Purple Yam

In a botanical sense, yams are only those which belong to the Dioscorea Species, but in general, and especially when shopping in native markets, all kinds of starchy tubers, root crops and even sweet potatoes are referred to as yams.

These carbohydrate foods are important staples in some countries. Yams come in a variety of colours, shapes and sizes. Most varieties are tropical, and they grow as a vine, the stems having a climbing habit. Purple yam is known as "ube" or "ubi" in the Philippines and has a distinctively rich purple color. The Philippine Yam is an important and preferred ingredient of cakes, pastries, candies, purees and ice cream.

Yams are cooked with great ingenuity to make both savoury and sweet dishes. Yams may be used in curries the same way as potatoes.

Its not only Filipinos who crave for the purple yam. Processors in the Philippines demand as much as 49,000 metric tons a year and 13,000 tons of this goes abroad.

The foreign names below are first for greater yam (D. alata) and second for lesser yam (D. esculenta).

Other Languages:

China: taai-shue, siu-chue-shue
India: kham, sinna-valli-kelangut
Indonesia: ubi-kemali, ubi-arumanis
Japan: oo-yama-imo, ama-yama-imo
Malaysia: ubi-kemali, ubi-torak
New Zealand: uwhi, uwhikaho
Philippines: ubi, tugi, buga
Sri Lanka: raja-ala, java-ala
Thailand: man-sao, man-chua