Mama Wong’s Bubur Cha Cha
My mother taught me how to make this dessert as she was making it for Chinese New Year this year ; a week before I flew off to another country. I grew up eating bubur cha cha because my grandfather loves eating potatoes. My mother would place it in little cups and freeze them so we could have it like ice cream/ice potong. Please bare with me as I know that bubur cha cha has more than just orange sweet potatoes. You could add yam, purple sweet potatoes etc. It is cheaper for me to buy orange sweet potatoes here as yam can be pretty expensive. So I had to improvised but without a doubt, my mother guided me through this via video call.
Hand Rolled Sweet Potato Balls:
* 250 g orange sweet potato, peeled and sliced (you can substitute it with pumpkin too!)
* 100 g tapioca starch
* 1 -2 tsp sugar, or to taste
* water (if needed)
1. In a steamer, steam the sweet potato for 30 minutes.
2. Mash the steamed potato with a fork and add tapioca starch along with sugar. Knead it until dough is formed. It should be firm enough to not stick to your hands.
(Note: The amount of tapioca starch needed will vary for each dough because of the different levels of moisture. If you find the dough too dry, knead in 1 tbsp water at a time until you have the desired consistency. Using less starch will mean a softer ball while more starch will make chewier ball)
3. Take a small handful of the dough and roll them up into little balls or long and cut them into little pillows.
4. Bring a pot of water to boil and cook the balls until they float.
5. Transfer the cooked sweet potato balls into a bowl of room temperature water. This prevent them from sticking together.
Bubur cha cha:
- 160 g Orange Sweet Potato
- 30 g Sago (tapioca pearls)
Coconut Milk Base:
- 2 L water
- 1 1/2 cups thick coconut milk
- 100 grams Sugar (I used palm sugar)
- 2 Pandan leaves
- Salt to taste
1. In boiling water, boil sago until translucent and cooked.
2. Peel and cut all potatoes into cubes. Steam separately, until cooked. (Make sure that it’s not too soft!)
3. In a large pot, add coconut milk, water, sugar, salt, pandan leaves, sweet potato balls, sweet potatoes, sago and simmer low heat for 10-20 mins. AND VOILA 🥰
