Easy Bubur Cha Cha Recipe

‘Bubur cha-cha’ is a coconut milk dessert which commonly contains sweet potatoes and taro. In Malaysia and Singapore, bubur cha-cha is usually served as a dessert or sometimes for supper. This is one of the more popular Nyonya/Peranakan desserts which is colourful yet delicious.

‘Bubur cha cha’ is a coconut milk dessert which is popular in Malaysia and Singapore for its quirky name and also beautiful colours. This sweetened coconut milk dessert is served throughout the day as a dessert, snack or even supper.

Commonly found sold by street vendors in Penang, bubur cha cha is a big favourite among locals. Similar to the cha cha dance, this coconut milk dessert is fun especially with the variety of ingredients and colours it contains.

Bubur Cha Cha (nyonya Coconut Milk Dessert)

The origin of this coconut dessert is rather unclear. It’s said to be based of a similar coconut Peranakan dessert, called Pengat which is served on the last day of Chinese New Year (Chap Goh Mei).

‘Bubur’ means porridge in Malay and that clearly refers to its thick consistency. Meanwhile, ‘cha cha’ sounds similar to the Hokkien word ‘che che’ which means abundance.

The ingredients are very simple. With a variety of sweet potatoes, taro and coconut milk, you are off to making an easy pot of bubur cha cha.

Bubur Cha Cha (摩摩喳喳)

This recipe includes sago and tapioca jellies for the extra bite. Bananas are added for a delectable sweetness. This truly balances the savouriness of the coconut milk.

It may be not that easy to make these tapioca jellies. They look really pretty, like stained glass. However, when our community members tried making it, many commented that they did not turn out too well.

The trick to preparing the jellies is to use really hot water, that is the water has to be boiling! Use a pair of wooden chopsticks or a spoon to quickly stir the water in.

Season With Spice

As for cooking the sago, ensure that enough of water is used to prevent them from sticking together. The ratio of water to sago should be 10 to 1.

Sago should only be added into boiling water. Adding sago to room temperature water will cause them to dissolve. When cooking the sago, keep stirring to prevent them from clumping together.

A basic bowl of bubur cha cha consist of taro and sweet potatoes. In this recipe, other ingredients are added to enhance the flavour of the dish. Other optional ingredients you may add are pearl sago, black eyed peas, yam, tapioca, banana, sweet potatoes and tapioca jellies.

Bubur Cha Cha / Pengat (coconut Milk Dessert)

Banana slices give an extra punch to this dessert. You may choose and pick the combination of ingredients according to your preference.

Bubur cha cha can be served either cold or warm. Refrigerate it for at least 3 hours to serve it chilled. It can be kept refrigerated for up to 24 hours.

Reheat it if you would like to serve it hot again. Since it contains coconut milk, it should not be kept for too long.

Matcha Bubur Cha Cha

To prepare the tapioca jelly, create a dough by adding water to the tapioca flour. The water has to be boiling hot or else the flour would not form a dough.

Divide the dough into two portions. And red and green food colouring respectively. Flatten the doughs and cut them into smaller pieces. Heat up water in a pot to boil the pieces of dough until they turned translucent. Once cooked, put them into a bowl of cold water to prevent them from sticking together.

Bring water to a rolling boil in a pot. Cook sago until translucent. Sieve the cooked sago to remove excess water. After that, add cold water to the cooked sago to prevent them from sticking together.

How To Make Bubur Cha Cha, A Malaysian Dessert

In a pot, add sugar to water. Cook over medium heat with knotted pandan leaves. Adjust the sweetness according to taste. Then, add coconut milk and salt.

Add steamed taro, steamed sweet potatoes, sago, tapioca jellies and lastly, bite-sized pieces of bananas. Allow bubur cha cha to simmer 10 minutes or until the desired texture is reached.Bubur Cha Cha is a Malaysian dessert which consists of coconut milk and a medley of ingredients such as sweet potato, taro and sago pearls. Pandan leaves add aroma and flavour this sweet dessert, which is enjoyed either warm or cold.

Some people think it eludes to a dance of sorts, and some think it refers to a mis-approximation of the Hokkien word che che which means prosperity.

Recipe For Bubur Cha Cha

Traditionally, Bubur Cha Cha is eaten and served to friends and family during the 15th of the Chinese New Year, but now it is commonly found all year round.

The easiest way to make Bubur cha cha is to cook all of the components separately and then bring them together into the coconut milk.

