Purple sweet potato and Chinese yam bites
Oh my goodness, these are so soft and slightly chewy! Consisting of only purple sweet potato, glutinous rice flour and chinese yam (optional: sweetener), this chinese-styled dessert – purple sweet potato and Chinese yam bites (PSP&CY)- is vegan, gluten-free and naturally sweet with minimal processing! Recipe is attached at the end but before that, let’s find out what is chinese yam and why is it so good for you.
Chinese Yam and its benefits
Chinese yam, also known as shan yao, is usually cooked in soups as part of a chinese cuisine. It has numerous health benefits and is often used as a herb (in its dried form) in TCM commonly for digestive issues.
- Strengthen the spleen to promote qi production and aid digestion
For spleen deficiency conditions such as general weakness, poor appetite, loose bowels and child indigestion, Chinese yam can be used alone, being a tonic or simply adding in diet. Clinically, it is usually combined with herbs.
- Nourishes the lungs and treat chronic wheezing
For deficiency of lung qi that leads to breath shortness, general weakness, and a feeble voice, it is suitable to use Chinese yam along with herbs like astragalus root for relief. For asthmatic conditions that resulted from kidney and lung deficiencies, Chinese yam can be used to reinforce the organs, consolidate qi and calm asthmatic symptoms.
- Improve male fertility
Kidney deficiency causes seminal emission, urinary frequency or incontinence, impotence, nocturnal emission and abnormal vaginal discharge. Chinese yam can be used to nourish the kidney and enrich the essence. It contains a variety of nutrients,which can make the body stronger, increase sperm count and improve sperm quality.
- Improve female fertility
Chinese yam is beneficial to excessive vaginal discharge in women. When the vaginal discharge is yellowish, thick, then amur corktree bark and sopora root are added in to expel the damp and heat pathogens in the lower burner. In TCM, the vagina belongs to part of the genitalia and is mainly supported by the spleen and kidney.
Instructions to make PSP&CY bites
1. Cut a section of the chinese yam, same size as the purple sweet potato you are using.
2. Peel them and cut them into slices
3. Steam these slices for 20-30 min until they are soft and mashable.
4. Mash them up in separate bowls until there are no big bits left, as shown in the picture above.
2. Add in 1 tbsp of glutinous rice flour into the purple sweet potato mash .
3. Add ~4 tbsp (or more if your chinese yam is very sticky) glutinous rice flour AND a tbsp of sweetener (honey/maple syrup/white sugar, up to you) into the yam mash. You want the both sweet potato and yam to have the same consistency.
5. Roll each mash into balls as shown (do not make them too big or else they may not fit into the mold)
6. Dust some flour at in the mold to prevent the mash from sticking to the mold surface.
7. Press one white ball and one purple ball together into the mold hard to shape them into these beautiful delights.
Feel free to play with the combination! One on the right one on the left, one at the top, one at the bottom (refer to the pic below).
8. Finally, steam these beauties for another 15 minutes and they are ready to serve! YUM YUM…
This dessert is palatable to all age groups, even toddlers can consume it. This purple sweet potato and chinese yam bites is a very healthy treat that can fill you up with healthy carbohydrates! It is a DELIGHT for those with digestive issues and can’t take creamy, dense desserts. Do let me know down the comments below when you try it! Enjoy!
About the writer
With a dedication to health and a heart for animals, Little Ling Chef is passionate in making cruelty-free, healthy vegan foods.
“Let food by thy medicine, and medicine by thy food.” Healing comes from the inside, I always believe that we have a choice to decide what we put into our bodies, food is to nourish, to energize and to heal. Let’s make your health and the world a better place together <3.