I'm taking dessert on a different tangent today. If you're familiar with the Chinese food culture, you'll know about the many varieties of sweet dessert "soups". They're called "tong shui" in Cantonese, which literally translates to "sugar water." I love these sweet soups and there are many kinds. I love to eat them hot during the cold months but they are usually amazing chilled and served cold...great for the summertime.
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| Chilled Taro Tapioca Dessert |
One of my favorites is taro tapioca dessert. Taro is a root vegetable, with a mild flavor. It's like potato or sweet potato and its mild flavor lends really well to this dessert where it can absorb and sort of balance the sweetness, I think. Its starchiness also helps thicken the "soup". And tapioca pearls are just plain fun. Admittedly, they have very little flavor but the texture of the soft little bubbles floating around in your dessert soup is rather addicting.
I've had varieties of this dessert (Malaysian restaurants, for example, serve it with a few additional ingredients and it's very common to add some cubed sweet potatoes/yams as well) but this recipe comes from my sister, who has made this for us for years now. Whenever I'm visiting her, I dropped hints about her very delicious "sugar water" that I love so much and I am often rewarded with a sweet surprise. Not to mention, I usually get some extra to take home and store in the fridge.
Somewhere along the lines, my sister learned how to make this dessert and unlike me, who generally needs and prefers to work from a written recipe, she has always made this from her head so there are no actual proportions to follow. It's the kind of recipe you have to feel your way through and get to know.
I wanted to learn to make this because I love it and my husband does too. And I think my husband would enjoy a little change from all the cakes and cookies I put in front of him! This was my second attempt at making this dessert and I thought I'd try my best to pin down some semblance of a recipe this time. That way, I can refer back to it here when I want to make it again and hopefully, it will make things easier. I had many questions and phone calls back-and-forth with my sister and this time, my dessert came out a lot closer to how it should be! The first time I made it, I put way too much water in it and it was just too watery. I still prefer to eat this at my sister's house though. Somehow it tastes sweeter when someone else makes it for you. * hint, hint *
I wanted to learn to make this because I love it and my husband does too. And I think my husband would enjoy a little change from all the cakes and cookies I put in front of him! This was my second attempt at making this dessert and I thought I'd try my best to pin down some semblance of a recipe this time. That way, I can refer back to it here when I want to make it again and hopefully, it will make things easier. I had many questions and phone calls back-and-forth with my sister and this time, my dessert came out a lot closer to how it should be! The first time I made it, I put way too much water in it and it was just too watery. I still prefer to eat this at my sister's house though. Somehow it tastes sweeter when someone else makes it for you. * hint, hint *