Similar to my recipe for Homemade Bubble Tea Tapioca Pearls (Boba), you just mix hot boiling water into the tapioca starch and mix together to form a dough.

Bubur Cha Cha With Vanilla Ice Cream

Note: It's important that the ratio of water to tapioca starch is right; otherwise you will end up with a gummy mess.

If you want to make the jellies colourful, you can add food colouring of your choice (I used pink pitaya natural food powder) to make them pink.

To make the star jellies, I rolled out the dough using a rolling pin and used a small cookie cutter to cut out star shapes.

Bubur Cha Cha Recipe

For this dessert, we're using small sago pearls (not the medium or large sized ones for bubble tea). You can pick up packages of sago pearls at Asian supermarkets.

To cook the sago pearls, add the water into the pot, bring it to a boil, and then dump the sago pearls in. Give it a stir.

Remove it from the heat, and intermittently stir the sago pearls from time to time. It may seem strange to cook the pearls this way, but this is an optimum way to obtain perfect chewy texture in the sago.

Sweet Bubur Cha Cha (nonya Coconut Milk Dessert) Recipe

To make the pandan coconut milk, add water to a large pot and bring it a boil. Add in the palm sugar and stir until it's dissolved.

If you plan on eating it warm, heat it up in a saucepan. You may need to additional coconut milk to loosen it, as the jellies will have congealed.

Have you had this Malaysian Chinese dessert before? Let me know if you try out my recipe -- tag me on Instagram @ or leave me a comment/rating below!

Bubur Cha Cha — Whip It Up!

Calories: 177 kcal | Carbohydrates: 21 g | Protein: 2 g | Fat: 10 g | Saturated Fat: 9 g | Sodium: 22 mg | Potassium: 429 mg | Fiber: 2 g | Sugar: 1 g | Vitamin A: 53 IU | Vitamin C: 7 mg | Calcium: 20 mg | Iron: 2 mg

The nutritional information provided should be considered as approximate and is not guaranteed. Please use your best judgment to ensure food is safely prepared and/or a good fit for your diet.In making this dessert, we see the use of starches other than the usual rice: purple yam, sweet potato, and taro root—common Southeast Asian tubers. The velvetiness of the cooked root starches matches the rich, thick, and sweet broth with tiny sago pearls and bits of chewy cooked tapioca gluten swimming in it. The list of ingredients is typically found in Nyonya desserts: rich coconut milk, caramel-like

Leaf.This sweet soup can be served warm or cold, hence its consumption by my family at any time of the day or night.

Bubur Cha Cha / Pengat (nyonya Coconut Milk Dessert)

Traditionally, this dish was a simple preparation of the tubers and chewy uncolored tapioca gluten bits. Nowadays, the dish has been modified with the chewy bits stained red, green, blue or yellow, which makes the dessert visually more appealing. When dealing with the sticky tapioca dough, make sure to wet your hands and the knife; this ingredient adds a chewy textural element to the dish reminding one of gummy bears. The original recipe only uses the tapioca flour gluten instead of the sago/tapioca pearls—you may choose which one to include, or maybe even both, a common choice these days. Since canned coconut milk comes in different consistencies and qualities, I have made the necessary adjustments.

This is a fairly rich dish, so it is usually served in small portions in the diminutive colorful Peranakan bowls described in the above reading. As no surprise, I would find my family members sneaking into the refrigerator in the middle of the night to have an additional serving. Once you make and savor this rich flavorful dish, you may find yourself doing the same and perhaps bursting into a spontaneous Cha Cha dance, from which this dessert takes its name!

½ taro root, peeled and cut into 1-centimeter (½-inch) cubes, or 1 medium (250 grams or ½ pound) Asian purple sweet yam (Malay: keledek)

Bubur Cha Cha Swiss Roll Cake — Fliske's Food Studio

1 medium (250 grams or ½ pound) Asian yellow sweet yam (Malay: keledek), peeled and cut into 1-centimeter (½-inch) cubes, or 1 sweet potato

2 cups (475 ml) fresh or canned regular coconut milk, or 1½ cups (350 ml) canned thick coconut milk plus ½ cup water

The hardcopy and e-book of The Baba Nyonya Peranakans book (1st image) and Edible Memories e-cookbook (2nd image) are available – more information on

Aic #eatwell Recipes: Bubur Cha Cha In 5 Steps