Sweet Soups & Desserts

Two-Colour Sweet Potato Balls

traditionally associated with supporting the spleen, supplementing qi and promoting digestive regularity

In short: Two-Colour Sweet Potato Balls is a sweet soups & dessert that traditionally associated with supporting the spleen, supplementing qi and promoting digestive regularity. It is most often made for digestive wellness, energy & vitality. Total time about 35 min.

Prep
20 min
Cook
15 min
Total
35 min
Makes
2–3 servings
Two-Colour Sweet Potato Balls

Why people make this dish

Sweet potato is one of the most humble and overlooked health foods around — gentle, filling, and naturally rich in potassium. With a free afternoon and the urge to make something sweet and cheerful, Nourilo steamed up pale yellow and deep purple sweet potato and turned them into these bouncy little balls. As he puts it: sweets are fine in moderation, and when your dessert is also something genuinely nutritious, that is a reason to enjoy it without guilt. Sweet potato (fan shu, also called di gua in many parts of China) is widely available at Asian grocers and well worth keeping in your kitchen.

What studies say about the key ingredients

Traditional use is not the same as clinical proof. Here is the strongest human research we found for each ingredient, limitations included.

  • Ginger · Meta-analysis, 23 studies · 2022
    Overall, acute and delayed nausea and vomiting did not differ significantly between ginger and control groups. A subgroup taking 1 g/day or less for over four days had less acute vomiting (OR 0.30).Limitation: Clinical heterogeneity between trials required subgroup analyses, and the authors state that sufficiently large, high-quality RCTs are still needed.PubMed 36501010 · 3 more ginger studies

From the Nourilo Research Library. Findings come from specific doses, extracts and populations and may not apply to a home-cooked recipe.

Safety first — read before you cook

This is a traditional food, not a treatment. Please check with your doctor or pharmacist before making it a regular part of your diet if you:

  • are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are cooking for a young child;
  • take regular medicines — especially blood thinners, blood-pressure, diabetes or immune-suppressing drugs;
  • have a kidney, liver or heart condition, or a known food allergy.

Stop eating it and seek advice if you notice an allergic reaction or feel unwell. Safety notes reviewed 8 October 2026 · How we write safety notes

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