Malaysia Bubur Cha Cha (SWEET POTATOES & TARO IN COCONUT MILK)
This is one of the renowned Penang Nyonya desserts. Bubur is Malay word for porridge or congee, as for Cha Cha , no one seems to know how this name originated. However, my aunt shared this with us. She said this dessert is one of the main desserts serve on 15th day and last day of Chinese New Year especially by Hokkiens This sweet dessert from Malaysia may look like Cendol, but in fact Bubur Cha Cha is an assorted medley of sweet potatoes, yam, and black-eyed peas that are cooked in a sweet coconut milk base. It is a colourful and sweet dessert, and is generally prepared during festive seasons. In Penang Hokkien dialects, bubur cha cha is pronounced bubur che che and "che che" means abundance or plentiful. So, it's considered auspicious to serve bubur cha cha to family and friends on that day. This dessert is a sweet concoction with various types of sweet potatoes (the Kiwis call it Kumara), yam or taro, sago (Tapioca peals) and coconut milk (santan). Do try to use different types of sweet potatoes, to make the dessert more colourful. For healthy version you can change the coconut milk into evaporated milk instead, however you will miss the creamy coconut flavor. This dessert can be served warm or cold.
INGREDIENTS
140 gtaro
140 gsweet potatoes
1 bananas
40 gsago
50 mlwater
80 gtapioca flour
160 gsugar
250 gcoconut milk
3 pandan leaves
salt
food coloring
STEPS TO PREPARE
To prepare the tapioca jelly, create a dough by adding water to the tapioca flour. The water has to be boiling hot or else the flour would not form a dough.
Divide the dough into two portions and add red and green colouring separately.
Flatten the doughs and cut them into smaller pieces.
Boil the pieces of dough until they turn translucent.
Once cooked, put them into a bowl of cold water to prevent them from sticking together.
Steam the diced taro, purple sweet potatoes and yellow sweet potatoes for 20 minutes.
Cook sago in a pot of boiling water until translucent. Sieve the cooked sago to remove excess water. After that, add cold water to the cooked sago to prevent them from sticking together.
Cut banana into bite sized pieces.
Add sugar to 250ml of water. Adjust the sweetness according to taste.
Add coconut milk.
Add taro, sweet potatoes, sago, tapioca jellies and lastly, bananas.