Where to Find Ube and How to Choose It: The Complete Guide
Sold on ube and ready to cook with it or drink it at home? You'll still need to know which form to buy and how to pick a good one. Here's a short, practical guide to help you find your way.
The different forms of ube available
| Form | Best for | Benefits |
|---|---|---|
| Fresh ube (whole tuber) | Traditional cooking, homemade purée | The most authentic flavor, but hard to find outside Asian grocery stores |
| Ube halaya (ready-to-use jam) | Baking, fillings | Already sweetened and ready to use |
| Ube powder | Lattes, baking, drinks | Very long shelf life, easy to measure, ideal for drinks |
| Liquid ube extract | Precision baking | Colors and flavors with just a tiny amount |
How to choose your ube powder
Not all ube powders are created equal. A few things to check before you buy: the ingredient list (choose a powder made from real ube rather than just artificial flavoring and coloring), the color once mixed (it should be naturally purple, never garish or neon), and how well it dissolves (a good powder blends into warm water without clumps).
Where to find ube in France
Fresh ube is still rare outside specialist Asian grocery stores in big cities. Ube powder and extract, on the other hand, are increasingly available online, from shops specializing in ube products or Asian ingredients. That makes them the most accessible way today to discover and cook with ube at home, wherever you are in France.
That's exactly why we created our Ube Latte powder: a single ingredient, purple yam, with no flavorings, no coloring, no caffeine and no added sugar. It's delivered to your door in 48 to 72 hours, with free shipping on 2 pouches or more.
How to store ube
Like most spices, the powder and extract keep for a very long time (from several months to several years) in a dry place away from light. Fresh ube should be stored like a potato: somewhere dark, cool and dry. Once cooked and mashed, it freezes very well.
Our tip for getting started
If you're new to ube, start with the powder: it keeps for a long time, is measured by the spoonful and works just as well in drinks as in baking. Allow one heaped teaspoon (about 5 g) per latte, which makes around twenty drinks per 100 g pouch.
Then head to the kitchen: iced latte, white chocolate cookies or no-churn ice cream, all our ube recipes are designed for this powder.
Ube Latte
