 50 minutes of cooking, plus 1 hour to rest. The recipe makes 16 pieces.
How should I store getuk ubi (pressed cassava cake with sweet coconut)?
Best the day it is made. Cover and keep at room temperature up to 8 hours, or refrigerate up to 2 days and steam 5 minutes to soften before serving.
Can I make getuk ubi (pressed cassava cake with sweet coconut) ahead?
It is at its best the day it is made; prepare it a few hours before serving.
Is this recipe vegan?
Yes, as written. Check that packaged ingredients such as chocolate, sprinkles and plant butter are labeled vegan.
Javanese in origin (getuk singkong) and made by Malay and Nyonya cooks in Singapore and Malaysia, getuk ubi is steamed cassava mashed with sugar and salt while hot, pressed into a tray and covered with grated coconut cooked in gula melaka. Serve it with hot black coffee (kopi-o).
Variations
Javanese style: skip the palm sugar topping, mash 100 g (1/2 cup packed) gula melaka into the hot cassava instead of the granulated sugar, and serve with 150 g plain grated coconut steamed with a pinch of salt for 5 minutes.
Pandan layer: mash half the cassava with 15 ml pandan juice for a green layer, press it over the plain layer, then add the topping; times unchanged.
Bite-size rolls: shape the mash into 24 small logs and roll them in the coconut topping instead of using a pan; skip the 1-hour cooling.
Estimated · per serving
Nutrition
Per serving = 1 of 16 servings this recipe makes.
192Calories / serving
5.0gFat
37.5gCarbs
1.3gProtein
14.3gSugar
Whole recipe (16 servings):
~3072 cal ·
80g fat ·
600g carbs ·
21g protein ·
229g sugar
Estimated values per serving, calculated from standard ingredient data. Not verified Nutrition Facts; actual values vary with brands, measurements, and preparation.
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