Jiufen Yam Balls (九份芋丸)
The version made famous by 赖阿婆 - the original McCoy, who sparked off a craze with this dessert throughout Taiwan. The dessert is almost synonymous with the town itself today. Every tourist who visited Jiufen and knows what culinary delights to hunt down will end up in the shop at one time or another.
The yam balls were made from mashed yams with sweet potato flour. The 2 original flavours are yam and sweet potato. Today, a variety of flavours are available - green matcha tea, black sesame seeds etc and a bowl of the dessert is now a colourful rainbow to reward the eyes along with the flavour in the mouth.
The true test of a good yam ball is the hair-back balance between chewiness and softness - the perfect 'Q'.
Jiufen Yam Balls (九份芋丸)
The version made famous by 赖阿婆 - the original McCoy, who sparked off a craze with this dessert throughout Taiwan. The dessert is almost synonymous with the town itself today. Every tourist who visited Jiufen and knows what culinary delights to hunt down will end up in the shop at one time or another.
The yam balls were made from mashed yams with sweet potato flour. The 2 original flavours are yam and sweet potato. Today, a variety of flavours are available - green matcha tea, black sesame seeds etc and a bowl of the dessert is now a colourful rainbow to reward the eyes along with the flavour in the mouth.
The true test of a good yam ball is the hair-back balance between chewiness and softness - the perfect 'Q'.