SWEET POTATO LEMONGRASS TANG YUAN

This Winter Solstice, I made a daring change from the usual.  Instead of preparing the much use to colourful pulut rice balls in ginger sugar syrup [Kuih Ee], I cooked the glutinous rice balls in lemongrass/pandan sweet soup with orange sweet potatoes.

  I made the rice balls with only one colour [pandan green] instead of the colourful ones below.

It is lucky my mother in-law did not object and perhaps could not because she likes them with the sweet potatoes [her favourite tuber] and the not too sweet syrup soup.

 

Recipe adapted from Feminine Magazine No. 570

Ingredients

30 gm wheat starch mixed with 40 ml boiling water

120 ml pandan juice ** + 30 gm castor sugar

150 gm glutinous rice flour

1-2 tsp oil [I omit]

** extracted from blending 6 blades screwpine leaves with 120 ml water [keep excess if dough is too dry]. Add a drop of green colouring if prefered.

Sugar Syrup Soup

400 gm orange sweet potatoes - peeled, cut big cubes or diamond shape

2-3 stalks lemongrass

2-3 blades pandan leaves

100-120 gm sugar or rock sugar

5 bowls water 

1. Dissolve sugar in warm pandan juice.
2. Stir 40 ml hot water into wheat starch.  Mixed.
3. Add to glutinous rice flour, mixed then gradually add in the pandan liquid and oil.  Knead into a soft smooth dough.  Add a little more water if it is too dry.  Rest dough for at least 30-60 minutes before rolling into balls.
4. To make the syrup, boil pandan leaves with lemongrass until fragrant.  Add in sweet potatoes.  Continue to boil until soft, add sugar to taste.  Set aside.
5. Bring a pot of water to boil to cook rice balls.  Remove with a serrated ladle when the rice balls float up.  Transfer to sweet potato soup.
6. Serve warm or hot.