I’d be lying if I said I’d always wanted to learn how to make crispy yam bean (aka sengkuang aka jicama) fritters; they look vaguely familiar but I’m not even sure if I’ve ever eaten them.
It so happened I had some yam bean dying a slow death in my pantry when I came across the recipe in the Nyonya Kuih Passions cookbook by Andrew Koh, so I decided to use them up in what seemed like a pretty easy snack to attempt for my Twitch Live Asian Kitchen broadcast.
After cooking and tasting the first batch out of the wok, I decided it needed an injection of protein, so I added some diced shrimp to the rest. Minus the shrimp and substituting the chicken powder with half the amount in salt would render this vegetarian.
I really like how the fritters turned out – nice and crispy on the outside, and quite light and fluffy in the middle, which was why I thought it worth sharing here.
Here’s my heavily-tweaked version of the recipe.
Crispy Sengkuang (Yam Bean) Fritters
INGREDIENTS:
Batter –
300g plain flour
80g rice flour
80g tapioca flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 TBSP sugar
⅔ TBSP chicken powder
600ml water
2 TBSP oil
Filling –
300g sengkuang, peeled and diced
2 TBSP garlic chives, diced
150g beansprouts, diced
¼ cup carrot, diced
150g prawns, peeled & diced
Oil for deep-frying
Utensil – high heat-resistant ladle
METHOD:
- Mix batter ingredients, then set aside for 30 minutes.
- Heat oil to about 180C, then dip mould (eg. a heat-resistant soup ladle or similar) in it for several seconds.
- Half-fill the mould with batter, followed by 2 tsps filling and enough batter to coat.
- Fry until batter is set, then gently loosen the fritter from the mould. Continue frying until golden brown in colour; remove and drain on paper towels.
- Repeat with rest of batter.
- Serve warm or at room temperature with chilli sauce.
