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| Homemade Hakka Abacus Seed |
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| About 2 kg Yam |
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| Getting all ingredients ready for cooking |
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| 1 bowl dried prawn |
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| 1 bowl thin sliced pork belly |
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| 1 bowl minced meat |
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| 1 bowl shredded black fungus |
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| 1 bowl diced mushroom |
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| 1 cup minced garlic |
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| Spring onion |
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| Fried shallot |
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| Cut evenly big cubes |
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| About 800g tapioca flour |
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| Water drained from dried prawn & dried prawn |
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| Steamed yam till soften about 10 - 20 min |
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| Mashed yam with a little salt and mixed with topioca flour. Knead till the dough smooth and not sticky. Add a little water if dough become too dry. |
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| Take some part and knead into a long roll and divided into small evenly part. |
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| Roll the small part into a round shape and use your first and second thumb press into the middle to form a abacus seed |
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| Boil a pot of water and add a little cooking oil and put abacus to boil. |
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| Drained the cooked abacus and put into a container filled with water (room temperature) to let it cool down. |
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| After that, transfer to a clean container and mix the abacus with a little cooking oil to prevent the abacus stick together. |
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| All ingredients are ready for cooking |
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| Heat oil and stir fried dried prawn and pork belly for 2 -3 minutes |
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| Stir fried the fragrant |
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| Add in diced mushroom, black fungus and stir fried a minute then add in minced meat. Loosen the minced meat and add in seasoning, oyster sauce, pepper, salt & sugar. |
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| Add in water and simmered for awhile. |
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| Add in cooked abacus and mixed well. |
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| Add in water and simmered for awhile |
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| Off heat and leave it for 5 minutes. |
I learnt this dish from my mother who is a Hakka. I am a Cantonese.
Yam Dough:
2 kg Yam (peeled and cut into even size)
800g Tapioca flour (can be more or less depend on how wet is the yam)
Water
Salt
Cooking oil
Ingredients:
1 bowl dried prawn (preferably small size without shell) (washed & soaked)
1 bowl diced mushroom (washed & soaked)
1 bowl shredded black fungus (I used those big and thick black fungus)
1 bowl pork belly (cut thinly shredded)
1 bowl minced meat
1 cup minced garlic
Water drained from dried prawn & dried mushroom
For Garnish:
Spring onion
Fried shallot
Seasoning:
Oyster sauce
Pepper
Salt
Sugar
Directions for Abacus Seeds:
1. Steamed the yam till soften.
2. Mashed the yam (add a little salt) and knead in tapioca flour (while the yam is still hot) evenly till smooth and not sticky on hand. If the dough get too dry, you may add a little water. This procedure usually take about 20 minutes. (Please refer to photo)
3. Take one part of the dough and rolled into a long roll and separate evenly into some pieces. (Please refer to photo)
4. Rolled into a small round shape and used your first and second thumb press into the middle to form like a abacus seed. (Please refer to photo)
5. Boiled a pot of water, add a little cooking oil. Add in the abacus seeds and let it continue to boil till all the abacus seed floated on top.
6. Drained up and put into a container filled with room temperature water (tap water) to let it cool down.
7. Then transfer into a clean container, and mixed evenly with a little cooking oil, so that it won't stick together. Set aside.
Directions for cooking the ingredients:
1. Heat oil over medium high heat, stir fried dried prawn & pork belly till fragrant and the fat from the pork belly come out. Careful not to get the dried prawn burnt.
2. Add in minced garlic, diced mushroom & shredded black fungus. Stir fried evenly for a few minutes.
3. Add in minced meat and loosen it evenly into the other ingredients and stir fried for a few minutes.
4. Add in the water drained from the dried prawn & diced mushroom. In the mean time, you can add in the seasoning gradually. And let it simmered for awhile.
5. Lastly add in the abacus seed and stir fried evenly. Add a little water and let it simmered for awhile.
6. When the water has absorbed by the abacus seed. Off heat and leave it for 5 minutes before dish up, garnished and served hot.
Note:
1.The ingredients can be a little bit salty as when you added in the abacus seed, the taste will be just nice.
2. The given measurement of the recipe can be served up to 10 pax. So I have keep half portion of the cooked ingredients and abacus seed for next cooking.
