Sweetened with palm sugar (jaggery), this dessert imparts a delicate, not too sweet flavor.
First, cook the sweet potatoes or use already-cooked ones (see Note 1 below). For uncooked potatoes: bring a large pot of water to a boil, then add 3 large Japanese or Korean sweet potatoes (goguma), skin on and cut into thick rounds (about 4 rounds per potato). Let cook until potato is fork-tender, then
drain, rinse, remove skin, and cut into bite-sized chunks (about 4 pieces per round). Set potato aside. While potato is cooking, bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a medium (6-8 quart) pot, then add 3 Tbsp palm sugar (about 3 lumps of jaggery) and 1/8 tsp salt. When sugar has dissolved, add ¼ cup minute tapioca (I like Kraft Minute Tapioca – or see Note 2 below), stirring constantly to avoid clumps. Bring to a boil, then immediately reduce to a simmer. Add 13.5 oz of coconut milk, then stir well. Test tapioca to make sure it is fully cooked, then fold in the chunks of sweet potato. Season to taste (for ex, if it needs more sugar, you can supplement with a tsp of crumbled light brown sugar, which will dissolve more easily than an additional lump of jaggery). Serve immediately and enjoy. Recipe based on “Thai tapioca pudding” in Keo’s Thai Cuisine cookbook, with modifications (addition of sweet potato). (Dec. 2014)
Note 1: You also can use 3 oven-roasted sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into large bite-size (2 inch) chunks.
Note 2: In a pinch, we replaced the ¼ cup minute tapioca with a mounded ¼ cup semolina. The semolina thickened the pudding but did not provide the same mouthfeel as tapioca. (Dec. 2017)
Cooking Adventures 