Abacus Beads/Suin Poon Tzi

I remember eating this dish many years ago in Malaysia. There is a small café at PJ Old Town that served this dish and I remember ordering it each time I visit that them. ‘Suin Poon Tzi’ (算盘子) or Abacus Beads is a popular Chinese Hakka dish. Even though I am a Hokkien but I just love Hakka dishes like Yong Tau Foo, Kau Yoke and Char Yoke. Abacus Beads is very similar to the making of Italian gnocchi but instead of potato we use yam or taro. The yam or taro is steamed, mashed and mixed with tapioca flour to form into dough. It is shape to resemble beads on an abacus. They are boiled in water until it floats. Once boiled these beads has a soft on the outside with a nice fragrance of taro and chewy on the inside texture from the tapioca flour. The beads can be stir-fried with vegetables, meat or anything your like.

Ingredients for dough:

450 gram taro/yam, cleaned, peeled and thinly sliced
170 gram tapioca starch
½ tsp salt

1. Steam taro until soft and mashed while it is hot.
2. Add the tapioca starch and salt in a bowl and add the hot taro paste to it. Stir well and when it cools down a bit knead it to form into smooth dough. (If the dough is too dry add a bit of water and if the dough is too soft add a bit more tapioca starch)
3. Pinch a piece of the dough (size of a marble) and roll into a ball and gently press in the centre with your thumb to make a deep dimple. Do the same to the rest of the dough.
4. Bring a pot of water to boil. Drop in the beads and once it floats, let it boil for another 30 seconds. Remove the beads with a slotted spoon. Set it aside for further use.


Ingredients for stir-fry:

2 shallots – thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic – chopped
1 chicken breast – cut into small cubes
1 small carrot - peel and cut into small cubes
4 Chinese mushroom – soaked till soft and sliced
2 pieces of dried wood ears or black fungus, soaked and thinly sliced
Some spring onions – cut small for garnish
1 tbsp of oyster sauce
3 tbsp of soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
¼ cup chicken stock or water
½ tsp sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat up a frying pan. Add about 2 tbsp of oil and stir-fry shallots and garlic until fragrant and lightly brown.
2. Add in meat, carrots, mushroom and black fungus. Stir-fry for a minutes until the meat changes color and cooked.
3. Add in the abacus beads, all the seasonings and chicken stock. Stir-fry for a minute until well mixed. Check seasoning.
4. Dish out and sprinkle with spring onions. Served warm.