Orh Nee or Yam Pudding

 

 

Steaming the Yam

Grinding the Cooked Yam

Cooking the Ground Yam

When I was very young, I only got to eat Orh Nee during wedding dinners. However, nowadays we can easily find it in Chinese restaurants and dessert shops. I usually make it myself to have a healthier version with less sugar and to reduce cost as there are many members in my family; a bowl in the dessert shop can cost more than, say, a 500 g yam. Besides, the processes are not too difficult - preparation of shallot oil can be done a day earlier and so is the preparation of the gingko nuts. (Peeled gingko nuts can be bought from the supermarkets.) 

Ingredients:

• 500 g yam
• 3 pandan leaves
• 100 g gingko nuts
• 200 ml water
• 60 g sugar (or 75 g for a sweeter pudding)
• 4 tbsp shallot oil
• A pinch of salt

Instructions:

• Deshell the gingko nuts and remove the brown skin and the bitter centre green core.

• Add them to a pot with about 250 ml water.

• Boil the gingko nuts till they are cooked. (They turn from pale colour to yellow when cooked.)

• Keep the water as we will be using it to process the mashed yam later.

• Prepare the shallot oil by peeling and slicing the shallots and then frying the slices in cooking oil. (The amount of shallots and oil is up to us as we can always use the fried shallots and oil in our dishes.)

• Peel the yam, cut them into small cubes and steamed them with pandan leaves.

• When the yam is cooked, mash them with a fork or a ricer. (You may skip this step and transfer the cooked yam directly to a food processor.)

• Transfer the mashed yam to a food processor.

• Add 200 ml of water from boiling the gingko nuts to the food process.

• Grind the mashed yam till they are smooth. (Add more water if the yam puree is too dry.)

• Heat up a pan with 4 tbsp of shallot oil.

• Transfer the yam puree from the food processor to the pan.

• Cook the puree till the desired consistency is achieved.

• Serve it hot or cold with the gingko nuts.

Purple Sweet Potato Bread

I love purple sweet potatoes - to eat them (steamed) as well as to use them in my bakes (breads) and in making sweet soup (bubur cha cha). They are sweet, colourful and has high dietary fiber. Packed with these dietary fiber, vitamins A and C, low glycemic index and powerful antioxidants, they support digestion, promote eye health, regulate blood sugar, boost immunity against germs and inflammation, protect heart health and improves skin and brain health.

However, purple sweet potatoes are rarer as compared to the orange and beige ones. Thus, whenever I see them, I would buy, steam and freeze them for future use.

Ingredients:

• 240 ml warm milk
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp yeast
• 500 g bread flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 200 g purple sweet potato
• 45 g unsalted butter

Instructions:

• Peel, wash and steam the purple sweet potato till it is soft. Mash the sweet potato till fine (You may add some of the milk to make mashing the sweet potato easier.) Set aside.

• Add the remaining warm milk to the bowl of a stand mixer.

• Add the sugar to the bowl.

• Add yeast to the bowl.

• Stir and wait for 5-10 minutes for bubbles to be formed.

• Add eggs, bread flour, sweet potato and salt to the bowl.

• Knead till a dough ball is formed.

• Add butter to the dough ball.

• Continue to knead till window pane is achieved.

• Grease a clean bowl and transfer the dough to it. Cover the bowl with a cling wrap.

• Once the dough has doubled in size, transfer it to your counter top.

• Punch down the dough to degas.

• Form the dough into a ball.

• Roll out the dough ball into a rectangle and roll it up place into a cylinder.

• Place it into a greased and lined 9 inch x 5 inch x 5 inch loaf pan.

• Cover the pan with cling wrap and let the dough rise till double in size.

• Meanwhile pre-heat your oven to 175 deg C.

• Once the dough has doubled in size, egg wash the dough.

• Bake it for 30 minutes. (Tent your pan with aluminium foil if your oven is too hot and the top of the bread is turning dark too soon.)

• When baked, remove the bread from the pan. Remove the parchment paper and place the bread onto a metal rack to cool down.

• Slice the bread when the loaf has cooled down.

• Enjoy.