Sakoo Yat Sai is a tapioca dumpling filled with caramelized pork, sweet pickled radish and peanuts.
We garnish it with fried garlic and serve it with lettuce, cilantro and fried dried red chilies. Simply wrap the tapioca dumplings in the lettuce, cilantro and break off a piece of the fried chillie. The sweet, savory and spiciness will awaken all your tastebuds. The chewiness from the tapioca and the crunch from the peanuts will make it bite to remember.
Preparing The Filling
The filling can be made ahead of time, which makes this so easy to prepare if you’re serving it at a party.
To prepare the filling, you will need to finely chop the sweet pickled radish, garlic and shallots and crush the roasted peanuts. If you’re using palm sugar that comes in a ball or block, finely chop the sugar by hand or by using a food processor. If you don’t have palm sugar, you can use brown sugar instead.
Heat a pan and add 2T of vegetable oil. Saute the garlic and shallots until fragrant then add the pork. Stir fry until the pork is cooked and then remove the pork from the pan.
Next, on medium heat add the palm sugar and let it melt and caramelize. Add the pork back into the pan, the sweet pickled radish, dark soy sauce, fish sauce, salt and stir fry. You want the filling to be sticky so that it is easier to form the balls.
Finally, add the crushed peanuts and mix well. Remove the pan from the heat and let the filling cool completely. Once cooled, make them into small balls the size of a cherry tomato.
Forming The Tapioca Dumplings
Put the tapioca pearls in a strainer. Wash the tapioca in warm water 3 times. Then barely cover the tapioca in water and let it sit for 20 minutes. The tapioca will absorb the water and expand. After 20 minutes, strain any remaining water.
Take a handful of tapioca and make a flat circle in the palm of your hand. Place the filling in the middle, put some more tapioca on top and gently form into a ball the size of a walnut. You want the tapioca to completely cover the filling. It really doesn’t take long to make these tapioca dumplings.
How to Cook
To cook these yummy tapioca dumplings, we need a steamer pot.
Fill the bottom pot of the steamer with water and bring to a boil. Lightly grease the steamer tray with vegetable oil. This will prevent it from sticking.
Place the dumplings on the steamer tray but make sure they’re not touching and have room to expand.
Steam for 15 minutes.
You can tell if they’re cooked when the tapioca looks translucent. Gently remove the dumplings from the tray with a spatula.
Continue the process until you make the desired amount of dumplings.
Let the dumplings cool. Unless you’re like me and can’t resist eating them straight away!
What I love to do is make the filling balls ahead of time and freeze it. Then when I get a craving, I just have to soak the tapioca, form the dumplings and cook.
If you ever go to a Lao party, you will surely find these tapioca dumplings right next to the papaya salad!
Sakoo Yat Sai is a tapioca dumpling filled with caramelized pork, sweet pickled radish and peanuts.
- 3 Cup small tapioca pearls
- 1 lb ground pork
- 6 tbsp palm sugar chopped if it comes in a block
- 1 Cup sweet pickled radish finely chopped
- 5 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 3 cloves shallots finely chopped
- 1/2 cup roasted peanuts chopped
- 1/3 Cup dark soy sauce
- 1/4 tsp fish sauce
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
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On medium heat, add the oil to a fry pan and sauce the garlic and shallots until fragrant.
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Add the ground pork and stir fry until cooked. Remove from the pan
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Add the palm sugar to the pan and stir until it melts and caramelize.
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Add the pork and sweet pickled radish back to the pan. Stir fry and season with the black soy sauce, fish sauce and salt. Continue to stir fry until the filling has a sticky consistency. This will make easier to form into balls.
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Add the crushed peanuts and mix well. Let the filling cool completely
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Put the tapioca in a strainer and wash 3 times.
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Put the strainer in a bowl and slightly cover the tapioca with water. Soak for 20 minutes until the tapioca absorbs the water and expands.
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Take the filling and make them into small balls the size of cherry tomatoes.
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Make a small circle with the tapioca in the palm of your hand.
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Add the filling ball to the center of the tapioca.
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Cover the filling with more tapioca until the ball is completely covered. Continue until you have the desired number of tapioca dumplings.
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Fill the bottom of the steamer pot with water. Bring to a boil
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Grease the steamer tray with vegetable oil.
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Place the tapioca dumplings in the steamer tray. Make sure the dumplings are not touching and has room to expand.
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Steam in batches for 15 minutes. The dumplings are cooked when the tapioca is translucent.
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Use a spatula to remove the tapioca dumplings from the steamer tray and let them cool.
3 Cups of tapioca pearls will make about 60 dumplings. If you want to make less,
freeze the excess filling for future use.