Depending on where you were raised, a sweet potato is called a yam. In actuality, the true yam, or “igname,” is hairy, off-white or brown skin with either white, yellow or pink flesh. This true yam weighs several pounds and has a very bland taste with a very starchy texture.
Sweet potato varieties include Beauregard, red garnet, jewel, batata, white sweet, Japanese sweet, and Okinawan purple sweet.
For Thanksgiving, look for the traditional Beauregard, which has a standard sweet potato flavor and a perfect texture. The jewel, if available, is just moderately sweet with a watery texture and the red garnet, often mistakenly called “yam,” is very savory.
The other sweet potatoes are not orange in color, ranging from white to purple. Japanese sweet is buttery and has chestnut flavor and the white sweet is creamy with not much flavor. The batata is off-white in color with a mild flavor, and we all know the popular Okinawan purple sweet potato, grown along the Hamakua coastline.
The sweet potato is a dicotyledous plant belonging to the morning glory family. That is why the flower on a sweet potato plant looks just like a morning glory flower.
The leaves and shoots of the sweet potato plant are edible. Just remove leaves from the stems and set aside. Remove small stems from the larger, tougher stems. Discard the larger stems and roughly chop the smaller stems. Heat 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil in a medium-size pan over medium high heat. Add onion and saute until just softened. Add 1/2 small onion, diced, and saute until softened, about 3 minutes. Add stem pieces, and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add sweet potato greens, about a half pound. Add salt and black pepper to taste, and 1 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup. Saute until leaves are wilted, about 2 minutes. Serve.
In China, the yellow variety of sweet potato is baked in a large iron drum and eaten as street food during the winter.
In Taiwan, the greens are boiled or sauteed and served with a garlic and soy sauce mixture. Once considered food for pigs, the healthy-conscious are now eating the leaves. The levels of iron, calcium and carotene are similar to what is in spinach.
In Japan, “yaki-imo,” or roasted sweet potatoes, are baked and sold during the winter, too. I watched a TV program on KIKU recently where a man sold roasted sweet potato from his cart that he pushed around along the streets of Tokyo. It was snowing and when people bought the hot, steamy sweet potatoes, they must have tasted so delicious in the cold. In Japan, sweet potato also is the main ingredient is making shochu spirits.
In Korea, sweet potato is known as “goguma” and is wrapped in foil and placed on an open fire.
There are so many recipes with marshmallows on top of a sweet potato dish. I think it makes it too sweet and does not do the sweet potato justice. Naturally, it has a nice flavor and does not need more sweetness.
Here is Cook’s Illustrated’s simple mashed sweet potato recipe.
Mashed
Sweet Potatoes
Serves 8
“Cutting the sweet potatoes into slices of even thickness is important in getting them to cook at the same rate.”
Combine in a large Dutch oven, cook covered, over low heat, stirring occasionally, until potatoes fall apart when poked with a fork, about 45 minutes:
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
4 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and cut crosswise into 1/4- inch slices
Turn off heat, mash sweet potatoes in saucepan with potato masher, or transfer mixture to hopper of food mill and process into warmed serving bowl. Stir in:
Pinch ground black pepper
Serve immediately.
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For the kiddos, you can bake some sweet potato fries.
Baked Sweet Potato Fries
Serves 4-6
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a sheet tray with parchment. In a large bowl, toss:
5 sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch-long slices, then 1/4-inch strips, using a crinkle cut knife (if you have one)
Vegetable oil to coat potatoes
In a small bowl, mix together:
1/2 cup salt
2 tablespoons black pepper
2 tablespoons garlic powder
Keep in jar for future use.
Sprinkle a bit of the salt mixture on the sweet potatoes and 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
Spread potatoes in single layer on prepared baking sheet. Do not overcrowd. Bake until sweet potatoes are tender and golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.
• • •
Bon Appetit has a nontraditional “okonomiyaki” recipe with sweet potato.
Sweet Potato
and Brussels
Sprout Okonomiyaki
Serves 8
Combine in a large bowl:
3 ounces Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed, very thinly sliced, 1 cup
2 medium sweet potatoes, julienned, 4 cups
1 green onion, thinly sliced
1 large egg, beaten to blend
Season with salt. Mix with your hands until vegetables are evenly coated. Sprinkle over vegetables and toss to combine:
1/3 cup flour
Heat in large nonstick skillet over medium-high:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Add half of the vegetables, press into a thin even layer across the bottom of the skillet. Cook until pancake begins to set, about 1 minute. Drizzle around edge and shake to ensure pancake can slide around, cook until golden brown underneath, about 2 minutes longer:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Slide pancake onto a baking sheet or the underside of a flat pot lid, then invert pancake back into skillet. Drizzle around edge of pancake and cook until second side is golden brown, about 2 minutes:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Repeat with remaining vegetable mixture and vegetable oil to make another pancake.
Serve with Sriracha, mayonnaise, bonito flakes and furikake.
Small bites
One baked, medium-sized sweet potato contains 438 percent of your daily value of vitamin A, 37 percent of your vitamin C, along with calcium, potassium and iron. It contains 4 grams of dietary fiber and is only 105 calories as well.
Foodie bites
Hawaii Community College’s culinary program will be taking pre-orders for Thanksgiving. Pickup is from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 23, for the prime rib and turkey plate. Pickup time for the pumpkin pie and a dozen dinner rolls is from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Call 934-2559 from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Monday-Friday to ensure your order is placed.
Prime rib plate (rice, hot vegetable, au jus, prime rib, dinner roll) is $10.
Turkey plate (rice, turkey, ham, stuffing, dinner roll, a slice of pumpkin pie, sweet potato, hot vegetables, cranberry sauce) is $9.50. A 9-inch pumpkin pie, $8; One dozen dinner rolls, $3.50
Email Audrey Wilson at audreywilson808@gmail.com.
