Taiwanese QQ Ball Dessert Soup Recipe

Life needs more colors and chewy Taiwanese ball dessert! These are as popular as boba teas but healthier using natural ingredients and much less sugar. I made them with my boys for some messy fun!

Ingredients

300 g taro/sweet potato/pumpkin

300g tapioca starch/corn starch (100g if use sweet potato or taro as they contain less water)

Sago

Screwpine leaves

Sugar (1/4cups) can replace with sweetener

Each 100g dough equals to 1 serving.

Cut the pumpkin and then steam with high fire for 15 minutes until soft. Peel the skin off. 

Smash pumpkin well, mix in sugar when the taro is still hot. Add tapioca starch in after the mixture cooled to room temperature.

Knead to form a soft ball, add water if needed. Add more flour if your mixture is too wet and more water if the mixture is too dry (start cracking while rolled).

Then divide the dough into 4 equal portions, shape each one into thin long log (around 1.5cm in diameter). Then cut into small dices. Dust some tapioca starch to avoid them from sticking together.

To cook the pumpkin balls,

Bring a pot of water to a boil, and then gently lower the balls in. Add 2 tablespoons of cold water when the taro balls floats. Then continue cooking for 2-3 minutes. Strain the liquid. 

Make sure the water is already boiling before adding the balls, otherwise they disintegrate into a pot of glue. After adding the balls, slightly stir them to prevent them stick to the bottom of the pot. 

These pumpkin balls can be frozen well. Dust the balls with a thin layer of starch to keep them separated. Then cook directly for next serving. They can be frozen up for 1 or 2 months.

Similarly, use the method to cook 1/2 cups of sago. 

Prepare the sugar syrup by boiling screwpine leaves with sugar and 4 cups of water for about 10 minutes.

Serve the balls immediately with the warm/cold sugar syrup and add some evaporated milk for extra creaminess!