Taro Paste

Taro Paste (Simplified/Traditional Chinese: 芋泥; Pinyin: Yù ní; Hokkien/Teochew often orh nee) is a sweet dessert of steamed taro mashed with lard or oil and sugar into a smooth, fragrant paste, classically topped with ginkgo nuts, pumpkin, or red dates. Fujian Food lists it among street/special snacks as Taro Paste 芋泥. It is not the savory pan-fried Taro Cake (芋头糕) of dim sum, nor the deep-fried Taro Puff (芋角).

Characteristics

Color is pale purple-grey; texture is fine and sticky-smooth; flavor is sweet and taro-aromatic, sometimes enriched with fried shallot oil in Teochew styles. Served warm as a sweet course.

Ingredients (overview)

Taro, sugar, lard or neutral oil, optional ginkgo, pumpkin, coconut milk modern variants. Distinct form factor from sliced Taro Cake and from pastry Taro Puff.

History and culture

Min and Teochew sweet classic with strong presence in Fujian and Taiwan banquet/dessert culture on Fujian Food and Taiwan Food. English menus may say "orh nee" or "yam paste."

Serving and variations

Dessert or banquet sweet. See Fujian Food, Taiwan Food, Taro Cake, and Taro Puff.

See also

• Fujian Food
• Taiwan Food
• Taro Cake
• Taro Puff
• Ding Bian Hu
• List of dishes (A-Z)