Steam taro with pandan leaves over medium heat for 20 minutes, until very soft. (Reminder: The taro used in this recipe is Pinang Taro.)
Add salt, sugar, and coconut milk to steamed taro, and blend until smooth. Cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes, until you have a smooth paste. (Reminder: This recipe uses fresh coconut milk without any additives, the coconut oil content is higher, thus no additional oil is added. If using boxed coconut milk, you may need to add some oil as the coconut oil content is lower.)
When cooled, divide filling into 15 portions (each about 24 g).
For crystal kee chang:
Bring a small pot of water to boil, rinse sago pearls with hot boiling water, and drain off the water.
Combine sugar, alkaline water, cooking oil and water, stir until sugar has dissolved. Add to sago gradually, mix until combined. Set aside to soak for 30-35 minutes, until water has been fully absorbed, stir 2-3 times in between soaking.
Divide soaked sago into 15 portions (each about 44 g).
Making Taro Paste Crystal Kee Chang:
Rinse bamboo string with water (to prevent it from breaking easily).
Fold 2 pieces of bamboo leaves into cup shape, put half portion of sago into cup, make a hole in the center, add in taro paste, top with the remaining sago to cover the filling completely. Wrap the dumpling properly, then tie with bamboo string, trim off extra bamboo leaf with scissors.
Arrange dumplings in steamer rack. Bring water of steamer to a boil, put in dumplings, and steam over medium-high heat for 17 minutes. Off the heat, allow dumplings to stay for 10-15 minutes before taking them out.
Set aside to cool before serving. (Reminder: Keep them refrigerated for storage, steam again and let it cools down before serving.)
Video
Notes
This recipe yields 15 pieces of dumplings.The nutritional value for reference is for 1 dumpling.