Bur Bur Cha Cha Time!

 Well, it's been a while since I've posted, sorry for making all three of you wait.  I've been struggling with how these posts have been turning out, and haven't really liked the direction that it's been headed, but the Cooking Time! posts and the Wood For Sheep posts are definitely more popular than the other material I've been putting on here.  So I've been doing some thinking about the way that I wanted my videogame posts to go, and realizing that I'm not happy doing editorial, considering that there are about a thousand outlets that are putting out analysis that I feel like I'm retreading.  

Yes, yes, I have a unique voice and we're all snowflakes.  But what makes us unique is our experiences with the same games, right?  So having said that, consider this hiatus over, and expect to see more experiential pieces and less head up my ass gamer elitism pieces.  And with that...

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With the passing of the holidays, winter is well and truly upon us.  Granted, the south coast of BC isn't exactly known for it's harsh winters, but it's a different kind of cold than most people associate with the rest of the Great White North.  Here, a mere five below can soak through your clothes, and chill you to the bone.  It sucks.  

Here's a little recipe from one of the hottest climates in the world, my parent's home country of Malaysia!  Yes, nothing like a hot dessert from southeast Asia to warm the cockles on a chilly winter night! Oh, and for those who aren't used to Malaysian mangling of the latin alphabet, it's pronounced "Boo boo cha cha," they're a former British colony, so I guess the "r's" are silent?

You will need:

-Taro Root

-Yam and/or Sweet Potato

-Sugar

-Water

-Coconut Milk

-Pearl Tapioca (NOT pearl barley)

I use about the amount of root shown here:

Peel them and cut them up into 1-inch pieces roughly (I hate the term bite-sized, because not only do people have different sized mouths, they take different sized bites).

Once everything has been cut up, put the yams into boiling water, just a little more than what you'd need to cover it (you can add water later if you need to).  This will form the base of the broth.  Boil for about ten minutes, then add the taro.

While you are doing this, take about 3/4 cup of the tapioca, and boil it separately for about ten minutes.  It will go from being white, to being mostly translucent like this:

Once it's at this point, drain it, and soak in cold water.

About 10-15 mins after adding the taro, all the roots should be approaching fork tender (similar to boiled potatoes).  Add a can of coconut milk, and add about a 1/4 cup sugar.  Dissolve the sugar, add the tapioca and boil for another 2-3 mins before removing from heat.

You can serve hot or cold, but I think that it's best served immediately.  It should look something like this stock photo I pulled off the internet after I realized that I ate all of ours before taking a picture of the finished product.  No one ever accused me of being professional.