Easy Sweet Potato Dessert (Chè Bà Ba)

Vietnamese people when hearing about this porridge dessert, immediately imagine a picture of a southern woman with her traditional shirt, called ao Bà Ba – a cone leaves hat, and carrying a pot of this dessert to sell at a street market on their shoulders. I am unsure about the history of this delicious porridge of the southern region of Vietnam, but this porridge’s rustic name, "Chè Bà Ba",  is the name for a woman who lives in the countryside of southern Vietnam. This particular porridge will never be served in urban hotels, whether or not it is a delicious porridge, as it is a food for rural people and can only sell on the sidewalks of the city of Saigon. I love to eat all kinds of tubers, and so this is also a dish that suits my taste. If sugar were not necessary to sweeten this dish, it can be a very good dish to be able to eat everyday. The natural sweetness of the potatoes, the fatty, creamy, fleshy texture of coconut milk, and green beans create a very unique flavor for the porridge. Here is a very simple recipe to create this country dessert. Whether we live overseas but we are always increased indispensable flavors of the dessert in the countryside of Vietnam.

Ingredients:
One of each type of tuber –Japanese purple, red or yellow, taro, and yucca root
3/4 to 1 cup sugar
1/2 cup small tapioca pearls
1/2 cup tapioca sticks (bot khoai)
5 cups water
One 14.5 oz. can coconut milk
1 cup cooked mung beans
1 tbs pandan leaves extract
1/4 tsp salt

Directions
Soak mung beans for 15 minutes and drain. Add mung beans into a pot with enough water to cover the beans and bring to boil. Let boil for 2 minutes and pour off the water. Cover beans with lid and turn the heat to simmer. This will dry cooked the beans (about 20 minutes).
Peel, wash, and cut the tubers into big bite size pieces. Place yucca and taro, if using, into a heatproof, microwave dish and cook for 3 minutes. Add the rest of the tubers and cook in microwave for 4 more minutes. This is the process to partly cook the tubers. Set aside.

Bring 5 cups of water to boil. Add both tapioca pearls and sticks into the rolling boiling water and cook until both the tapioca pearls and sticks turn clear or soft when tasted.

 Add all the cooked tubers until all the tubers are tender and are still in shape.
Add sugar, pandant extract, and coconut milk and the cooked mung beans.

Bring to boil for 1 minute. Ladle dessert into a serving bowl. Serve warm.