Orange sweet potato onde onde balls.

What a fabulous choice of color! Orange is the theme for IMBB #14, hosted by the good people over at Foodgoat. The entry for my first ever participation is orange sweet potato onde onde, a sweet Indonesian kueh (pastry/snack). Commercial onde onde are usually green, because the dough is flavored and colored with the juice of pandan leaves. Here, I’ve made an alternative version using mashed sweet potato. Besides giving it a bright, cheery hue, the orange sweet potato also makes the chewy dough softer.

These cute little balls are so fun to eat. Just put one in your mouth, bite, and pop! The sweet gula melaka syrup encased in the chewy dough simply explodes in your mouth. Totally addictive.

Sweet Potato Onde Onde
adapted from Amy Beh’s pumpkin onde onde recipe

Ingredients:
150g sweet potato, cubed, steamed until soft and mashed
200g glutinous rice flour
pinch of salt
100ml water
1 tbsp tapioca flour

Filling (combine):
100g grated gula melaka
1 tbsp sugar

Combine:
200g grated coconut (white part only) and 1/4 tsp salt, then steam for 5 minutes and leave to cool. (This helps it to keep better.)

Method:

1. Bring water, salt and tapioca flour to a boil over low heat. Keep stirring until almost transparent.

Knead mashed sweet potato into flour.

2. Pour the mixture immediately into the glutinous rice flour in a large mixing bowl. Stir till it is well absorbed. Add the mashed sweet potato and mix well to form a dough. If dough is too soft, add a little more glutinous rice flour. If it is too dry, wet your hands and knead the dough.

3. Divide dough into two and roll each portion into a longish roll. Cut into small pieces

Place gula melaka in center of dough.

4. Bring water to a boil in a deep saucepan. Roll the pieces of dough into small balls with your palms. Then flatten the ball and put a bit of the sugar mixture in the centre.

Pinch to seal edges tightly.

5. Pinch to seal, then roll again into spheres. Drop the balls into boiling water until they float to the surface (about 2 to 2 1/2 minutes)

Drain the onde onde with a strainer.

6. Remove the cooked balls with a tea strainer.

Carefully roll the onde onde in grated coconut.

7. Roll in grated coconut to coat.

cheers!