13th March 2020
While I was at the market this week, they had very fresh yam and Japanese sweet potatoes. They looked so good that I couldn’t resist, so I decided to buy them and cook Bubur Cha-Cha this week.
Bubur Cha-Cha is one of the Malaysian popular cuisine. It is a famous Nyonya (Chinese mixed with Malay ethnic) desserts. A medley of sweet potatoes and yam and cooked in a sweet coconut milk base.
Some Bubur Cha Cha also come with tropical fruits like banana, nangka (jackfruit), and even durian. All these fruits are compatible with the coconut based sauce. In this lesson, I am using banana that gives an extra punch to the dessert.
I am going to add in some colored tapioca jelly cubes using the natural colour extracted from pandan leaves, beetroot and butterfly pea flowers which help to increase the colour and flavor of the dessert.
Bubur Cha Cha sounds like a happy kind of dessert. it certainly is a colorful, sweet, and fragrant dessert. It is all natural with no food coloring. Healthy and delicious!
Bubur cha cha is generally prepared during festive seasons and a must have on Chap Goh Meh (the 15th of Chinese New Year), especially the Hokkien people. Chap Goh means the 15th, Meh is Night. It’s the last day of the Chinese New Year. They believe this dessert brings the prosperous and luck for the new year.
The words Cha Cha (pronounced che che in Hokkien) means ‘ prosperity. ’Now, we no need to wait until Chap Goh Meh, every day we also can get it from dessert stalls. And we could boil it whenever we like.
Ingredients :
3 rice bowls tapioca flour
200ml boiling hot water
500g yam
1kg sweet potato (reddish variety)
1kg sweet potato (whitish variety)
250g white granulated sugar
250ml coconut milk
15 blades pandan leaves (knotted)
2200ml water
1/4 tsp salt
Half a cup of sago
Some banana slices
For coloring
1 beetroot
Some butterfly pea flowers
10 blades pandan leaves
Method :
To make tapioca flour jelly, rough chop the beets and place them in the blender. Add water and blend until the beets are fully pulverized. Use a strainer to strain the beets extract and boil it.
To make an extract of butterfly pea flower for food colouring, steep about a dozen fresh or dried flowers in a cup of boiling water. After about 15 minutes, strain the liquid and discard the flowers.
As for the pandan leaves. Use a pair of scissors to cut the leaves into 1/2-1 inch parts into a blender. Add water and blend until the leaves are fully pulverized. Use a strainer to strain the pandan extract.
Divide into three parts and colour each differently.
Place the flour in a bowl and pour in boiling water. Mix the flour and beet water until well incorporated.
When the dough is cool, roll it out evenly on a well floured surface and cut into cube or desired shapes.
Rinse, peeling the skin and cut the sweet potatoes and yam into cubes.
Steam it for 30 minutes. Set aside
Place water, pandan leaves, sugar, yam, sweet potatoes together. Add in coconut milk, sago and salt, bring it to a boil.
Then ready to serve in hot. Enjoy !
Bubur Cha Cha recipe sketch
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