Tuber treats
By Pauline D Loh (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-12 10:05
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The humble potato, known as the "earth bean" or "horse bell root", is known throughout the country but each region has its own favorite recipe. Pauline D Loh delves deeper
China is the world's largest producer of potatoes and this humble tuber is the fifth most important cash crop in the country. But as far as history goes, the spud is a relative newcomer, having entered the Middle Kingdom through the Silk Route toward the end of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
It is eaten on its own, made into starch and processed into noodles and it has more than proven its worth as a valuable food and cash crop.
Nowhere else in the world - not even in its native South America - has the spud been put to use so effectively as food and an economic resource.
In Inner Mongolia, on the way to Hohhot, you will pass a place which calls itself the "Potato Capital of China". It is a sign you may easily miss, and the unfamiliar Mongolian name may soon fade from memory - until your next meal.
Potatoes play a huge role in Mongolian cuisine, and one of the most novel ways I have seen it prepared here is a dish of naked wheat noodles coated with mashed potatoes.
Naked wheat is slippery and seasoning just slides off the noodles. Some clever cook decided to coat the noodles with mashed potatoes, and it is this rough sandy layer that traps the seasoning and adds a textured layer to the dish. Brilliant.
In Beijing, one of the most common dishes, if you eat out in the little restaurants, is a dish of potato julienne stir-fried with green chili peppers. Well-traveled I may be, but it was the first time I had eaten potatoes as a stir-fried vegetable. These days, of course, I am almost addicted. The simple stir-fry brings out the potato's real flavor and elevates it to the starring role it deserves.
It is certainly a lot healthier than greasy fries or chips.
My husband remembers a potato and meat stew from his student-farmer days in Inner Mongolia. He says the best meat is donkey meat, but since my face-to-face encounter with a long-lashed big-eyed donkey on the road to Hohhot, I have insisted on using beef.
It is a hearty stew, very basic, but just the thing for cool nights and a hungry family. The wonder of this dish is that the potatoes absorb the sweetness of the meat like sponges. And that is another reason why the potato is such a useful vegetable - it complements and enhances.
Contrary to belief, the potato itself is not fattening. It is a complex carbohydrate and it also has its own store of trace minerals and vitamins. It is only when it is deep-fried in vats of fat, and then generously salted that it becomes an unhealthy fast food.
My mother used to prove the point with what she called her ABC soup. It had vitamins A, B and C, she said and the main ingredients were potatoes, carrots and tomatoes. Sometimes, she added meatballs to the soup as a treat. I'm not certain if she got all the vitamins correct or if she used poetic license, but it was a soup that was popular all through our childhood years. And, looking at the size my brothers have grown to, mother's ABC soup must have had some effect.
And finally, here are some tips on how to find the perfect potato. Look for unblemished spuds with no dark spots or little green buds sprouting out of the eyes. If your potatoes at home have sprouted, you must shave off the buds, or they may give you a nasty tummy ache.
Potatoes come in many types, but most can be divided into waxy or floury varieties. If you are baking the potatoes or stewing them, you want the floury spuds, which are usually white-fleshed. If you are stir-frying them or want them to keep their shapes better when cooked, opt for the waxy or generally yellow-fleshed potatoes.
Potatoes should be kept in a dry, dark but airy place so they do not rot, or sprout easily.
Recipe | ABC SOUP
Ingredients (serves 4):
300 g soup bones (pork ribs)
3 potatoes
3 carrots
3 tomatoes
1 corn on the cob, cut into 3
Salt and pepper to taste
10-15 meatballs
Method:
1. Bring half a pot of water to the boil and blanch the soup bones. Pour away the water and rinse the bones.
2. Heat up a fresh pot of water and add the cleaned pork bones to the water.
3. While the soup bones are boiling, peel potatoes and carrots.
4. Cut potatoes, carrots and tomatoes into chunks and add to the boiling stock. Add the corn. Simmer for about 40 minutes. Add meatballs in the last 10 minutes.
5. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and garnish with a sprig of coriander if you like.
FOOD NOTES:
This is an all-in-one dish with soup, vegetables and meatballs. You can make your own meatballs or buy the ready-made ones from the supermarket. It's not too difficult to make meatballs from scratch. Mix together 200 g of minced meat, 1 tbsp corn starch, salt and pepper. Stir the mixture vigorously in one direction until it gets sticky. Wet your hands and form little meatballs which you can drop into the boiling soup.
Recipe | POTATO AND MEAT STEW
Ingredients (serves 4):
600 g beef shin
600 g potatoes
1 large onion
2 carrots
1 tbsp flour
Salt and pepper to taste
Method:
1. Skin and cut the onion into large wedges. Peel the carrots and cut into chunks.
2. Peel the potatoes and cut each into quarters.
3. Cut the beef shin into large chunks and dust with flour, salt and pepper.
4. Heat up a little oil in a frying pan and brown the beef chunks on all sides.
5. Remove the beef and add the onions, carrots and potatoes. Fry the vegetables so they are lightly seared.
6. Place the beef chunks and vegetables into a large pot and add enough water to cover the ingredients. Bring to a boil, and then turn the heat to a simmer.
7. Cook on low heat for an hour to 90 minutes or till the beef is tender.
FOOD NOTES:
This stew proves that good cooking is universal. If I did not know better, I would have sworn this is a beef stew straight out of a Western cookbook. However, this is very much Mongolian home-cooked food, with perhaps the type of meat being the major difference. If you can find donkey meat, feel free to use that.
Recipe | SKINNY POTATO STIR-FRY
Ingredients (serves 4):
500 g potatoes
3-4 large green chili
1-2 red chili, seeded
Vegetable oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Method:
1. Peel the potatoes and drop into slightly salted water while you finish peeling every one.
2. Slice the potatoes thinly, and cut the slices into fine strips. Do not cut the strips too thickly or the potatoes will take ages to cook.
3. Seed the green chili and cut into long strips. Do the same with the red chili.
4. Heat up a generous spoonful of oil in a large non-stick pan and add the red and green chili when the oil is sizzling hot.
5. Immediately add the shredded potatoes. Toss the vegetables so they are thoroughly mixed.
6. Add a sprinkle of water to help the potato cook faster and season with salt and pepper.
7. Potatoes are cooked when they turn slightly translucent. But the best test is the taste test.
FOOD NOTES:
As in all stir-fries, make sure the vegetables are cut to a uniform size. This will help them cook at the same time. Tossing the vegetables will also help them cook quickly and evenly. Also, you must be generous with the oil, or the potato will taste "green" and astringent.