Consumed as a dessert, the serving of orh nee marks the end of a traditional multi-course Teochew banquet. It’s typically served warm and topped with candied gingko nuts and steamed pumpkin. This version has coconut milk as a nod to Southeast Asian cooking.
Orh nee / 芋泥 / Yam paste
by Glenn TanConsumed as a dessert, the serving of orh nee marks the end of a traditional multi-course Teochew banquet. It’s typically served warm and topped with candied gingko nuts and steamed pumpkin. This version has coconut milk as a nod to Southeast Asian cooking.
Servings: 15
Prep time: A project
Servings: 15
Prep time: A project
Ingredients
1.5kg yam/taro, peeled and cut into 2″ cubes
500g pork fat, cut into 1/2” cubes OR 200ml liquid lard
150ml coconut milk
500ml water
170g brown sugar
1 tsp salt
Directions
- Fill the bottom pan of a steamer with water and set it to boil over high heat. Cut yam into 2″ chunks and steam above the boiling water until tender; about 30-40 minutes. Remove yam from the steamer and mash in a bowl or blend in a food processor.
- If rendering your own lard: while the taro is steaming, heat a wok over low heat. Place cubed pork fat in the wok and stir often to render the lard. Strain with a piece of cheesecloth and store liquid lard and crackling separately.
- Add mashed yam to the wok together with water, coconut milk, 200ml liquid lard and bring to a simmer. Add sugar and salt and mix thoroughly until mixture resembles a smooth paste, about 20-30 minutes.
- Serve warm in a bowl topped with pieces of crispy crackling (optional).
Tips
- Be sure to mash or blend taro while still steaming hot.
- Pork crackling as a topping is non-traditional and optional but adds a crispy, savoury dimension.
- Some restaurants substitute lard with cooking oil and some recipes may even omit it completely to make the dish healthier, but lard is traditionally the cooking fat of choice in most Southern Chinese cuisine, particularly in the Teoswa region of the Canton province—the ancestral homeland of the Teochew diaspora.
Ingredients
1.5kg yam/taro, peeled and cut into 2″ cubes
500g pork fat, cut into 1/2” cubes OR 200ml liquid lard
150ml coconut milk
500ml water
170g brown sugar
1 tsp salt
Directions
- Fill the bottom pan of a steamer with water and set it to boil over high heat. Cut yam into 2″ chunks and steam above the boiling water until tender; about 30-40 minutes. Remove yam from the steamer and mash in a bowl or blend in a food processor.
- If rendering your own lard: while the taro is steaming, heat a wok over low heat. Place cubed pork fat in the wok and stir often to render the lard. Strain with a piece of cheesecloth and store liquid lard and crackling separately.
- Add mashed yam to the wok together with water, coconut milk, 200ml liquid lard and bring to a simmer. Add sugar and salt and mix thoroughly until mixture resembles a smooth paste, about 20-30 minutes.
- Serve warm in a bowl topped with pieces of crispy crackling (optional).
Tips
- Be sure to mash or blend taro while still steaming hot.
- Pork crackling as a topping is non-traditional and optional but adds a crispy, savoury dimension.
- Some restaurants substitute lard with cooking oil and some recipes may even omit it completely to make the dish healthier, but lard is traditionally the cooking fat of choice in most Southern Chinese cuisine, particularly in the Teoswa region of the Canton province—the ancestral homeland of the Teochew diaspora.
