Lockdown Day #6 : Sweet Potato Balls

Today I went grocery shopping with my partner and it was not as good as last week because Aeon reverted to opening at 10:00 am (last week it was 9:00 am).

Even though we were early, it felt crowded because everyone was crowding at the fresh produce section. As usual there were people who were oblivious to fact that they are not the only ones who want to shop. Physical distancing just went out the window.

I waited like forever for this moron man to pick a packet of spring onions. He inspected every packet and went through 4 or 5 before deciding on a packet. I felt like giving him a punch in the face. Sorry for having violent thoughts.

I meant to pick up some leafy greens for my soups but there were too many people. So I just picked up vegetables that were placed where there were less people - carrots, cabbage and two packets of salad mix. 

It occurred to me then that my kimchi jigae is the best solution for now since there are tasty vegetables (napa cabbage, daikon, carrots, spring onions) in the stew and it is so versatile since I can add things like tofu, meatballs, prawns, eggs and noodles.

When I got home, I put everything away and got ready to make more Sweet Potato Balls. My dough was pre-made (a month ago) and kept frozen.

There were leftovers from yesterday and one more portion of dough that I defrosted last night. I had some issues with both the dough - the one with purple sweet potato was a bit dry while the one with orange sweet potato was too moist.

So with the purple I had to add about a teaspoon of water and with the orange dough, a little more flour. Knead, knead, knead until the dough came together with the correct consistency. 

I had to roll them into ropes, cut into segments and rolled into balls.

I also got ready my tools for the trade, a perforated ladle and one with a wire mesh.

So I heated up a lot of oil and deep fried the dough balls.

I started with the purple ones (my favorite) and the balls behaved quite well in the oil. They did not stick together and I kept stirring the oil to make sure that they don't clump together and that they were evenly fried.

I used the wire mesh ladle to press the balls. 

They expanded very nicely to become bigger balls.

The orange dough was a disaster. The balls got stuck together in spite of me stirring the oil. I reckon it is because the dough was (still) too moist.

The next batch (which was defrosted last night and not the leftovers from yesterday) fared much better. The dough was not as moist and I had let it stand for a while (so it dried out a bit) as I fried the first two batches of dough. 

So there you have it. The purple sweet potato ones yielded the best result and I noted that among all the three dough, it was the drier one. So I can conclude that the dough must not be too moist or else the balls will stick together when fried.

See, all clumpy and deflated.

So sad.

The purples ones were very robust, while with the orange ones there were some that deflated.

I still have to make adjustments to the dough and also the frying time. This I think boils down to practice and experience will tell you when the dough feels right and when to remove the balls from the oil.

But this is not something I would want to make on a regular basis because it is deep fried and uses so much oil. 

Now, the moment of truth. Do these Sweet Potato Balls have a hollow inside?

Sadly no. But I am not sad because I actually like the doughy chewy insides. Crispy on the outside and chewy to the bite. But still....these are supposed to be hollow.

Where did I go wrong? Did the freezing affect the way the dough behaved when deep fried? I guess I will have to try again with freshly made dough to find out.

Whatever it is, these Sweet Potato Balls are so addictive. How many balls did I fry? I don't know because I didn't count. But what I know is I ate them all wahahahaha!!!

I shall close off the post with today's antics by Girl and Belle Belle.

Ignoring each other.

Girl gets into her cutesie pose.

Belle Belle : Attack!!!

And then a peck on the head.

After that they raced each other up the stairs.

I hope you had a good Sunday.