Bua Loi

🧂Ingredients

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• 100 g glutinous rice flour(1 cup.)
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• 0.5 cup kabocha squash(Cooked and mashed. Or taro, or a coloured juice such as pandan or beet (then skip the water).)
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• 0.25 cup water(1/4 to 1/2 cup, as the dough needs.)
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• 2 cups coconut milk
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• 1 cup water(For the coconut milk.)
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• 0.75 cup palm sugar(Chopped. Start with 1/2 cup and add to taste.)
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• 0.75 tsp salt
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• 0.5 leaves pandan leaf(Optional.)
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📝Instructions

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1. 1

   Rub the rice flour and mashed squash together with your fingers, then add water a little at a time and knead until the dough is soft but not sticky. If it turns tacky, knead in a little more flour.

2. 2

   Pat the dough into a rectangle just under 1 cm thick, cut it into 1 cm strips and then 1 cm cubes, and roll each cube into a ball. Keep the balls covered so they do not dry out.

3. 3

   Bring a pot of water to a full boil. Meanwhile, heat the coconut milk, 1 cup of water, pandan leaf, 1/2 cup of the palm sugar and the salt over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Taste, add more sugar if you like, then turn off the heat and remove the pandan.

4. 4

   Set a bowl of cold water beside the boiling pot. Cook the balls in batches without crowding; within about a minute they float. Lift them out as soon as they do and drop them into the cold water.

5. 5

   Drain the balls well, add them to the coconut milk and heat just until it returns to a simmer, then turn off the heat. Serve warm or at room temperature, on the day they are made: the balls keep absorbing liquid and turn soft.