Air Fried Sweet Potato Fries

Sweet potato always goes on sale during the holidays season, so I bought a few to make my sweet potato pie and air fry sweet potato fries.  I am very much prefer the sweet potato than the potato because it is healthier.  I like red potato for the baked crispy potatoes and Russet potato for smashed potatoes.  Anyway, with the air fryer, making sweet potato fries is so much easier and I have a meal ready in less than 40 minutes.

I am serving the sweet potato fries with my air fried Cornish hen and butter thyme broccoli.

Thanksgiving Meal 2019

Our mini Thanksgiving meal.  My girls and I just loved the green bean casserole so we had to cook it again and this time we paired it with slow cooker turkey (I overcooked it and it turned out a bit dry and then I burnt it while I set it on broil!!! *slap face*), gravy and air-fried sweet potato tots.

Luckily my girls still like the turkey and said it was fine with the gravy.  Well, I did learn a lesson with each failure, don't ever trust the recipe completely and always check half way for sure.

My sweet potato pie from scratch!  I just can't do without it every holiday season.  A must have for my girls and I and in addition to that we also added the apple crumble pie into our tradition.  Those pies are so good homemade from scratch and it is just irresistible for us.

Stir-fried Sweet Potato Noodle

Stir-fried Sweet Potato Vermicelli

Sweet potato vermicelli is a gluten free noodle usually found as an appetizer or side dish in the Korean restaurant.  I was first introduced to this noodle in a Korean household where I was invited for dinner.  It so happened that the family's parents came to visit them from Korea and her mom cooked up a feast for us.  It was love at first sight when I first tried the sweet potato noodle or Japchae in Korean.  I loved the chewy texture that this noodle provided as compared to the usual Asian style noodle that I had before.  It was delectable and it was fairly easy to make.  You can purchase the sweet potato vermicelli at the Asian supermarket and just followed the direction at the back of the packet to cook up this noodle dish or Japchae!

My Version of Vietnamese Dessert

We loved Vietnamese dessert.  Often time when we went up to Denver, we would go to a Vietnamese bakery shop to buy some of the kuih (Asian steamed cake), "tofu fah" and cups of sweet dessert like the above.  It came with several variety and it was hard to pick a favorite, but often time I would pick one loaded with beans, sweet potato, sago and taro.  I don't know how they really make theirs but I know it is sweet and covered with coconut milk.

This is my version and it tasted just like the one sold at the store.  It is not difficult to make but involved a few steps like cooking the tapioca pearls or strips first and steaming the sweet potato or taro if used.  Then, you just mix it all together and place into an individual serving bowl or cup and refrigerate until serving.  It is best eaten on the same day as the tapioca strips might harden when kept in the fridge for too long.  If you make this, please feedback to me ya!  Enjoy!

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

What I did when I have some sweet potatoes at home?  Dump it into curry, turn it into fries and make a Chinese sweet dessert soup with it.

Since I don't really do deep-frying these days, I chose to bake it.  Baking it also easier as I don't have to fry them in batches, less time consuming, less messy (no oil spattering every way) and also easy clean up.  It might not be as crispy as the deep-fried one, but suit our family just fine.
 

Chicken Curry with Sweet Potatoes

I don't buy potato unless it is on special occasion and organic.  To me is why eat potato when you can eat the superfood sweet potato?  In the Asian supermarket, we can buy all sort of different colors sweet potatoes, from purple, yellow to orange.  I like to buy the purple variety because not a lot of time we get to eat purple color food.  But for adding to curry, yellow and orange colors sweet potato is preferred.

I was planning to make a pot of curry chicken and just so happen that I had some sweet potatoes that were starting to sprout so of course I had to eat it quickly.  Thus, this idea was born.  I loved it a lot because it added an extra sweetness to the curry.  Next time if you have a choice, always pick the superfood!

Matcha Mochi Cake with Sweet Potatoes/Yam

 

Why green tea you asked?  It's simply because I adore the Redman green tea powder, it's so fragrant and make your baked good vibrant in this beautiful green color.  I made sure I bought some when I went back to Malaysia few months ago. There is no substitution for me!  Not disappointed, my house smelled like green tea when this was baked and this mochi cake really fragrant packed with green tea smell.  If you just want a plain matcha mochi cake, just omit the sweet potatoes.

