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Monday, August 9, 2010
Yam paste or fondly known as Or Nee is a firm Teochew dessert favourite among many here in Singapore and Malaysia. For most of us old enough to remember, our first Or Nee was probably being served at a Chinese wedding banquent dinner. The much anticipated last dish of the 10 course meal... by which time, most diners would have already overstuffed themselves with food but when this was served... it was like 'Oh, Or Nee, die die must eat'. As its popularity grew, this traditional treat became more accessible.
For me, the novelty wore off very quickly even though my friends and family continue to stay enameled with it. Reason being, most of the Or Nee I have eaten are generally, too oily and too sweet. To achieve the smooth texture, copious amount of oil needs to be homogenised with the mashed yam paste. Sugar being a natural humectant, smoothens the paste even further. (if you have ever tried making peanut butter, you would be baffled by the way the pasty peanut mixture miraculously turn smooth and creamy upon the addition of sugar) You would never catch me ordering Or Nee on my own - that was how excited I am about it.
However, my last food tasting session at Chaozhou Inn, altered my perception of Or Nee. It wasn't oily at all, had the right amount of sweetness and a subtle coconut milk fragrance that complemented amazingly well with the Yam. I started to wonder about doing this on my own. I tried googling for an Or Nee recipe but the only thing that stuck in my mind was the Creamy Mashed Potato recipe that I learnt from Tim Ross-Watson's class. I wondered if I could recreate the creamy yet light and fluffy texture of the mashed potatoes with Yam. There are a few commonalities, one of the key being the amount of fat to be incorporated. As any French chef would tell you, the secret to a really good mashed potato is lots and lots of butter. (1/3 of the weight of potato, at least!) Then, of course the mashing technique would also impart an element of airiness to the mash.
Determined to create my very own Yam paste recipe, I went at it with a few basic points :
1. My mouli grater came out the closet to help me get an airy,fluffy mash.
2. I used minimal canola oil to blend into the Mashed Yam. (I noticed some bbloggers would use Olive oil but I thought the flavour of Olive oil would be too strong and may not complement the natural Yammy fragrance.)
3. Instead of cream/milk typically used to cut mash potatoes, I chose to use coconut cream.
The end result? Superb! Possibly the best Or Nee I have ever tasted!I have to apologise to Chaozhou Inn's Chef Yu but I really do like the texture of my Or Nee - I think the credit needs to go to my mouli grater. The creamy yam paste feels almost like a mousse in the mouth. Yes, it is that light and fluffy. It literally disappears on your tongue before it can goo up your mouth. The caveat : alot of grinding and pushing it through a fine sieve. So I leave it up to you to decide if you have the patience to go through all that trouble...other than that, it is actually quite an easy dish to prepare.
300g Yam (boiled and mashed*)
50g Canola Oil
50g Coconut Cream
1. * Yam was boiled in water until soft. I mashed this up coarsely with a fork then proceeded to grind it further with a mouli grater. Measure out 300g of this grated mashed yam.
2. Place (1) in a mixer fitted with a paddle mixer. Start mixing the mashed yam at medium speed. Slowly drizzle in Canola oil until smooth and well incorporated.
3. Transfer (2) into a saucepan and start heating over low heat. Add coconut cream in 5 additions. Stirring well to incorporate totally after each addition.
4. Add in a pinch of salt. Lastly, add in sugar and continue to stir over fire until all sugar dissolves.
5. Push (4) through a fine sieve to get the final smooth creamy yam paste.
6. Serve with syrup marinated gingko nuts.