Yam Paste (芋泥 Orh Nee) is a famous traditional Teochew dessert which is usually served warm with coconut milk, ginko nuts and/or pumpkin. But it is not easy to find one that I really like as I find a lot of the yam paste outside is way too sweet. So with the extra time at home during the Circuit Breaker, I have decided to make my own. I think this is one of the best dessert and most favourite dessert of all time.
Prep Time: 10 mins
Total Time: 1 hour
Serving size: 2
Ingredients:
200 g yam (skinned & diced)
1 tablespoon oil
6 shallots (sliced)
40 g sugar
40 ml water
coconut milk
2 pandan leaves
Optional
Gin
1) Skin yam and dice into small pieces. Steam the yam cubes until soft, for about 20 minutes.
2) Mash the steamed yam cubes with the back of the fork until smooth
3) Fry the shallots in oil until they turn brown (you can prepare more of these and use it for other dishes too).*
4) Bring the water to a boil, add the sugar and pandan leaves. Remove the pandan leaves once the sugar dissolves and set aside (You can prepare more of the sugar syrup as you can use it for other purpose).
5) Add the mashed yam, sugar syrup into a fry pan (or a wok) and stir till evenly mixed.
6) Cook for about 5 minutes and add in the coconut milk. **
7) Remove from heat after cooking for another 5 minutes.
6) For smoother consistency, transfer to a blender to blend when it is not as hot. ***
6) Serve the yam paste with some fried shallots as garnish. ****
* You can use pork lard or cooking oil instead if you don’t like the aroma of the shallot oil. But try not to skip this step as the shallot oil (oil from the lard) will make the yam paste taste and smell better.
** Personally, I don’t like my yam paste to be too thick, so I added 30ml more water when frying the yam paste.
*** Again, if you like more textural bite, you can skip this skip but it does make a difference if you can a creamy, smooth and even consistency.
**** This dessert can be kept in the freezer and steam before serving.
Oh yes, do remmeber to buy a yam that is at least 100g heavier than the amount you need for the recipe as the recipe called for yam without the skin. So after removing the skin, you might will be left with lesser yam. Only 6 ingredients and 60 minutes of work are needed to get a yam paste. Although it is quite a lot of work but it is definitely worth the effort. Best of all, you can adjust the sweetness according to how you like your yam paste to be. This is definitly something that I will make again! Yummmm
Gingko nuts, although antioxidant-rich and offers plenty of benefits, should be eaten in limited quantities (not more than 10) as they are toxic.
a creamier, richer, and melt-in-your-mouth texture, then by all means, you should use lard instead of cooking oil.
ground peanuts, you can use cashew nuts
(using the rolling pin)
When the yam is hot, transfer to a plastic bag. Seal the opening and use a rolling pin to roll or “hit” until fine. For this method, sieving may also be needed if the mashed yam are too coarse.
