Sugar-free Honey Konnyaku Dessert

I wanted to find a healthy dessert I could eat all the time and not gain weight or get ugly with (haha)!  I could not find one online so I just made my own!  

The main ingredient for this dessert is an asian plant known by many names.  The starchy part of the root is transformed into noodles called shirataki.  It can be colored white or brown (or probably in a variety of colors as they make it into gelatin desserts.  It is usually called konnyaku, konjac, elephant yam, and even creepy names such as devil's tongue, voodoo lily or snake palm.

Despite the weird-sounding names, this type of food is really, really good for you.  It is one of the "superfoods" of Japan.  It is said to be the "broom of the stomach", sweeping away all the bad stuff in there!  

Outside Japan you will see it packed as the "zero noodle" for zero calories.  This is one pasta-type dish you can eat without any guilt.

Here are some of the benefits of eating Konnyaku:

aids in digestion
weight loss
clears skin
regulates blood sugar
heart-healthy
detoxifies
strengthens bones
boosts your immune system

That said, you'll probably think to yourself that you need to run away fast at the first mention of konnyaku because healthy food usually does not taste good, right?  Wrong.  This tastes yummy!  I love it!

The easiest way to eat it since it does not look so odd is to use the white noodles for some soup, light pasta meal.

But here's the more challenging way to eat it - as dessert!

Ever heard of Cathedral Window Cakes?  That used to be my favorite dessert as a kid.  It's basically gelatin with colorful fruit bits to make it look like stained glass.  It looks beautiful but it is not really healthy.  It is loaded with sugar!

So here goes my attempt with a healthy dessert.  If you are new to konnyaku, I suggest for you to slice it into more bite size pieces and soak in the yoghurt for about 2 minutes before you bite into it.  It is best with Asian ingredients so you need to let the other flavors seep through to have the dessert taste.

This is the most filling dessert ever!  

{Jump to recipe below}


PREPPING THE KONNYAKU


Here is how to prepare the Konnyaku for most dishes.  After doing this, you can diversify the recipes in countless ways.  But you need to know that Konnyaku has an unpleasant smell that you need to get rid of before all that.

The way to do it is to drain the liquid from the Konnyaku pack.

After which you need to boil it in water for about 10 minutes.  The amount of water you need should just cover the amount of Konnyaku you wish to cook.

Afterwards, remove from the heat, drain once again and it will look like this.

Now you can make it into soup chunks, fry it to make "fake" steak and so on. 



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SUGAR-FREE KONNYAKU DESSERT 

Yields: 2 servings
Active Time:  5 minutes
Total Time:  25 minutes


Ingredients:

• 1 pack Konnyaku chunks
• water
• honey / maple syrup
• yoghurt
• fruits
• nuts
• raisins
• chia seeds
• cocoa

Directions:

1. Drain the liquid from konnyaku pack
2. Boil the konnyaku for 10 minutes to remove the smell
3. Drain from the liquid
4. Refrigerate
5. Cut into smaller chunks (optional)
6. Put in a shallow bowl
7. Add the yoghurt and honey.  The amounts are totally up to you.  
8. You can coat the konnyaku with yoghurt and honey and sprinkle lightly with cocoa just for aesthetics.
9. Add more toppings.  I used kiwi and grapes.  Use any fruit you like and then finish off with nuts and raisins.

Please let me know your feedback on how this tastes!  Did you do variations?  Please share in the comments below.