Yam ring (), also known as yam basket, taro basket or prosperity basket (), is a
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
an dish consisting of a deep-fried ring of mashed
taro
Taro () (''Colocasia esculenta)'' is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in Africa ...
filled with separately stir-fried ingredients. Originally a vegetarian dish, it is now commonly served with chicken or seafood, and a staple at
tze char
''Tze char'', also romanised ''Zi char'', is a Singaporean Singlish colloquialism deriving from the local Hokkien dialect to describe an economical food stall which provides a wide selection of common and affordable dishes which approximate h ...
restaurant.
History
The dish is commonly credited to Hooi Kok Wai, the founder of the Dragon Phoenix Restaurant in Singapore and one of the "Four Heavenly Kings of Cantonese Cuisine" in the 1960s, chefs who cook
Cantonese
Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...
–style dishes with local Singaporean ingredients in Singapore.
According to the legend, Chef Hooi invented the dish in 1958 to impress the vegetarian nuns who had brought up his orphaned wife to be, Leong Ah Lin.
The shape of the dish also resembles the
alms
Alms (, ) are money, food, or other material goods donated to people living in poverty. Providing alms is often considered an act of virtue or Charity (practice), charity. The act of providing alms is called almsgiving, and it is a widespread p ...
bowl used by Buddhist monks, leading to its Chinese name, which literally translates as "fragrant Buddha bowl".
Lai Wah Restaurant, set up by two other Heavenly Kings, also claims credit for inventing the dish.
See also
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Taro dumpling
Taro dumpling () is a variety of dim sum served within Chinese cuisine.
It is a standard dish in dim sum restaurants in Hong Kong and around the world. Among overseas Chinatowns, it is often sold as a Chinese pastry. It is also known as taro c ...
*
Singaporean cuisine
References
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Singaporean cuisine
Cantonese cuisine