The texture of this mochi cake is sticky and chewy with the fragrant of green tea and sweetness from the sweet potatoes.  My next experiment will be with taro mochi cake, wait til I get my hands on some taro!

Purple Sweet Potato Mochi Cake

The inspiration of making this mochi cake came from a Korean mom that I talked to.  I never thought of adding sweet potato into a mochi cake until I tasted some that she made.  Hers was different with orange sweet potato and some other things that she added (she didn't give me the recipe though).  Since I LOVE the purple sweet potato because of the color and sweetness, I wanted to recreate her recipe and hence this recipe was born.  I was glad to say that it was a success and we all loved it very much.  On the day it was baked, the crust was crusty and the mochi was chewy with the sweetness from the sweet potato and a little sourness from the raisins, just perfect!  The crust will turn soft on the 2nd day but just as chewy and delicious!  This is definitely my keeper recipe that I want to make all the times.  Next time I want to try it with taro and play with this recipe a little.  Feedback to me if you ever try it!

Seriously it was so hard to stop at just one piece, got to have two!!  Self-control....self-control....

Sweet Potatoes Brown Rice (红薯糙米饭)

In my list of 10 most healthy food, brown rice is number 1 and sweet potato is number 3, behind onion.  Sweet potato is also number 1 in detox, or getting rid of "poison in your body" in the Chinese saying.  This is another of my easy way to enjoy the sweet potato.  I just put it in my rice cooker and cook it with my brown rice.  For 2 cups of brown rice, I added 1 organic sweet potato, cubed and cook it like usual.  When it's done, I left it for 10-15 minutes before lightly stir it.  Be careful not to break the sweet potato as it would be soft.  It's okay if you mash some of it as well.   Sweet potato regardless of color is one of the super-food and I will make sure to eat it often.

Sweet Potatoes Rice (地瓜飯)

Sweet potato is one of the healthiest food one can eat.  It contains vitamins A, Bs, C, manganese, potassium, dietary fiber and some iron. It improve immune system, preserve eye sight, fight infections, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and has low glycemic index.  But for people with kidney and gallbladder ailments, consult your doctor before consuming.

I have a combination of orange and purple sweet potatoes for my rice simply because I love the different displayed of colors.

This is one healthy and delicious way of eating the sweet potatoes.  You can make it complete with a fried egg (sunny side up) on top for a more balance meal.  Or you can serve it with lean protein and a veggie side dish.

Purple Sweet Potatoes (紫色地瓜)

Sweet potatoes or 地瓜 come in various colors.  The most common orange and yellow and not as common purple.  The purple color one is slightly more expensive.  Sweet potato is really good for us as it contains lots of vitamin A, C, manganese, Bs, potassium, dietary fiber and iron.  Hence, it has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory properties, can improve immune system, preserve eye sight, fight infections, anti-cancer (some even said better than ginseng) and low glycemic index (suitable for diabetics).  This is by far one of the healthiest food to eat.  However, people suffering from kidney and gallbladder ailments are not suitable to eat this.  Consult with your doctor for a recommended amount.

Recipe coming up will be my version of sweet potato rice (地瓜飯), stay tune for this healthy and yummy rice!!

Fried Nian Gao and Sweet Potatoes with Spring Roll Wrapper

An interesting new way to serve nian gao that I noticed this year.  I was eager to try it and I did.  I saw a friend did a deep-fried nian gao with spring roll and she said it was delicious.  But I bought a sweet potato to go with my nian gao already and thus I wanted to incorporate the sweet potato into this spring roll.  Then, I saw another similar post while blog hopping.  That blogger used smashed steamed taro mixed with coconut flakes to wrap the nian gao and rolled it in the spring roll wrapper before deep-frying.  So, that was my "aha" moment.  I can steam and then smash my sweet potato before wrapping it with the nian gao and spring roll wrapper.  The idea was set and I got to work and the resulted product was really crispy and delicious.

I used the steamed nian gao that I did earlier.   The verdict of this nian gao is not what I was hoping for.  I wanted one that would melt when deep fried but this one was not.  It is not as fragrant too maybe it was because I didn't use the palm sugar but the Chinese bar sugar instead.  Therefore the color of this nian gao is not as dark brown.  Overall, it was an okay recipe, definitely not the best.  But I would try it again with palm sugar just to see whether it will have any difference (just want to experiment :-P).

