Just One Food - Taiwanese Golden Sweet Potato Balls

I've been noticing this new food truck (parked opposite Restoran 9898 in Pandan Indah) for a while now (since the beginning of the year, I think).  Each time I pass by (after tapau-ing food), there always seems to be a queue at this food truck.

I didn't bother to go near to see what they were selling but, from afar, I could see it was some kind of sweet potato balls from the rather visible "Golden Potato" words on the truck.  I thought they were the common sweet potato balls sold at the pasar malam which I've eaten before.  But, one day, when I was still a little hungry after dinner, I decided to get me a little snack when I noticed there was no queue at the sweet potato truck.  Sweet.

Not knowing what they offer actually (as everything on the truck is written in Chinese), I saw they had two different coloured balls, so I asked if I could have a mix.  The food truck operator told me that it's RM5 for a portion of 10 balls.

A first glance of the sweet potato balls whilst walking back to my car, I realised that they were very thin and lightweight, unlike the sweet potato balls I know, and I had to take extra care in transporting these delicate little fragile babies home.  Seeing how they were packed (I was given the 10 balls in a small paper bag with two bamboo skewers), this is a snack that can be eaten on the go.

Only on reaching home that I noticed the words "Taiwan Hand Made" on the packaging, so I'm assuming this is a Taiwanese snack.  Well, I'm guessing that it had to be a snack from either China, Macau, Taiwan or Hong Kong based on all the Chinese wordings on the truck and in the packaging.

I got a mixture 3 orange and 7 purple/orange ones.  At first bite, it was nice and crunchy on the outside and slightly chewy on the inside (soft and warm if you eat it immediately).  What was utterly surprising was to find that the sweet potato ball had a hollow centre! :O

I wasn't expecting it to be only lightly sweet with a natural sweetness from the sweet potato, so I was very pleased indeed. ^.^  Eating them for the first time, they did remind me of our own Chinese crispy fried sesame ball (or what we call jin dui) where the texture is somewhat similar...a nice crisp crust on the outside (minus the sesame seeds) and a chewy texture on the inside (minus the peanut filling).

It had that nice sweet potato flavour though the ones with the mix of purple sweet potato had a slightly more evident sweet potato flavour than the orange-coloured ones.

I don't know how the sweet potato ball can be fried till it forms such a crisp crust but yet hollow on the inside.  It was when I googled and watched videos of how they were made that I found out it was the tapioca starch that gives it the chewy and transparent texture.  And when they're fried in oil, the sweet potato balls are continuously pressed (and flattened) but yet they pop right back up and this ultimately make them expand in size.  It's a real marvel when you witness how it's cooked actually.

I prefer the mixed purple and orange one just a wee bit more for its more pronounced sweet potato flavour but I still enjoyed the orange one tremendously nonetheless.

Although the sweet potato balls may deflate a little if you keep them for later, it still managed to retain some of that nice crisp texture when you bite into it...even after two hours.

If you bump into this snack selling at your neighbourhood pasar malam or from a dedicated food truck.....go get some fast fast!  LOL.  I can guarantee that you won't feel as guilty eating this snack (due to the light sweetness) as you would be if you had indulged in (say) doughnuts, ice cream, cendol or any sweet desserts and pastries for that matter...but I can't guarantee you'll be able to stop at 10! ^o^