Bola ubi
History/ Description
Bola Ubi is a sweet potato (yam) dish that originated from Bandung but has spread and became popular to the rest of Indonesia. These sweet potato balls are made from a mixture of steamed sweet potatoes, sugar, and tapioca flour. The mixture is then shaped into small balls and then deep fried.
The texture of the dish is that it is crunchy on the outside, but soft and chewy on the inside. It is typically described to have a sweet flavor. The term “Bola” derives from the Indonesian language, it means ball. The second term “Ubi” also derives from the Indonesian language, it is the term used for sweet potato. Hence, the meaning of the term Bola Ubi is “sweet potato ball”.
According to KBBI, the word ‘Kopong’ has the meaning of empty. Therefore, Bola Ubi Kopong usually does not contain any fillings or flavoring. However, due to the development of culinary science, many sweet potato balls now contain various fillings.
Ingredients
There are several things that affect the quality of the taste of Bandung's typical sweet potato balls, including the type of ingredients, the freshness of each ingredient, and steps to make and serve them. The ingredients and seasonings needed in preparing the authentic sweet potato balls are attached below:
- Sweet potato
- Fine granulated sugar
- Tapioca flour
- Cornstarch
- Rising Agent for cakes or baking powder
- Cooking oil
Preparation
Sweet potato is the base dough of the traditional Bandung dish which is then mixed with tapioca flour to form a snack that is liked by many people. However, the preparation is not easy. If one step is processed incorrectly, the results would not be satisfactory. Here are the steps for making sweet potato balls:
- Boil the sweet potato until soft, mash it
- Sieve all the flour so that there are no lumps
- Mix the mashed sweet potato and flour
- Knead the dough until it's smooth
- Round the dough to the size you like, cover it over with plastic wrap and let it rest for 1 hour
- Deep fry the sweet potato balls with and low heat, wait until the surface of the sweet potato balls are hardened/crispy and press repeatedly so that the sweet potato balls can “inflate”
- Sweet potato balls are ready to be enjoyed
Variation
Sweet potato balls are a popular snack of this era. This snack originally came from Bandung, and because of its delicacy, it spread throughout Indonesia. Therefore, there are various variants of sweet potato balls, including: purple sweet potato flavoured, honey flavoured, fried-cooked, chocolate flavored, brown sugar flavored, cheese flavored and so on. Although there are many variations, the basic steps for making Bandung’s sweet potato balls are almost the same as the steps listed above, except that the ingredients used are more varied.
The types of preparations offered are varied with flavors that suit the tastes of the people. The price is low, but tasty. Compared to other modern foods, this sweet potato ball is most liked by all ages. This snack has several advantages that are worthy of consideration, namely they contain anthocyanin and beta-carotene compounds that are beneficial for health.
Reference
- https://www.kompas.com/food/read/2021/04/04/180700675/resep-bola-ubi-kopong-jajanan-ala-bandung
- https://id.tastemade.com/videos/bola-bola-ubi-dengan-saus-keju-madu/
- https://cookpad.com/id/resep/12068779-bola-ubi-kopong-khas-bandung
- https://travel.tempo.co/read/1170100/bola-ubi-jadi-makanan-kekinian-tilik-kelebihannya?page_num=2