Vietnamese Sweet Potato Dessert Balls

Vietnamese Sweet Potato Dessert Balls © kvalifood.com

Colourful chewy sweet potato balls served in a light coconut sauce. This is a common street dessert in Vietnam, sold from carts and at market stalls.

Ingredients

Sweet potato balls

  • 400 g sweet potatoes (about 2)
  • 60 g tapioca starch, plus extra if needed
  • 60 g sugar
  • 3 tbsp red radish juice (or 1 tbsp strawberry syrup), for red colour
  • 3 tbsp pandan juice (or 1 tsp matcha powder dissolved in water), for green colour

Coconut sauce

  • 220 ml water
  • 4 tbsp coconut cream
  • 2 tbsp sugar

To serve

  • shredded coconut
  • roasted sesame seeds

Directions

Make the dough

  1. Boil the sweet potatoes whole for about 30 minutes until soft enough to mash. Peel and mash while warm.
  2. Mix the mashed sweet potato with the sugar and about 2/3 of the tapioca starch until a pliable dough forms.
  3. Divide the dough into 3 equal parts. Leave one part plain (yellow). Mix red colouring into the second part and pandan or matcha into the third.
  4. If any portion is too sticky after adding the liquid colouring, mix in a little more tapioca starch.

Shape and cook

  1. Roll each portion into balls about 1.5 cm in diameter.
  2. Drop the balls into a pot of boiling water and cook for about 4 minutes, until they float to the surface. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to cold water to stop cooking.

Make the sauce and serve

  1. Make the coconut sauce: bring the water and sugar to a boil, stir until dissolved, then add the coconut cream. Chill until serving.
  2. Serve the balls in the coconut sauce, topped with sesame seeds and shredded coconut.

Notes

  • The balls can be made ahead and stored in cold water in the fridge for a few hours.
  • Pandan juice is made by blending pandan leaves with a little water and straining. Bottled pandan extract also works.
  • The sauce can be served at room temperature or lightly chilled.