Buboh Cha-Cha

When I was much, much younger, I enjoyed shopping very much. I love window shopping, browsing through things and I would end up buying 'want' things, 'need' things and 'maybe I'll use in the near future' things! As I grew older or aged, my shopping and buying frenzies tamed down a lot. It was partly due to my work (it was getting more demanding) and the 'other job' that kept me too busy and also got me too tired to think of shopping. How I wished they had online shopping then! ;P

Nowadays my shopping is controlled with a list of what-is-necessary-to-buy things and they are mostly groceries and household stuffs. So the only places that I frequent are supermarts or hypermarts. I hardly shop for clothes, beauty stuff etc...

The nearest supermart is ntuc. On Tuesdays, any senior citizen or elderly like me will get a discount of 2% if we shop there. I do my grocery shopping twice a month, on Tuesdays.

Last Tuesday's shopping was slightly different because my husband didn't accompany me. It meant that while I had a shopping list to go by, I had time to do a little browsing. Usually when my husband is with me, I will just 'zero in' on what's on my list and my shopping is done in 45 minutes to an hour.

While browsing, I came across a packet of pre-cut buboh cha-cha ingredients consisting of sweet potatoes, yam and pandan leaves. I was hooked (cos it's convenient) and bought a packet.

Anything coconut or lemak is my husband's favourite. While I am aware of the health implications consuming such foods, a once-in-a-while treat is okay.

What I Used:

1 packet mixed sweet potatoes and yam (about 700g, I used half)

4 to 5 pandan leaves

water (enough to cook the sweet potatoes and yam)

sugar to taste

pinch of salt

coconut milk (I used 1 small packet kara)

Starch Dough (I omitted this, not fond of this)

80g tapioca flour or more

enough boiling water to make starch dough

*Add boiling water to the flour a little at a time and mix to a dough. Take care when handling hot dough. Divide dough and add any preferred colour. Roll out into strips and cut into small pieces.

Boil a small pot of water, add the dough pieces when water is boiling. Let it cook and when the dough pieces start to float, remove and dunk in cold water. Leave it aside.

What I Did:

1. Cook sweet potatoes and yam in enough water with a couple of pandan leaves till slightly soft.

2. Remove the sweet potatoes and yam and put aside. Do not discard water.

3. Add more water, coconut milk, salt, sugar and pandan leaves. Bring it to a partial boil.

4. Add sweet potatoes and yam and dough pieces(drained). Let it boil and then turn off stove.

5. Serve hot or cold.

The brownish look on the sweet potatoes is gula melaka syrup that I drizzled on it.

The yellow blob is...............DURIAN! Yum!