China · Chaoshan
Sugar Frosted Taro
A Chaoshan afternoon tea special: taro fried crisp outside and sticky within, finished in a sugar syrup that crystallises into a white frost as it cools. Sweet, fragrant and eaten hot.
The dish comes from the Teochew area around Chaozhou, where taro is a staple crop and sugar syrup dishes are a standard part of the banquet table. The final trick is the syrup: cook it to a point where it is still clear and just bubbling, add the taro off the heat, and as the temperature drops the sugar recrystallises into the white frost that gives the dish its name. Rush that last step and it turns to sticky syrup instead.
Ingredients
- Lipu taro200 g
- caster sugar30 g
- water15 g
Directions
- 1
Cut the taro into long batons, on the chunky side so they do not break up as you toss them.
- 2
Add enough oil to cover the taro and heat it; it is ready when a chopstick dipped in gives off small bubbles.
- 3
Lower the taro into the oil and fry until it floats, which is when it is faintly golden and a chopstick goes through easily.
- 4
Do not waste the frying oil; it can be used for stir-fries later.
- 5
Now the key step: combine the sugar, 30g, with the water, 15g, in a ratio of two to one and heat it until it has not coloured and is giving off small bubbles.
- 6
Add the spring onion and the taro, turn off the heat and toss; as the temperature falls the sugar will frost.
- 7
Plate up and serve.
Source: HowToCook · WorldBite adaptation · Unlicense source text; bilingual recipe adapted by WorldBite.