Sweet, Sweet Potato

Didn’t get around to having breakfast or lunch yesterday – work is always a little crazy after a public holiday or weekend. (Tuesday was the Muslim New Year: Hari Raya Aidilfitri). So, I just had a bowl of sweet potato syrup soup.

This is a firm favorite of a lot of Chinese families. It is usually cooked as an after-dinner dessert. And there are many variations. The Cantonese (especially in North Asia) like it light, with just sweet potato boiled with water and rock sugar. The Peranakans add yams, sago and coconut milk to make the rich dessert, Bubur ChaCha. Chinese in South East Asia may add sago and/or pandan leaves to the Cantonese version.

My family usually cooks the sweet potatoes with ginger, sago and rock sugar. Yesterday, it was just ginger, pandan leaves (as an aromatic) and rock sugar. It’s great as a sort of “de-tox” for the digestive system after the previous day’s rich foods. Ginger helps relieve indigestion, bloatedness or wind. Pandan water (leaves cooked in water) is great for reducing uric acid, and it adds a very nice fragrance to the sweet potato soup too.

Just boil the chunks of sweet potato with maybe 2-3 good sized chunks of young ginger and enough water to cover. Tie a few pandan leaves together into a bundle, and drop it in to flavor the soup. (This is removed before serving). Add rock sugar to taste.

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We usually get two varieties of sweet potatoes – the yellow fleshed with the lighter skin and the orange fleshed with a darker skin. I prefer the latter, which is sweeter, more moist and fluffier than the former. I think the Americans call the latter “yams” whilst we know them as a type of sweet potatoes. Hmmm… what do the Americans call the tuber that has slightly purplish flesh that we actually call yams?

PS. Another variation that I do with this sweet potato soup, especially when it is cooked with sago, is to have it cold from the fridge, and add a little soy milk (sweetened or unsweetened) – tastes pretty good!

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