Asian cuisine uses taro, a purple root vegetable that resembles a sweet potato. In most Chinese grocers, you may find taro, tapioca, and rock sugar. I’ve liked this dish for years; it was given to me by the mother of one of my closest friends. It is a common characteristic of classic Asian desserts to resemble a sweet soup. You can either serve it hot or chilled. I eat it hot the first night and store the leftovers in the fridge for later! It will seem a little thicker when served cold.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 20 mins |
| Additional Time: | 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 5 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 12 servings |
Ingredients
- 4 cups water
- 1 cup small, white tapioca pearls
- 6 cups water
- 2 cups raw taro root, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 1 (13.5 ounce) can coconut milk
- ⅔ cup rock sugar candy
Instructions
- In a saucepan with a lid, bring 4 cups of water to a boil, and stir in the tapioca pearls (pearls will swell in size). Reduce heat to a simmer, and cook the tapioca until pearls begin to soften, about 7 minutes. Cover the pan, and let the tapioca pearls stand for 10 to 15 minutes, until the centers are clear. Gently drain the excess water, and set the pearls aside.
- Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan and stir in the taro root. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer the taro until soft, about 10 minutes. Add coconut milk and rock sugar, stirring to dissolve the sugar, and simmer for 20 more minutes to blend the coconut milk and taro. Gently stir in the soft tapioca pearls until well combined. Let cool to room temperature, or serve chilled.
- Raw taro root can be irritating to the skin or throat, so it’s best to peel using rubber gloves. Peel thoroughly with a knife (skin is tough), and don’t taste the taro until it’s cooked through and soft.
Reviews
Note to the Editor’s Note re: taro skin irritation would probably be more useful at the beginning of the recipe, rather than the end. Great recipe. We make it all the time. Would maybe recommend cooking the taro for less time before adding coconut milk and sugar. But could be a matter of taste.
Try this one change: use chia seeds instead of tapioca. It’s a game changer. Tapioca is pure starch with minimal nutrients. The chia seed adds the same “bubbly” texture but is packed with protein and other healthy vitamins and minerals. Bonus: the chia seeds won’t turn mushy/pasty if left to sit.
I used this base, but found that it’s easier to just put the small tapioca pearls in at the same time as the frozen cubed taro I have. They cook about the same time. My cubes are a little smaller than the recipe – maybe 1/3 in?
This is excellent with some minor tweaks. The first time I made it, the taro was still firm and there was far too much tapioca for me. The second time I made this, I made half the amount of tapioca. I also boiled the taro for 5 minutes longer before adding the coconut milk. Perfect! Just like in the restaurants.
It was ok, but not great. Gave my dad heartburn. I’m not good at cooking though so it could just be me.
I made this recipe, but had to make a major modification. Like the other 1 star reviews said, it is way too much water with the taro when you add in the coconut milk. I drained much of the water out of the taro. I saved about 1 cups worth of taro-water and then poured in the coconut milk. You need to dilute the coconut milk with something and other recipes dilute it with milk. The taro-water is a good substitute and will help thicken the soup once it cools. I wouldn’t put more than a cup. Since there is so much moisture in the taro, you could drain out all the water. There will be some residual water in the pot (maybe 1/4-1/2 cup) that you could use to dilute the coconut milk. If its too thick once you’re done, you can add back in some water or m ilk. The key is to cut the taro into larger pieces (maybe 1-inch pieces) not overboil the taro. Stick to 10 minutes before adding in the coconut milk since you will need to continue to boil it to incorporate the coconut milk. Once you make these changes, it comes out very nicely. I didn’t put in the small tapioca pearls but I would make sure to cook the pearls, then cool them with lots of cold water. Add in the tapioca pearls once the soup cools so it doesn’t further cook the pearls.
This was perfect! I followed the recipe mostly, except the tapioca portion (I just nuked it in the microwave) and I subbed sweet potatoes for taro. But it tasted just like in the restaurants!!! Thank you!!!
Used half the rock sugar and chia seeds instead of tapioca pearls…. Super yummy and healthy! *Drool*
Great recipe. I used raw sugar when I didn’t have rock sugar
Great recipe! One small thing, you should put a little evaporated milk at the time of serving (hot or cold) for added taste. I’m from Hong Kong and this is a great recipe for the taro tapioca sweet soup. Please don’t confuse this with sweet potato sweet soup! That’s a different recipe and a different soup!
Not good at all! just ruined my root and waisted my time. Lacking flavor and too thin. This has too much water.
Wow, did not care for this! It’s too liquidy and the potato didn’t work well with the other textures. Never again.
I’m from Hong Kong, this is what we call tong shui(sweet water). This is a good recipe to follow. I used to do it all by taste, a lot more work. I used sweet potato instead of taro(it’s interchangeable, but sweet potato has some natural sweetness). My advice is cook the tapioca by itself as the recipe says, you don’t want the starchy water. In a different pot cook the taro and sugar. Add sugar till it suits your taste(it’s not suppose to be too sweet) then add the tapioca and coconut milk.
It was average tasting. It wasn’t what I was looking for. I had to strain the tapioca with running warm water to get rid of the starchy sticky gel. Then I added the milk/sugar mixture. Also, I boiled the taro seperately and added that at the end. My daughter liked it with whipped cream stirred in.
This is a very popular recipe in southeast asia. You can also use sweet rice in place of the tapioca pearls. I serve this to my six month old baby and she loveees it so much. Coconut milk is high in saturated fat which is very good for you as oppose to the poly saturated fat. So don’t be afraid of this recipe because of the coco milk. I also sub. rock sugar for palm sugar.
I like this easy and tasty recipe. The first time I made it, we didn’t eat it until 3 hours later, the tapioca soaked up the liquid, the dessert became very thick mixture. I adjust the procedure the second time I made it: I boiled the taro for 15 mins, then added uncook tapioca in the same pot to cook for another 7 mins, then added coconut milk cook until boil, last step I added brown raw sugar for another 2 mins or so until sugar dissolve. I serve it 1 hour later, this time tapiocas didn’t have that much time to soak up all the liquid and the flavor is still there without all that simmering.
It wasn’t sweet enough for me and too much liquid. It’s not that I don’t like Asian desserts, because I LOVE red beans, mung beans, etc. in coconut milk for desert. I’m guessing it’s the taro that doesn’t work for me.
This is so good. I used a little less sugar, and it tastes perfect.
This is one of my favorite desserts and it came out wonderful! I added more sugar than was on the receipe but other than that, it came out great. Thanks!