Che khoai deo takes its three colours from white, yellow and purple sweet potato, so no colouring is needed. The balls are chewy and soft, the syrup scented with ginger and pandan, with thickened coconut milk poured over.
The hardest part is the proportion of tapioca starch: too much and the balls turn hard, too little and they fall apart in the water. The potato has to be steamed rather than boiled, since boiling waterlogs it and slackens the dough. Balls straight out of the water go into cold water and then into syrup so they do not stick together.
This batch weighs about 2.7kg, at roughly 88 calories per 100g.
Method
Peel and trim the ends from 200 g of white sweet potato, 200 g of yellow sweet potato and 200 g of purple sweet potato and wash them. Cut them into 3 cm rounds and steam for 10 to 12 minutes until tender.
Put each colour in its own bowl and mash it very smooth with a spoon. Divide 180 g of tapioca starch and 135 g of kOBE Monk Fruit Blend into three equal parts and add them to each bowl.
Mix, then knead by hand until you have a smooth, pliable dough that no longer sticks to your hands.
Roll into balls or shape into short pieces of about 1 cm, joining the colours together if you want them to look pretty.
Bring water to the boil and cook the potato pieces. They are done once they all float to the surface, then lift them into cold water and steep them in a little kOBE Monk Fruit Blend syrup.
Cook 270 g of kOBE Monk Fruit Blend with 1 litre of water along with 5 to 7 pandan leaves and a few thin slices of ginger. Once the syrup boils, take it off the heat and let it cool.
In another pot, bring 300 ml of coconut milk to the boil with 100 ml of water. Mix 2 teaspoons of tapioca starch with water, add it in and stir until thickened, then take it off the heat to cool.
Put the potato balls and syrup into glasses, add the coconut milk and 20 g of roasted white sesame seeds on top. Ice goes in for anyone who wants it cold.
Tips
Three sweet potatoes of different colours mean no colouring is needed.
Steeping the freshly boiled balls in syrup keeps them from sticking together and holds them longer.
Kneading while the potato is still warm matters, since cooled potato will not bind with the starch.
The tapioca starch goes in gradually, with one test ball boiled first before the rest is mixed in.
Any balls not used can be frozen and dropped straight into boiling water later.
kOBE Monk Fruit Blend dissolves slowly, so the syrup pot wants another stir after 5 minutes to keep it from settling at the base.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.