Che Bot Loc (Tapioca balls in ginger soup)

It seems the weather is getting hotter by the day and the heat tends to trigger off my migraine. It doesn't help that I also down with asthmatic cough.

The medication doctor prescribed doesn't seems to help at all so I am going to try some ginger soup.

Was browsing for recipe to participate for this month AFF and I saw Che Bot Loc in one of the Vietnamese You tubber.

Now I can kill two birds with one stone!

Since I don't like coconut, I replaced it with water chestnut.

This dessert is pretty similar to Tub-tim Grob aka red rubies). In fact many of vietnamese dessert is the same to Thai or Chinese dessert.

As I was rolling out the balls, I find that if I have it all white, it is rather boring.  So I added a tiny bit of colouring to have some fun.

Serve it to hubby's friend and he likes it.  

Vedict: This is very chewy and I had fun eating it because I like chewy food.  You need to serve with plenty of ginger soup or else you might find it bland as the tapioca and waterchestnut itself is bland.  I am wondering whether I can add a touch of sugar to the dough to enhance the taste.

Serve: 6

What you need:

10 water chestnut (peel and diced small)

200g tapioca starch

150ml boiling water

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 1/2 cup water

1 thumb sized ginger, skinned and sliced thinly

Method:

Remove 4 tbsp of tapioca starch and put in a small bowl.

Add the boiling water to the 4 tbsp of tapioca starch and mixed evenly.

Add the small bowl of starch into the remaining tapioca starch and knead until it is very smooth.

Keep inside a plastic bag and let it rest for a while.

In a saucepan, add brown sugar, water and ginger.  Bring to a brisk boil and stir until sugar melted.  Turn off heat.

Pinch some dough, roll into a ball and flatten, add in a small diced waterchestnut.  Sealed and roll into a ball.  It should be small.  Repeat process until all dough is used up.

In a medium size pot filled with water, bring it to a boil. 

Add in the tapioca balls and cook until the balls surfaced to the top. 

Remove and put into a bowl of ice water.  Let it sit for a while and strain them and put into the ginger soup.

This should serve either warm or room temperature. 

NOTE: DO NOT CHILL or else the tapioca balls will harden.

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest – IndoChina hosted by Kelly Siew Cooks.