Chewy Thai Sweet Potato Doughnuts (No Yeast)

Cultural Context: Kai Tao in Thailand

In Thai, these chewy snacks are called kai tao ไข่เต่า, which means "turtle eggs," but some people call them kai nok grata ไข่นกกระทา which means quail eggs. I grew up calling them kai tao, and they look much more like turtle eggs anyway! It's a very popular snack sold most commonly by street carts and at open air markets, and they're often sold alongside our popular fried bananas. You won't find them in restaurants!

They are made using sweet potatoes, and back in the day we only had orange or white sweet potatoes, but nowadays you can get purple ones made from purple sweet potatoes. Some people also mix in some taro in addition to sweet potatoes.

I used to eat them almost daily because my elementary school cafeteria sold them 5 pieces for 1 baht, which I thought it was a great deal even back then! Now, I'm pleased to share my childhood memory with you!

Ingredients and Important Notes

Here's everything you'll need and important notes about them. Please read carefully about the sweet potato choice as that will affect the recipe greatly! For amounts, see the full recipe card below.

• Sweet potato. You can use any kind of sweet potato as long as they're not too moist. Thai sweet potatoes are typically on the drier side, but many of the ones available here are super wet. If the potato has too much water, you'll have to add more flour than the recipe calls for, which is not a deal breaker, but it's going to need some adjustments, which I'll guide you through. I find the orange-flesh ones sold as "garnet yams" or "jewel yams" are too moist for this, so avoid those. Purple sweet potatoes are often on the drier side and tend to work better, as are the white flesh sweet potatoes. Unfortunately, you won't know if they're dry or moist until they are cooked, but not to worry, I'll provide guidance so you'll be successful either way!
• Tapioca starch, this is the main starch for the doughnuts, and the starch responsible for the satisfying chewiness I love so much about them.
• All-purpose flour (optional) Not everyone adds all-purpose flour, but I find that it softens the chewiness of the tapioca starch a bit, which is nice. If you want to make them gluten-free, substitute more of the tapioca starch instead.
• Sugar. You can adjust the amount of sugar depending on the sweetness of the potatoes.
• Salt.
• Baking powder, adds a little airiness to them as they fry.
• Coconut milk. You may or may not need this. Ideally, your sweet potato will be dry enough that you have room to add some coconut milk because it provides a nice flavour, but if your potatoes are already too moist, then you won't need any added liquid.
• Frying oil. You will need enough oil to have about 1-inch of oil in the pot you're going to use to fry. If you don't want to deep fry, you can also air fry them.

Step By Step

Here's an overview of what you'll need to do. If it is your first time, I highly recommend watching the video tutorial first to ensure success. For the full recipe, see the recipe card below!

1. Peel and cut the sweet potato into 1-inch dice and steam them for 10-15 minutes until they are completely tender. A fork should go in with no resistance. Do not boil them, we want to avoid making them too wet.

2. Mash the sweet potato thoroughly with a fork until smooth.

3. Put the potato in a mixing bowl and add sugar and salt and stir until the sugar is well mixed. If you're potato is very sweet to start, you can add less sugar if you wish.

4. Add the flour and work it in with a spoon. Try your best to incorporate all the dry flour into the potato. If you're finding it difficult because it is too dry...go to the next step. If you can incorporate all the flour but the dough is wet and sticky, add more of the flour until the dough is no longer sticking to your hand when you try to roll a ball. Then proceed to step 6.

5. If the dough is too dry and you're having a hard time getting all the dry flour incorporated into the potato, add the coconut milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until you have a dough that is soft but does not stick to your hand when rolled.

6. This is the dough consistency you're aiming for. Soft, but you can handle it easily without it sticking to your hands. AND, when you roll it into balls, the ball can retain its shape without sagging or drooping when placed on a plate.
   Note: If you had to add a bunch of flour to get it to this consitency, taste a bit of the dough as you may need to add a little more sugar and salt (raw flour, I know, you'll be fine it's just a little taste).

7. Use a teaspoon and scoop up a heaping teaspoon of dough and roll them into balls. The ones I made are about ¾ inch in diameter, but it is okay if they're a little bigger than this.

8. Add your frying oil to a pot and make sure it's at least 1 inch deep as you'll want the balls to be able to be submerged completely. Heat it to 325°F (160°C). Add the ball, one at a time while stirring because they will initially sink, and if you don't stir right away they'll get a burnt patch while they're sitting at the bottom.
   Stir the doughnuts constantly so they brown evenly, and fry for 5 minutes at minimum until they are deeply browned and crisp on the outside.

9. Once they have fried for at least 5 minutes and are deeply browned all over (we don't want light brown here), you can remove them from the oil.
   To air fry, Spray or brush the doughnuts with oil, then air fry them at 375°F (190°C) for 8 minutes. Shake the basket to roll them around and if they still have more room to brown, air frying them for another 2-3 minutes or until well browned all over. Each air fryer is different, so your timing may differ. They won't brown as evenly as deep fried ones, but they'll still be tasty.

10. Scoop them out with a wire skimmer and place them on a paper towel lined plate. Roll them around right away to absorb as much of the surface oil as possible. Let cool for a few minutes or you'll burn yourself, but eat them while they're still warm and crunchy! They don't keep well, but if they've gone soggy, they can be reheated in the air fryer for a few minutes.

Advance Prep Tips & Reheating

These sweet potato doughnuts are street food, which means they're meant to be eaten right away after they're cooked (after they've cooled down a bit of course!), so I recommend frying them right before you want to serve. The good news is that the dough can be made in advance and kept in the fridge for up to 2 days, in a well sealed container, so you can fry them up whenever you're ready to eat!

Reheating: If you've fried too much and you can't finish them all in one sitting, they will go soggy and won't taste as good. If this happens, you can air-fry them for about 3 minutes at 350°F (180°C), or if you haven't put the oil away, you can re-fry them in the same oil at 350°F for 1-2 minutes.

Watch The Full Video Tutorial!

All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video below to ensure success - and if you enjoy the show, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. Thank you!