Winding staircases and teahouses in Jiufen: Taiwanese Yam & Taro Balls
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| Homemade dessert bowl! |
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| Love at first bite in this little dessert shop in Montreal. |
From afar, Jiufen is breathtaking. The isolated village is tucked on the edge of seaside hills and offers gorgeous views of the coastline. As we walk up from the base of Keelung mountain, we can also spot the whimsical architecture of the retro-Japanese style tea houses perched on winding cobbled streets. Traditional hanging Chinese lanterns line the stone staircases on which souvenir shops are tightly packed together. That, however, forces a very narrow walkway. Within the main Old Street, it. is. crowded. Claustrophobically so.
There are so many tourists that we have to elbow our way through the flow of traffic to move forward. As I navigated my way in the narrow alleyways, I could hear the clamor of food vendors offering an array of intriguing street food, many of which were portrayed to have been wolfed down by Chihiro's parents in Spirited Away. Among the delicacies were Taiwanese black pig sausages, parcels of Hakka glutinous rice cakes with fillings ranging from sweet red bean to savory pickled radish, and Bawan dumplings, a semi-translucent blob of chewy casing made of sweet potato starch and stuffed with red yeast meat and bamboo shoots.
The Old Street meanders uphill, so by following (or pushed forward) by the flow of people, we eventually end up at the top of the village, although it is possible to branch off into one of the side staircases. In the fog and hanging humidity, I reach the end of the street, and it is definitely worth it. Next to a small observation deck overlooking the open sea and Keelung mountain stands a traditional dessert shop which serves the tastiest hand-made taro balls on a pile of shaved ice and sweet mung beans. Turns out that taro balls are a specialty of Taiwan and, more specifically, are a signature item of Jiufen. A bit hidden from the main staircase, Ah Gan Taro Balls serves a mix of taro, sweet potato and green tea-flavored balls made with locally grown yams, and they have the loveliest flavor with just a tinge of sweetness. We can actually taste the taro and the sweet potato as well!
As I crouched on a stone step with the bowl of taro balls cradled in my arms, the tiredness seeped into me. Facing the ocean in figurative fetal position, that was probably the best taro balls I ever had. And gosh, I was so exhausted. For the record, there were also a few people around, but much less than on the lower parts of the town, and everyone had this zoned out, solemn look in their eyes as they mechanically brought spoonful after spoonful of dessert to their lips. It was almost cathartic. Aside from the ambient noise coming from the shop, it was eerily calm. It was a bit as though we silently shared this collective fatigue and only had just enough energy left for the taro balls. (Jk we had to hike all the way down after. Hahahahahaa -silently sobbing-).
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| Cutting sweet potato logs into balls. |
Since that trip, I have had much more success in finding recipes online by inputting taiwanese taro balls as key words. However, I'm still struggling with the right ratios of flour to mashed yam/taro/sweet potato. In addition, apparently traditional taro balls are made with sweet potato starch, but that's a bit difficult to find back home, so many adapted recipes go for tapioca starch. It's not quite the same kind of soft chew and is a bit more elastic, but the texture is still very satisfying.
I tried 3 flavors with different tapioca starch ratios, and one of them was a success. I have documented my impressions below:
- Purple sweet potato: 191g mashed potato + 75g tapioca starch + 30 ml water = too soft
- Orange sweet potato: 200g mashed potato + 125g tapioca starch = too chewy/almost hard elastic
- Black sesame: 100g mashed potato + 20 ml black sesame paste + 55g tapioca starch = perfect chew
I added water, one tablespoon at the time, until the dough was soft and malleable enough to shape into logs.
I'm now sure how much the black sesame paste had a role to play with the chew as fat can impact texture in some cases. I'll likely try this again with ratios near the black sesame one.
Taiwanese Yam and Black Sesame Balls
Ingredients:
Purple sweet potato balls (new ratios to try):
200g raw purple sweet potato, steamed and mashed
(To try!) 90g tapioca starch
30 ml water
Orange sweet potato balls (new ratios to try):
200g raw sweet potato, steamed and mashed
(To try!) 90g tapioca starch
Black sesame balls:
100g raw purple sweet potato, steamed and mashed
55g tapioca starch
1 tbsp + 1 tsp black sesame paste
Rock sugar, preferably brown
Toppings:
(Optional) Grass jelly
(Optional) Aiyu jelly
(Optional) Glutinous rice balls
(Optional) Matcha or taro pudding
(Optional) Sweet adzuki beans
(Optional) Steamed taro
Preparation:
1. In individual bowls, combine the mashed potatoes, tapioca starch and black sesame paste if using, for each flavor.
2. Add lukewarm water to adjust the consistency of the dough until it no longer crumbled apart and can be easily shaped into logs.
3. Cut the logs into half-inch pieces to make the balls. While you're working with one log, wrap the unused logs in plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out.
4. Coat the shaped balls with tapioca starch to prevent them from sticking to each other. Set them aside.
5. In a large pot, bring water to a roiling boil. Cook the balls until they float at the surface.
6. While the balls cook, pour some rock sugar in a large bowl.
7. As soon as the balls finish cooking, transfer them to the large bowl and roll them around to evenly coat them with rock sugar. The sugar will melt and create a nice glaze.
8. Assemble with preferred toppings and enjoy!
P.S. Taro and yam balls are best eaten the same day as they are made. Once refrigerated, they lose much of their enjoyable texture. I froze the surpluses that I made.
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