purple yams

I was trying to think of what that dim sum we eat is called in English. It's a deep fried purple thing......a yam? taro? I can't remember! I always get them mixed up!

I did find that at least on the internet there is such a thing as a purple yam on wikipedia:
"Discorea alata, called "water yam", "winged yam" and "purple yam", was first cultivated in Southeast Asia. Although not grown in the same quantities as the African yams, it has the largest distribution world-wide of any cultivated yam, being grown in Asia, the Pacific islands, Africa, and the West Indies."

I'm pretty sure this is what I was thinking of. I'll have to take a picture next time I'm at dim sum.

Image from: burntlumpia.typepad.com