Okinawan Sweet Potato Haupia Pie

Okinawan Sweet Potato Haupia Pie, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

We had the usual Thanksgiving fixin's this year but the one dish that excited me the most was my Okinawan Sweet Potato Haupia pie. It was the first time I'd made it, although I've eaten it before and knew I loved it. For some reason I thought it would be labor-intensive and difficult to get right. I used this recipe by Jo Anne Sugimoto and it came out just right.

For the CRUST:
3/4 c cold, unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks)
2 Tbsp sugar
1 3/4 c flour
1 c macadamia nuts, well chopped
Mix the dry ingredients together, then add nuts and butter, cutting with a pastry cutter until crumbly, then press into pie pan. Or you can use a premade crust, which is what I did.

For the OKINAWAN SWEET POTATO layer:
1/2 c butter, softened
1 c sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 c okinawan sweet potatoes, peeled, boiled and mashed (about 1 big potato)
1/2 c evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
Cream butter and sugar until smooth in medium bowl. Add eggs, then mashed potato, then the remaining ingredients. Spread into the crust but leave a half inch for the haupia on top. Bake the pie at 350F for 30 minutes (mine took 40 minutes) until the crust is golden and the potato filling is lightly browning. Let cool.

For the HAUPIA LAYER: (do not start until the potato filling is cool)
1 can coconut milk (13.5 oz.)
1/2 c water
1/3 c sugar
1/3 c cornstarch
Put the milk and water into pan. Mix sugar and cornstarch together, then add to the liquids. Turn on medium heat and stir constantly until dissoved and thickened, several minutes. Quickly pour haupia over pie evenly and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight. Cut and serve when cooled.

I know, it seems like a lot of work. But trust me, it's TOTALLY worth it. The light sweet potato flavor combines extremely well with the sweet coconut topping. Plus, it's so pretty!

Maybe my crust was on the small side, but I had extra leftover sweet potato filling that didn't fit in the pie shell. If you have extra crust, you could make tarts. Or you could probably bake it without crust and it would still be good. I decided to add some mochiko flour and bake a few mini cupcakes; these came out pretty good, but I didn't have the patience to bake the rest as it had become quite late. So I poured the rest into a square dish and microwaved a few minutes to make "mochi". I was happy to see that the purple color held up though all the cooking! My mochi isn't smooth because the potato I used was mashed to a sort of chunky consistency. Whipping the potatoes into a more liquid puree would probably result in smoother pie and mochi. As it was, I added more evaporated milk and mochiko until the consistency looked right (pourable), then zapped until it was done. If you make microwave mochi, you'll have to watch it carefully because it will cook rather quickly. If you have a high-wattage oven it will cook faster than a lower-wattage oven, so my cooking time will differ from yours. I will definitely make this again soon. Like -- at Christmas. How about you?

Edited to include a pic of this pie which I made for 10-31-11. These potatoes were perfectly ripe and fresh, and when I steamed them they turned a beautiful vibrant dark purple. I had to make a pie.