Suan Pan Zi (Abacus Seeds)

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I love eating Abacus Seeds any time of the year, but somehow they are so much more special and festive during Chinese New Year.  It's a good dish (or shall I say, a 'good luck' dish) to prepare to please the old folks during the Chinese New Year, as it signifies that you will have an abundance of wealth to count up on your abacus for the year. I am not in the least bit superstitious, but I do enjoy keeping with the prosperity 'theme', so to speak, if only because I find the whole thing mildly amusing. 

Abacus seeds are a Hakka dish, which is to be expected as the Khek  people are such lovers of yam.  I was taught how to make these by my mother (who is Hakka).  This is one of those dishes that is really worth making at home, as it is hard to find a good version of it outside.  

However, it also has a reputation for being a 'difficult' dish.  The multiple steps of having to steam the yam, mould the dough seeds, boil and then fry them can be very time-consuming.  It definitely entails a lot more work than you would normally invest in your average home-cooked dinner.  Nowadays, people make the abacus seeds in advance and freeze them for later use, which substantially cuts down on the time required, since you can divide your work over 2 days.  Back in the good old days however, they didn't have this option. 

The other difficulty with this dish is in getting the dough to form properly to the right consistency. A good abacus seed should taste solidly of yam, but yet be 'QQ' or have a slight 'spring' or chewiness in texture.  A well-formed abacus seed should be no bigger than the size of an abacus bead,  smooth and shiny (when cooked) with no cracks, and should NOT 'fur' up or disintegrate when fried. 

Lastly, forming the dough requires some good estimation on the cook's part. There are only 2 main components to the dough - yam and tapioca flour.  However, different yams will absorb different amounts of tapioca flour, a function both of the size of the yam and how 'dry' it is. I add only sufficient tapioca flour such that the dough is pliable and does not stick to the fingers when you fashion an abacus seed.  If you add too much tapioca flour, the dough will become too dry and crack around the rim when you are forming the seeds.

Choosing a good yam is of course essential.  Apart from the obvious (i.e. no external blemishes to the yam, firm to the feel, not bruised etc), I'm told that a good yam should have nice purple veining on the inside. You can find cut yams for sale at NTUC, and some vegetable grocers at the wet market.  Of course this tip is not a lot of help when you can only find whole, uncut yams for sale. (If you have any other tips for helping to choose a good yam, do post them here.

The recipe below is for a whole yam, and yields about 70-100 seeds. (depending on how small/big you make them!).  In a meal with other accompanying meat and vegetable dishes, I can only eat about 8-10 seeds at most, because it is very 'jer lak'.  Based on that I would say this recipe can serve about 6 - 8 people as a side dish. 

Recipe for Hakka Abacus Seeds

Ingredients
Dough
1 yam (or about 450grams), skinned
Approximately 100g tapioca flour (may use less or more, see above)
1/4 tsp salt

 2 tbsp shallot oil (can substitute with cooking oil)
1/2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1 tbsp shallots, minced
2 pieces black wood-ear fungus (mu er), cut into strips
2 tbsp dried prawns/hae bee (soaked and minced)
300 grams belly pork/bacon (cut into strips)

3 - 4 pieces shitake mushroom (soaked and softened, sliced thin)
fish sauce (to taste)
1 tbsp Chinese wine

Garnish

1 big red chilli (sliced)
spring onions
Chinese parsley
1 tbsp fried shallots

Method
1. Forming the dough: Cut yam into thick sticks, discarding any parts of the yam which are discoloured or soft. Steam yam until it is soft enough to be mashed.  When the yam is still steaming hot, quickly add in the salt, and 1/2 the amount of tapioca flour and knead it into the yam as you are mashing it. Continue to add in tapioca flour and knead until the desired texture is reached. Stop adding tapioca flour once the dough allows you to form an abacus seed nicely without sticking to your finger. 
2. Shaping abacus seeds: Roll your dough into a thick roll and cover with a clean dry cloth to keep warm. break off a piece of the dough and roll into a ball, flatten into a disc and then press your finger/thumb/knuckle into the centre of the disc to form an 'abacus seed'. Set aside. Continue until all the dough is used up. You can freeze these seeds in an airtight bag/container for later use.  If freezing, arrange all the abacus seeds , without touching, on a tray.  When frozen, transfer to a plastic bag or other container. This is to prevent the seeds from sticking together during the process of freezing.
3. Boiling seeds:  Bring a pot of water, with 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tbsp oil added, to the boil. Add abacus seeds (if adding frozen seeds, there is no need to thaw them) to the boiling water. Once they float up to the surface, they are cooked. Remove them to drain.  Do not overcook. Toss the abacus seeds with a little oil to prevent them from sticking.
4. Cooking the seeds: In a heated wok, fry the belly pork strips in a little oil until browned. Remove and drain. Add the shallot oil and fry the garlic, shallots and dried prawns until fragrant. Add mushrooms and black fungus and stir-fry for a while. Toss in the fried belly strips, and then the abacus seeds. Add in the sesame oil and fish sauce to taste. Allow the heat and steam to 'loosen' the seeds, and then gently fry the mixture until the abacus seeds are shiny and evenly tossed with the rest of the ingredients.

Garnish and serve immediately.