When I was young, my family kitchen almost always equipped with bags of freshly grated coconut milk bought from the wet market, be it for curry or dessert.. that milky 'santan' absolutely mesmerizing to me. My nanny is the magician.. I always look forward to my after school snacks, be it 'Bubor Cha Cha' or simply 'Kueh Pisang'.. I indulged fully in the richness 'santan' add to it all. I will share a few of my childhood favorite coconut desserts here.. I hope i could pass my happiness to you too.. haha..
Bubur Cha Cha
Bubur Cha Cha is a super popular dessert in both Malaysia and Singapore. Its main ingredients are sweet potatoes, taro, palm sugar, coconut juice and tapioca flour jelly. My nanny used 3 kinds of sweet potatoes with 3 colors – Purple, Orange and Yellow to make a bowl of Bubur Cha Cha more attractive and eye catching. The palm sugar gives Bubur Cha Cha a natural sweetness, special aroma and redish brown colour. And my ultimate favorite is that chewy tapioca jelly.. yummy.
Ingredients:
• 80g Purple Sweet Potato
• 80g Orange Sweet Potato
• 80g Yellow Sweet Potato
• 150g Yam (Taro)
• 10g Sago (Tapioca pearls)
• 50g Black-eye beans (soaked for 1 hour)
Tapioca flour jelly
• 100g Tapioca Flour
• ½ cup Boiling Water
• Red coloring
Coconut Milk Base
• 3 liter water
• 1 cup Thick coconut milk
• 120g Sugar
• 3 Bananas (peeled and cut half inches thick)
• 2 Pandan leaves
• Salt to taste
1. In boiling water, boil black-eye peas until soft.
2. Peel and cut all potatoes and taro into half inch cubes or desired shapes. Steam, separately, until cooked.
3. For tapioca flour jelly, place the flour in mixing bowl. Pour in boiling water. Mix the flour and 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.
4. Bring a pot of water, add in 1 table spoon sugar, pour in banana and boil for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
5. Boil 3 liters of water, add in thick coconut milk, sugar, salt, pandan leaves and cook over low heat about 10–20 minutes.
6. Pour in all the ingredients, together with tapioca jelly into coconut milk base and mix well. Serve hot or cold, as you like. Enjoy!