Taiwanese Taro and Yam Balls (芋圓/地瓜圓）

Recently I was at MeetFresh enjoying a bowl of delicious grass jelly topped with taro+yam balls. For those of you who don't know MeetFresh, it's a Taiwanese dessert shop that specializes in grass jelly and taro+yam balls (芋圓). 芋圓 literally means "taro rounds". In Taiwan whenever you order the "taro rounds" it always consists of the taro balls and the yam balls, but you just refer to it as 芋圓. Anyway, MeetFresh has expanded into the United States over the years, and funny thing is I can't even find one in Taipei! My favorite item there is their signature bowl, which features grass jelly with taro/yam balls over a bed of grass jelly icee. Right before you enjoy it you pour a little cup of creamer over, mmMmm, super yummy! Unfortunately, one bowl with tax is about $9, so I definitely visit this place sparingly. While I was enjoying my bowl I thought "oh, I wished I could eat this more often, but it's just too expensive to eat frequently!" and I remembered that I could easily make them at home (they only consist of two ingredients!). So here's the recipe for making your own taro and yam balls, and they also freeze extremely well if you want to stock up!

Taiwanese Taro/Yam Balls
INGREDIENTS 
TARO BALLS

• 190g taro
• Approximately 60-80g tapioca starch

 YAM BALLS

• 160g Sweet potato
• Approximately 80-100g tapioca starch

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Steam sweet potato in steamer until a toothpick inserts without resistance. Do the same thing for the taro.
2. Allow the sweet potato to cool for a bit until you can touch it with your hands. Transfer the cooked sweet potato to a separate bowl (leaving the residual fluid from the steaming) then mix in tapioca starch starch. Start with the lesser amount of tapioca starch and mix (with a fork of your hands) and add more as needed. You want a consistency similar to a "drier" play dough (think play dough that's been sitting in the container for awhile). If the dough feels dry (doesn't stay together and flakes which kneading, add some water to get the consistency back to play dough).
3. With your hands, roll the dough into a long cylinder 1" in diameter. If you want bigger balls you can roll them bigger as well, but keep in mind they swell a little bit once cooked.  
4. Cut the dough into 3/4" pieces.
5. TO COOK: Bring a pot of water to boil and drop the taro/yam balls into the pot. Once the balls float, keep boiling for another minute and remove promptly.  
6. TO STORE: Lay the cut taro/yam balls on a flat pan with freezer paper and send to freezer. Once they are frozen remove from the pan and store in ziplock bag in the freezer.

Steam sweet potato until soft, add tapioca starch and mix with a fork.

Mix the dough together until it is the consistency of play dough, adding more tapioca starch and/or water to achieve the right consistency. Using your hands, roll the dough into a cylinder log about 1" in diameter. Repeat process for steamed taro as well.

Using a dough cutter of knife, cut the cylinder log into 3/4" wide pieces.

To cook taro/yam balls: Bring a pot of water to boil and then add the balls. Once the balls float, continue boiling for another minute. Remove from the water and add some brown sugar to enjoy. You can also use it as a topping for grass jelly (仙草), soy pudding (豆花) or shaved ice.

Taro/yam balls freeze very well for storage. To freeze, lay the cut pieces on a piece of wax/parchment paper on a baking sheet and send to the freezer. Once the balls are frozen on the outside (1-2 hours), you can remove them from the baking sheet and store in a ziplock bag. Next time you want to eat them, just boil as you do the fresh ones and enjoy!

You can also use other starchy root veggies like Japanese sweet potato, pumpkin, kabocha, purple sweet potato, etc. to make these balls. The amount of tapioca starch will need to be adjusted, but as long as you get a play dough consistency it will work. I also made some Japanese Sweet Potato balls below, but as you can see, the color is not as vibrant as regular sweet potatoes, kind of a dull yellow, but they still tasted great!

 

Note:
Taro/yam balls are best enjoyed freshly cooked. You can store in a container of cold water to prevent them from sticking together, but best to consume within 2 hours. If you really need to save some for later, you can keep the balls in a covered container so they don't dry out, overnight in the refrigerator (without water). The next day, add water and microwave 1-2minutes on high until the taro balls are a soft, squishy consistency. However, this only really works the next day because after that, the taro balls get really hard and even microwaving won't revitalize them!