Taro Tapioca Dessert

My siblings and I were eating at an old school chinese restaurant and got all of our oldies: beef stew casserole, yang chao fried rice, soft shell crab...etc.  At the end came the taro tapioca dessert. We were super excited because Chinese restaurants used to ALWAYS serve this at the end of the meal but we never see it now. Although it was nostalgic.. it was bland and rather tasteless.

Chinese New Year is coming up and my mom wanted each of us to bring a dish so I volunteered dessert as always. So I thought I would try to make my own taro tapioca dessert. Some online recipes led me to make this!

Taro Coconut Tapioca Dessert

Ingredients

• 2 cups water
• 1/2 cup tapioca pearls
• 2-3 cups raw taro root cut into cubes (purple looks nicer but white or purple taro works)
• 1 (13.5-oz) can coconut milk (unsweeten)
• 1/3 cup rock sugar
• 1 cup water (optional)

Directions

1. Boil the 2 cups of water and add the tapioca pearls. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Cover the pan and let it stand for another 10 minutes or until most of the tapioca pearls are clear. Gently remove all excess water and run under cold water. I read this on one recipe. I think it helps stop the cooking process. Tapioca is probably the hardest part of this recipe because you don't want to undercook it (still looks white in the middle) and you don't want to overcook it (completely mushy). That's why it's really important to remove it from the heat when MOST of the pearls are clear. Some white centers are okay because you are setting this aside and it will continue to cook a little.
   This is what it looks like when you first start.

   
   This is what the pearls look like when it's close to done. The white inside gets smaller and smaller until it becomes completely clear.

2. Boil a pot of water and add the raw taro root. Boil until the taro is tender and then drain the water. Mash the taro bashed on your preference. (I do not like chunks of taro in mine so I use a food processor or blender once I add the milk/water)
   
3. Add the coconut milk and rock sugar to the mashed taro and simmer until the sugar is completely melted. Taste it and alter it to your liking. I like a more soupy consistency so I add the 1 cup water.
   
4. Add the tapioca pearls and stir. Taste it again because the tapioca pearl may make it a bit more bland.

Pretty easy huh? It looks like pudding once it gets cold and has a bit of a gritty taste but it goes away once you heat it back up. Not sure why?