BoBoChaCha 2

I made BoBoChaCha before but this time with the added tapioca strips.  I steamed the cubed yam for 25 minutes and set aside.  Then, I cooked the cubed sweet potatoes in a large pot with water.  Boil in low heat for 20 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are soft.  Then, I add in the Chinese bar shape brown sugar or you can use Gula Melaka or gula Jawa.  Dissolve those sugar to taste.  Lastly, stir in the cooked sago pearls/tapioca pearls, cooked tapioca strips, cooked yam and stir to mix well.  Add in some coconut cream to increase the overall fragrant of this dish.

In the next page, I will show you what the dried tapioca trips package looks like.  You should be able to buy this in any Asian or Vietnamese market store.  Instruction to cook this will be provided as well.

Pumpkin Sweet Potatoes Sago Dessert

What to do with extra pumpkin on hand?  Make this!  This idea was suggested by one of my readers and I couldn't agree with her more, so easy to make and so tasty especially with lots of tapioca pearls or sago pearls.

You have to use fresh pumpkin for this.  Just cut it into small pieces along with the sweet potatoes.  You can either steam to soften and cook it or just boil them together in a pot for 20-30 minutes.  Add Chinese brown sugar pieces to taste, add in cooked tapioca pearls and lastly coconut cream.  Stir to mix well.

Good either serve warm or cold.  My hubby loved it cold with crushed ice.  Keep any leftover in the refrigerator and enjoy it cold straight out of the fridge.  This method of cooking is just like BoBoChaCha actually.  So, of course you can add in yam or tapioca strips or plantain or red bean or whatever you think is suitable.

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

The easiest way to serve sweet potatoes for holiday dinner, no steaming, no mashing required, just bake it in the oven. Minimal washing too as you just need to throw away the aluminum foil. That's why this can be prepared last minute. I am waiting for it to go on sales again on Christmas week so that I can make this again.

Ingredients:

• Sweet potato, cut into fries shape like above
• Olive oil or extra virgin olive oil
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Paprika
• JoJo potato seasoning

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375'F. Line a baking pan with aluminum foil. Put the cut sweet potato fries on top.

2. Pour some olive oil on the sweet potato fries, season with salt, pepper, paprika and JoJo potato seasoning. Toast to coat well.

3. Bake for 15 minutes, flip it and bake for additional 10 minutes. Turn the oven to broil and broil for 2-3 minutes before serving (keep an eye on it).

Sweet Potatoes Porridge

Sweet potato is super cheap this time of the year. I saw it as low as 25 cent/lb at WalMart. I regretted I didn't buy some at this price to keep. Edda was not feeling well and I decided to cook her some porridge. Instead of the usual fish porridge, I tried the chicken and sweet potatoes porridge. I made the porridge quite watery and cut the sweet potato into tiny cubes for easy swallowing. But guess what? She didn't like it at all. I think she is not a fan of sweet potato cooked in this way. Anyway, you can substitute the sweet potato with pumpkin.

Sweet Potato Cake

I bought some sweet potatoes and wanted to experiment with making a sweet potato cake. I used the pumpkin cake recipe as a base and made this cake. Since sweet potatoes is sweeter in nature, so I cut down the sugar a little so that it won't be too sweet. I also provided my short-cut version of making the mashed sweet potatoes. Of course if you don't own a microwave, you can always peel and then steam the potatoes for 20-30 minutes (or until soft) and then mash it.

Sweet Potato Pie

I finally made my sweet potato pie today, ahem... 4 days after Thanksgiving. LOL! Why? Because I already bought the sweet potato and every time I opened the refrigerator, it has been screaming at me to bake it. Oh well, it is the season for pie so let's have some pies before I have no mood to bake pie anymore. Therefore, I will have another one of my favorite pies coming up. But have to wait until we finish this pie first, got to do it one at a time.

I made everything from scratch, even the crust. Home made crust is so much better than the frozen pie crust, so even as lazy as I am, I just have to make my own pie crust. I guess a bonus now is I own a food processor, so it's way easier to make the crust, just let the food processor does its' job. While the pie dough resting in the refrigerator, I will prepare the sweet potato pie filling.

This is my favorite recipe that I have been using for years. It has never failed me and I totally loved it. I got the recipe from Allrecipe.com so click here for the recipe. Oh, I added 1 Tbsp. of cornstarch into the filling to thicken it more. Serve with whipped cream on the side. Little Edda totally loved it and always requested two pieces for herself!