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Honey steamed sweet potato 蒸蜂蜜红薯


abcdefg

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11 minutes ago, 大块头 said:

Looks tasty, but I like my method of putting them in the oven and forgetting you put them there for a couple hours.

 

That would be good too, but I don't have an oven here. I would leave the skin on, just scrubbing them well, if I went that route. Is that how you do it? Does it make them nice and crisp?  

 

I found several good looking Chinese recipes on-line that involved deep frying them, but I wanted a method that would not make them quite so heavy. 

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I know almost nothing about cooking, so maybe you can offer some tips. I just rinse them, put them on a baking sheet with some foil, and leave them in an oven at 350 degrees F for a couple hours. It seems like the longer you leave them in the oven the more caramelized and tasty they get.

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Looks like an easy and delicious recipe! I'll need to try this. Always looking for easy side dishes!

 

I usually use the oven as well, though I tend to slice it and toss it with some olive oil and cumin/chili flakes first, or with some rosemary if I have it around. When I was a kid and my grandma was feeling lazy and making dinner, she'd roast a sweet potato whole in the oven (with or without foil) and put it on a plate with a slice of butter. They're also my favorite camping food - wrap it up in some foil and throw it on the embers of the campfire (or on the edge if the fire is still roaring) and forget about it for a while.

 

I love those 红薯 that you buy off the back of someone's bike. I often juggle one while riding my scooter in the cooler weather - there is one on almost every corner and it makes for a good snack/lunch after class. It also keeps my fingers warm while riding the scooter and hits the spot on Hangzhou's colder days.

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You can wash them and toss them into an oven without evening cutting them into pieces. Bake at 375F-400F for an hour and a half, it will taste great by itself (just to make sure you peel them before you actually eat it). The best way to test if it's ready is to stick a chopstick into one. If it's ready, you don't need much effort to stick the chopstick through it. 

 

 That's how I ate them when I grew up in Beijing.

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An equipment footnote which might be of help if you are making this dish, or something similar, in a Chinese kitchen. 

 

Wire steamer racks 蒸架隔 come in several styles and sizes. They cost 10 to 15 Yuan. You can put one in a wok, set a shallow dish on it, put on the lid, and do just about as good a job as if you had a dedicated steamer pot. Most kitchens here are small with limited cabinet space, so one less piece of equipment to store is a good thing. 

 

1508239514_IMG_6310-60.thumb.jpg.e75e5621d8874e1ed1fda592bde22088.jpg   277298705_IMG_6301-60.thumb.jpg.94afcc02e848c7e050bb7152366fff38.jpg

 

The tool you use to lift a hot dish out of a steamer 取盘器 is a handy small investment if you steam things often. Mine cost 10 Yuan. Keeps you from scalding your hands 防烫手。

 

694601156_IMG_6304-60.thumb.jpg.3086eb9f8b240803daa509c48a259238.jpg   839248866_IMG_6306-60.thumb.jpg.3b0269ca8be60e972beb9b1bf805deb6.jpg

 

 

 

When I lived in the US, I seldom steamed things. Here in China, I do it several times a week. In the south, Guangdong and Hong Kong in particular, it has been refined to a high art and bamboo steamer baskets are often employed. Those are particularly useful for making steamed dumplings 蒸饺 and delicate dim sum  早茶/点心 items such as shao mai 烧卖。

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Sweet potato doesn’t really crisp. I always wondered what I was doing wrong when I’d make wedges. Then I read that restaurants use a coating (some kind of flour mixture if I recall) on the wedges. It’s that coating that crisps during frying/baking, rather than the sweet potato. 

 

Anyway, these look good but I find sweet potato sweet enough without honey! I also really like the purple potatoes you get in China... perhaps more than sweet potato. The purple ones are good hot or cold. I find cold they don’t “mush” so easily; keep their shape a bit better. 

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16 hours ago, ChTTay said:

Sweet potato doesn’t really crisp.

 

Interesting. I didn't know that. Never tried the oven method. 

 

16 hours ago, ChTTay said:

The purple ones are good hot or cold.

 

I like those too. 紫薯 They require slightly longer cooking time. 

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The sweet potatoes I find here have a deeper orange color. Did your's have a rich, sweet taste, @amytheorangutan

 

In many places, grocery stores present us with confused labeling: sweet potatoes and yams get mixed up, even though they are not the same vegetable. 

 

918788905_swtpotyam2-65-smaller.thumb.PNG.a70e6264ebbf0000c1ceb41a8413e949.PNG     

 

Yam on the left; sweet potato 红薯 on the right. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1839160747_swtpotyam-65-smaller.thumb.PNG.a5d3f4f0544cca9b8173239384250bd4.PNG  

 

Sweet potato on the left; yam on the right. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.bonappetit.com/story/difference-between-sweet-potato-and-yam

https://www.epicurious.com/ingredients/whats-the-difference-between-sweet-potatoes-and-yams-article

https://ncsweetpotatoes.com/sweet-potatoes-101/difference-between-yam-and-sweet-potato/

 

Not sure I've ever had a yam, as described in these articles. In the US south and southwest (I live part of each year in Texas) people talk about "baked yams" or "candied yams" when they really mean sweet potatoes. They are popular at Thanksgiving, with lots of sweet toppings, sometimes even marshmallow. 

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@abcdefg I think the one I got is a different kind of sweet potatoes but I'm sure it's not yam as my mum used to steam yam at home. It is not as sweet and creamy as the sweet potatoes I used to have in Asia but I feel like a lot of fruits and veggies in London sometimes don't have any taste. The one I baked was from Chinatown, there are orange flesh ones which I normally get from normal supermarket. From the photo I found below it seems like mine is supposed to be Japanese sweet potatoes but they're probably grown here in the UK. They seem to have deeper coloured skin but more yellowish white flesh than orange? 

DSC_0449-s.jpg

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That makes good sense, @Amy -- There are so many varieties. That's an excellent illustration that you posted. Thanks!

 

The most prized ones here in Yunnan are small, only slightly bigger around than a sausage and 3 or 4 inches long, "fingerlings." They call them 萌番薯 most of the time. These little ones are always served steamed with the skin on. One peels them at the table, or one can eat the skin. They are a staple breakfast item, but can show up at other times of day as well. 

 

14 hours ago, amytheorangutan said:

...but I feel like a lot of fruits and veggies in London sometimes don't have any taste.

 

That's what I find in the US too, when I return for my annual visit. So many fruits and vegetables look good in the store, but lack real flavor once I cook them. Disappointing! I get spoiled here, where most of the produce I buy at the local wet market was harvested that same morning or maybe the day before. Short supply chain from farm to market.  

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I do a similar thing with carrots, slice them on the diagonal, steam till soft but not mushy, put carrots to drain, add a big knob of butter to the pan now emptied of water, once melted add 2 teaspoonful of sugar (any type you like) stir constantly to stop sugar from burning and once butter and sugar are blended add the carrots back, turn off the heat and thoroughly stir to coat the carrots. Serve immediately and eat hot. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

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