No, “bubur cha cha” isn’t a type of dance. It’s a sweet, coconut-based soup that we enjoy quite often here in Malaysia. But the recipe is a bit different from our Honeydew Sago Dessert recipe, our Indonesian Es Teler recipe, or the cendol that we enjoyed back in Penang. Bubur cha cha is a Nyonya dish made with different types of sweet potatoes and yam (or Chinese taro). To the sweet potatoes, you add a little pearl tapioca for a textural counterpoint.
Bubur Cha Cha
In Hawaii, you could find something similar in Vietnamese restaurants except that their versions were more pudding-like with more tapioca pearls than sweet potatoes. And I believe in the Philippines, they add bananas to their version.
We discovered a delicious Penang family recipe that was almost forgotten.
Whenever we goback to Penang, I always make sure that I come home with some goodies. One of the most popular things to take away from Penang (and no, unfortunately, we can’t pack their char koay teow, or Asam Laksa) is the biscuits evidenced by the number of people on our flight back to Kuching hand-carrying boxes and boxes of these wonderful pastries.
I’m not a big fan of baking cookies. *Gasp!* Is that horrible to say?
As a baker, I’ve always enjoyed baking cakes more. I like that I just have to mix together my batter, pour into a pan, stick it into the oven and forget about it till it’s done. While waiting, I get to clean up my mess and when the cake comes out, I just have to wait a while, and I can cut into a large slice. Make myself some tea, and voila, I’ve got a tea-time snack all ready to go.
Bring this colorful dessert to your next party. Guaranteed to be a hit!
Whenever I find jello layers offered at parties, I find that it is one of the most popular dishes. Kids AND adults love it equally and you can never have enough to go around. There’s just something fun about eating this beautiful multi-layered dessert. And c’mon, there’s always room for jello!
