Sweet Potato Onde Onde
One of my go-to spots in Tiong Bahru was Galicier Pastry. Their onde onde was my favourite - soft, chewy with bursts of sweet molten gula melaka, in an unfamiliar hue of orange. Unlike original onde onde that's made with pandan juice and green, Galicier Pastry used sweet potato, which results in a beautiful, bright orange skin. With a lower glutinous rice flour content, the sweet potato version is less chewy and softer than its original pandan counterpart.
Unfortunately, Galicier Pastry has since closed down but I found a recipe that allows me to recreate this at home! Not entirely the same as the long-standing famous bakery, but satisfying enough. I used both purple sweet potato and orange sweet potato for a mix of colours!
Recreating sweet potato onde onde from Tiong Bahru Galicier Pastry. Made with mashed sweet potato, this onde onde is soft with bright, vibrant colours.
- 60 g grated coconut
- 0.5 tsp salt
- 60 g gula melaka (chopped)
- 180 g sweet potato (mashed)
- 60 g glutinous rice flour
Cook sweet potatoes by streaming or boiling. Let cool slightly.
Add coconut and salt to a plate (if using fresh coconut, steam before use), set aside.
Chop gula melaka, set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, mash sweet potatoes. Add glutinous rice flour and mix until dough is combined. Add water if the dough is too dry and knead until smooth. Keep dough covered when not in use to prevent dough from drying out.
Bring a pot of water to boil on the stove.
Portion 15g of dough, flatten and fill with gula melaka. Pinch edges and roll in your palms until you get a smooth ball. Immediately drop in boiling water. Continue assembling while keeping an eye on the pot.
Once rice balls are cooked (when they start floating), remove from pot, shake off excess water, and coat with coconut.
Serve immediately.
- This recipe is easy scalable depending on how much potatoes you have on hand. Use a 3:1 sweet potato:glutinous rice flour ratio. Depending on how you cook your potatoes, the hydration level will differ and you might need to add water/more flour to bring dough together.
- You can use fresh coconut or dry desiccated coconut. The former needs to be steamed before use. For practicality reasons, I prefer the latter as it keeps longer in my kitchen. The fresh coconut tends to go bad in a few days.
- Onde onde is best served on the day but if you have leftovers, cover and keep them in the fridge (although they tend to dry out and turn hard).