Kūmara Suan Pan Zi
Ruby 嫦潔 White
Suan pan zi is a Hakka noodle traditionally made from taro, but I love the colour, taste and texture that kūmara provides. The name translates to ‘abacus beads’ due to their visual similarity — each small piece of dough rolled into a ball and pinched between two fingers. They are a symbol of prosperity and are often eaten during Lunar New Year.
Serves 4
Cook time: 90 min
740g raw kūmara (try to pick small kūmara to save on cooking time)
250g rock salt for baking the kūmara on (the salt draws out excess moisture)
35g rice flour
90g tapioca flour
4g table salt
To make suan pan zi
Preheat oven to 180°C.
On an oven tray, make piles of rock salt about 1cm tall and sit the kūmara on top — one salt pile per kūmara. Prick the skin of the kūmara to allow the steam to escape while cooking.
Bake in the oven until a skewer can easily poke through. Cooking time will depend on the size of your kūmara. Bake for approximately 30 min to 1 hour.
Once the kūmara are cooked, roughly remove their skin and mash while hot. If you have picked purple and golden kūmara, mash separately and split the dry ingredients between the two colours.
The rock salt can be put to one side and used for another recipe or salting pasta water.
If the dough feels substantially sticky, add in more rice flour, a small amount at a time — but note that adding more flour will change the texture and taste to be more bouncy/chewy and mute the flavour of the kūmara.
Dust your hands and sprinkle tray or board with rice or tapioca flour to prevent sticking.
Roll small pieces of dough in the palm of your hand and lightly press between your thumb and index finger, to create a flat bead shape around 2cm in diameter. You don’t want to squish them.
Place the suan pan zi on the tray as you go. Try to avoid them touching until their exterior has dried a little, to prevent sticking.
To cook
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil.
Avoid overcrowding the pot by cooking the beads in a few batches. Before adding the suan pan zi, give the pot a stir so that they don’t sink straight to the bottom.
Once the beads are in the pot, gently move the water to prevent them from sticking to the bottom. They are cooked when they float to the top.
Remove from the pot with a slotted spoon and toss through some soy sauce, chilli/sesame oil, blanched green vege, and stir-fried pork mince. Garnish with finely sliced spring onion and crispy shallots — or any other noodle toppings you love!
Ruby 嫦潔White is a Chinese-Malay Hakka and Australian-Pākehā creative currently living and working in Tāmaki Makaurau. Between 2014 and 2018 they ran the bespoke restaurant pop-up Miss Changy, exploring Chinese diaspora and tau iwi identity through food. They were also the owner and chef of Small Fry at Te Tuhi contemporary art space, which closed its doors in 2018.
In 2021 Ruby was the recipient of the Enjoy Summer Residency in Pōneke, where they researched and developed ceramic charcoal bbqs. They hope to continue deepening their understanding of identity and belonging through their ceramic and food practice.