Vegan Bunny Elle

An iconic Taiwanese dessert, these soft, chewy, pillowy balls are so widely loved can be found in literally any boba tea shop and Asian dessert shop. It’s super easy to make at home and you only need four ingredients!

Taro balls and sweet potato balls, or Yu Yuan, in Chinese, is a popular traditional dessert that’s usually served with sweetened red beans, lotus seeds, black grass jelly, boba, etc and can be customized with various types of toppings like chopped nuts and condensed coconut milk.

You won’t need any artificial coloring for these colorful little balls of delight! Natural plants are already so vibrant and beautiful and you can use orange, white, red, or purple sweet potatoes as well as taro roots of course.

For storage, you can store cooked taro and sweet potato balls in the fridge for up to a week. But the best way to store them long term is freezing. Dust uncooked balls with tapioca flour to prevent sticking and keep them in the freezer. And when you want to cook them, boil them directly from frozen, no need to defrost.

Taro Balls and Sweet Potato Balls

Make this iconic Taiwanese dessert at home with only four ingredients! They’re soft, chewy, pillowy, naturally gluten and can be made sugar free!

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Ingredients Method Video

Ingredients

  

Taro balls

• 100 g steamed taro
• 40 g tapioca flour
• 2-3 tablespoon hot boiling water
• 2 tablespoon monk fruit extract or sweetener of choice

Sweet potato balls

• 100 g steamed orange or purple sweet potato
• 50 g tapioca flour
• 2-3 tablespoon hot boiling water
• 2 tablespoon monk fruit extract or sweetener of choice

Other ingredients

• Prepare an ice bath
• Extra tapioca flour for dusting
• Condensed coconut milk and soy milk for serving

Method

 

1. Peel and steam your taro and sweet potatoes, measure 100 grams of each steamed root vegetable;
2. Mash the steamed root vegetable until very smooth, add in the flour, and stir with a fork to bring them together, they’ll form a gravel like mixture, then use your hand to knead the mixture until it forms a smooth, soft dough;
3. If the dough is too dry and cracks when you try to shape them, add the hot boiling water little by little while continue to knead, don’t add it in all at once, adjust and knead until you achieve a soft dough;
4. Divide each dough ball into two pieces, roll each piece into a long thin strip, about 1/2 inch thick, then cut them into small bite size pieces;
5. Dust them with a generous pinch of tapioca flour so they won’t stick to each other, keep any extra balls in the freezer;
6. Bring a big pot of water to boil, drop the taro balls and sweet potato balls in, wait till they all float to the surface, then cook another 2 minutes;
7. Remove the cooked balls and immediately drop them in the ice bath for the best chewy texture;
8. Serve with your preferred toppings, a drizzle of condensed coconut milk and soy milk, enjoy!

Video