The yam ring served in Chinese restaurants is also known as taro basket or prosperity yam basket. But what exactly is it?

It’s a ring of fried mashed yam with a large hole in the center, filled with stir-fried dishes such as kung pao chicken, sweet and sour pork, or some vegetarian stir-fried. The yam ring is usually presented by placing it on a bed of fried rice vermicelli. 

In this article, I will make a yam ring that can be used as one of the Chinese New Year feasts. I will also include a recipe for kung pao chicken, which you can put inside the ring.  However, you can choose to put any item you like in it, according to your preference.

The original Chinese name for this dish is “佛钵飘香,” which loosely means  “aromatic food served in a Buddha bowl.” The reason for this name is unclear, though some suggest that the shape of the yam ring resembles a Buddha bowl. A Buddha bowl is an empty bowl carried by Buddhist monks, and people they encountered on their journey would share food by placing a portion in the bowl.

Due to the tedious work involved, the yam ring is usually made during special occasions. People who cook stir-fried chicken or pork will serve it on a plate instead of making a yam ring to contain it during normal days. However, its artistic presentation makes it popular during special occasions or festivals, such as the Lunar New Year.

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Yam or Taro?

Before I proceed with preparing the yam ring, I need to highlight the confusion around the terminology. The words yam and taro are often used interchangeably in different translations of this recipe. The ingredient is 芋头 in this recipe. Nonetheless, when I communicate with most Chinese people, they refer to taro and yan as 芋头.  As such, I will refer to this dish as either a Yam Ring or a Taro Basket, but in the ingredient list, I will mention taro, which is the correct English word based on my understanding. If you have any answer regarding this, I would appreciate it if you could enlighten me by leaving your answer in the comment section.

Here is how to prepare the yam ring (taro basket)

a. Steam the taro

The major ingredient for the yam ring (taro basket) is taro.

1. First, remove the skin of the taro and slice it thinly or into cubes to increase the surface area for effective steaming. 
2. Next, set up the steamer and steam the taro over high heat for about ten minutes. Once steamed, use a chopstick to check if the taro slices are soft and easy to pierce. If not, steam for a few more minutes until they turn soft.
3. Transfer the steamed taro to a mixing bowl and season it with Chinese five-spice powder, salt, sugar, and ground white pepper. The exact quantity of each seasoning can be found in the recipe at the end of the article.
4. Finally, mash the taro slices and mix them well with the seasonings.

b. Prepare the wheat starch paste

The second step is to make a starch paste to bind with the mashed yam. 

1. Mix the wheat starch and hot water in a separate bowl. The hot water will partially cook the starch to become a wheat starch dough.
2. Next, combine the wheat starch dough with the taro paste until they are mixed well. You can wear gloves to knead the mixture, like kneading bread dough. 
3. Once it becomes homogenous, knead the shortening and baking soda into the taro paste until it forms a smooth dough that no longer sticks to the mixing bowl. The shortening can be replaced by lard, margarine, or butter.
4. Then, divide the dough into two portions, as this recipe is for two medium-sized taro baskets. 
5. Finally, transfer the dough to an air-tight container or wrap it with cling film and place it in the freezer for half an hour to one hour until it becomes firmer. This firm texture is necessary to shape the dough into a ring.

Note: Wheat starch should be available in most Asian grocery stores.

c. Shape the yam ring

The third step is to shape the ring.

1. Remove the taro dough from the freezer when it is firm enough to shape into a ring. 
2. Sprinkle some wheat starch or flour over a chopping board or pastry mat. 
3. Place the dough on the surface, and then push your thumb through the center of the dough to create a deep indent. 
4. Flip the dough over and repeat the process on the other side. Eventually, the top and bottom indents will meet to form a hole at the center, giving it the appearance of a doughnut. 
5. Next, use your finger to push the dough outward away from the hole until it forms a large ring with a thinner wall. Shape it until it becomes a perfect ring with equal thickness.

Note:  We made a video of how to make the yam ring. Please refer to the video placed after the recipe in the article.

d. Deep-fry the rice vermicelli 

We also need some fried rice vermicelli (mee hoon) for decoration. Usually, I will fry the rice vermicelli first, then use the same oil to fry the yam ring.

1. Pour vegetable oil into a wok enough to submerge the yam ring. (Yes, it does require plenty of oil.)
2. To check if the oil temperature is correct, break a small section of rice vermicelli and throw it into the oil. The oil temperature is suitable if the rice vermicelli expands and floats on the surface immediately.
3. Then, place all the vermicelli into the hot oil. All the vermicelli will expand immediately and take up the space of the whole wok within two to three seconds. 
4. Immediately remove all the vermicelli from the wok with a strainer.
5. Place the rice vermicelli on large serving plates. Garnish with coriander leaves and carrot strips.

e. Deep-fry the yam rings

Now deep-fry the yam ring with the same oil after frying the rice vermicelli.

1. Heat the oil until it reaches a temperature of around 160°C. If you don’t have a kitchen thermometer, place a wooden skewer or chopstick in the oil to check the temperature. When you see a stream of bubbles rising from the wooden chopstick, the oil temperature is correct.
2. Place the yam ring on a strainer with holes and slowly lower it into the hot oil. If any part of the yam ring is not submerged fully, use a large spoon to scoop the oil and continuously pour it onto the upper part. However, if you use enough oil, you won’t need to do this.
3. Keep deep-frying the yam ring until it turns golden brown and the fluffy strands start to firm up.  Once it’s cooked, remove the yam ring from the oil and place it on the bed of fried rice vermicelli.

f. Fill up the yam ring with kung pao chicken

As I mentioned, you can stuff the yam ring with any stir fry or vegetarian filling. In most restaurants, the common stir-fry options for the yam ring are Kung Pao Chicken or Sweet and Sour Pork, and you can find both recipes on this food blog. 

To complete this recipe, I have also created a video demonstrating how to make the yam ring filled with Kung Pao Chicken. You can find the video just after the recipe.