hakka.yum.abacus.beads.算盘指

this is definitely a heritage food. a taste of childhood. a delicacy of hakka clan（客家人).  i grew up eating this occasionally when my mum made it for us.  i believe this is not sold outside at the hawker stalls but pretty much home-made.  lately my craze for childhood food increase and this dish never occurs to me or at least i never make this in the last seven years that i am here in my adopted land.

but it is a taste that left a deep mark in my palette and i pretty much learned this from my auntie (my mum's elder sister) by heart while i was living in hong kong.  i never really learned any cooking skill from my mum because back then i hated cooking so much that every time she cooked i have to help in cleaning up and i hated cooking so much because of that and i never cook for many years after i left home for kuala lumpur, stafford, shanghai and hong kong...

i still don't understand why the yam needs to be in this shape that resemble an abacus bead /suan pan zhi (算盘指) and not in the shape of ball like tangyuan (汤圆)...  the yam needs to be steamed and than mashed and mixed with tapioca flour till the right texture... i did it by heart, by my feeling, no measurement as such... the yam is not purplish but pale here...

black fungus (黑木耳), dried mushroom and a lot of minced pork are used to make up this dish, the mushroom absorbs the juice of the pork and make the dish extra delicious.  i would call this dish the gnocchi for the east, made of yum as it is quite similiar to the italian gnocchi that made of potato, after all the world is round.  the chinese invented noodles that the italian made it famous to the world and called it differently...

suan pan zhi  (算盘指) or hakka yum abacus beads

!!my taste of childhood!!