Bubur Cha Cha (摩摩喳喳)

This classic Malaysian dessert, Bubur Cha Cha is always a hit in our gatherings. The aroma of pandan leaves and coconut cream will get you hooked. I like putting all kinds of sweet potatoes, together with black-eyed beans. The translucent tapioca pearls add an interesting texture in the coconut soup. This dessert can be served as hot or cold.

What I like the most about this traditional Malaysian dessert is its colourful presentation. Needless to mention that its taste is wonderfully good because it’s made with fragrant sweet coconut soup, delicious sweet potatoes and tapioca pearls (sago pearls).

This dessert is so popular around the world and many new variations have been created. Some Malaysians like to add bananas and black-eyed beans into this dessert as well. It can be served hot or cold. I prefer to enjoy when it’s still warm.

Bubur Cha Cha Recipe

(Printable recipe)
By Christine’s Recipes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Chinese, Asian
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 60 mins
Yield: 3 to 4 serves

Ingredients:

• 150 gm yam (taro), peeled and diced
• 150 gm golden sweet potato
• 150 gm purple sweet potato
• 50 gm black-eyed beans (black-eyed peas)
• 50 gm tapioca pearls (sago pearls)
• 1 liter boiling water, plus more to cook beans and tapioca pearls
• 120 gm rock sugar or coconut sugar, finely chopped, or to tast
• 1½ cup coconut cream, or to taste
• 3 pandan leaves

Method :

• Rinse the black-eyed beans and drain well. Soak in boiling water with cover for 15 to 20 minutes. Drain and put into a large pot of boiling water. The water should cover the beans up to at least 2 inches. Bring it to boil. Reduce heat to simmer over medium-slow heat until softened, but not mushy, about 20 to 30 minutes. Drain well and set aside.
• Soak tapioca pearls for 10 minutes. Drain and transfer into a pot of boiling water. Cover and cook over medium heat until it boils again. Immediately remove from heat. Don’t remove the pot lid. Let the residual heat inside to cook for further 10 minutes. Drain through a fine sieve. Rinse with running cold water. Drain well. The tapioca pearls should be translucent and retain their shapes. If some of them still have a white spot in the middle, they are not cooked through completely. It’s fine because you need to cook them with coconut milk later.
• Steam diced yam, golden and purple sweet potato in a wok over high heat, until softened, about 20 minutes. Test with a sharp knife or toothpick. They should be very easy to prick through.
• Use a large deep pot. Add 1 liter of boiling water with the rock sugar. Bring it to boil. Add pandan leaves. Reduce heat to simmer for 10 minutes. Pour in coconut cream. Once it boils again, drain up and discard the pandan leaves. Add the sweet potatoes, black-eyed beans, tapioca pearls. The rock sugar should be dissolved completely. Taste and add more sugar if needed. Served hot. Or let it cool down and chill in fridge if you like it served cold.

Notes:

• The consistency of every brand of coconut cream is very different. You can adjust the amount to your liking.
• Choose different colours of sweet potato to make this dish more colourful and attractive. The diced sweet potatoes will turn black if they are not cooked immediately. Soak them in water to avoid from turning black in colour.
• You can put the diced sweet potato in water to cook until softened instead of steaming. But beware that the purple sweet potato will turn your sweet coconut soup into purple. That’s why I used steaming.