Eight-Treasure Yam Puree

Name: Eight-Treasure Yam Puree
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Total time: 2 h 15 min
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 200 g Yam (washed, steamed until tender, peeled, and mashed into puree); 10 Lotus seeds (peeled, cored, and steamed until tender); 3 Honey dates (pitted); 1 Candied green plums (sliced); 5 Cherries; 25 g Pine nuts; 1 g Melon seeds; 25 g Walnut kernels (peeled); 4 Chinese torreya nuts (shelled); 100 g Fine sweet bean paste (red bean paste or other fine paste filling); 200 g Granulated sugar (50 g reserved for the starch slurry); 10 g Wet starch (for the slurry); 60 g Rendered lard (to mix with the yam puree); 15 g Frozen lard (for greasing the bowl)

A traditional Zhejiang sweet dish made from mashed yam combined with lotus seeds, candied dates, green plums, cherries, pine nuts, walnuts, and Chinese torreya nuts—the "eight treasures." Steamed and finished with a sugar sauce, it is colorful, beautifully presented, and sweet, tender, and rich.

2h 15m

Easy

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Ingredients

Yam (washed, steamed until tender, peeled, and mashed into puree) 200 g

Lotus seeds (peeled, cored, and steamed until tender) 10

Honey dates (pitted) 3

Candied green plums (sliced) 1

Cherries 5

Pine nuts 25 g

Melon seeds 1 g

Walnut kernels (peeled) 25 g

Chinese torreya nuts (shelled) 4

Fine sweet bean paste (red bean paste or other fine paste filling) 100 g

Granulated sugar (50 g reserved for the starch slurry) 200 g

Wet starch (for the slurry) 10 g

Rendered lard (to mix with the yam puree) 60 g

Frozen lard (for greasing the bowl) 15 g

Instructions

Prepare the yam

Wash the yam and steam until tender, then peel it and mash into a puree. Add sugar and rendered lard and combine until smooth.

Prepare the eight treasures

Peel and core the lotus seeds and steam until tender; pit the honey dates; slice the candied green plums; peel the walnut kernels; shell the Chinese torreya nuts and set all of them aside.

Arrange the bowl

Take a large bowl, coat the inside with the frozen lard, and use the lotus seeds, honey dates, and other eight treasures to form a floral pattern in the bottom of the bowl.

Fill and steam

Spoon in 1/3 of the yam puree, add the fine sweet bean paste and the remaining eight treasures, then cover with the remaining 2/3 of the yam puree and smooth the surface. Steam over boiling water for 1 hour, then unmold onto a serving plate.

Finish with a glossy sauce

Add water to a wok over medium heat and bring to a boil. Stir in 50 g of sugar, skim off the foam as it rises, thicken with a thin wet-starch slurry, and pour the glossy sauce over the yam puree before serving.