Four Delicious Sweet Potato Recipes to Warm You Through the Winter.

Eating a baked sweet potato in winter not only helps defend against the cold but also offers many health benefits. Sweet potatoes are known for their effects of "nourishing deficiency, replenishing vital energy, strengthening the spleen and stomach, and reinforcing kidney yin," helping people to "live longer with fewer illnesses."

Sweet potatoes are widely recognized as the "champion vegetable."

Sweet potatoes are rich in nutrients such as dietary fiber, potassium, iron, and vitamin B6, and are very low in calories. Sweet potatoes and purple sweet potatoes belong to the same sweet potato category. Sweet potatoes can be divided into varieties with red, yellow, white, and purple flesh. Besides slight differences in color and texture, their nutritional value is not significantly different.

The greatest feature of sweet potatoes is their rich and excellent dietary fiber, which is beneficial for intestinal peristalsis, promotes smooth bowel movements, and helps in expelling old waste. Western medicine believes that smooth bowel movements are beneficial for digestion, absorption, and enhancing immunity.

Generally, red and yellow-fleshed sweet potatoes are sweeter in taste and thus widely popular; white-fleshed sweet potatoes have a relatively higher starch content, a slightly drier texture, and are preferred by people in colder regions; the popularity of purple sweet potatoes is a more recent phenomenon. Because they contain more of the antioxidant anthocyanin and have a unique taste, they are deeply loved by women and children.

Different from other vegetables, sweet potatoes also contain more starch and a certain amount of high-quality protein that can be absorbed and utilized by the body and can even serve to fill the stomach. For this reason, many women choose it as a preferred food for weight loss.

Caramelized Sweet Potatoes

4 Sweet Potato Recipes

Caramelized Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients: 2 sweet potatoes, 70g sugar, 1 spoonful of vinegar, 500ml oil

Instructions:

1. Wash the sweet potatoes to remove dirt, peel them, and then cut them into rolling-cut pieces. (A rolling-cut piece is made by turning the sweet potato as you cut it).

2. Heat the oil in a pot. Deep-fry the sweet potatoes over medium-low heat, making sure to fry them until they are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Once the sweet potatoes are cooked and have a crispy outer shell, remove them to drain the oil. Take a plate and brush a layer of cooked oil on it.

3. In a non-stick pan, add 1 spoonful of oil. Once the oil is hot, add the sugar and cook over low heat until the sugar melts and forms small bubbles. Then, add half a small spoonful of vinegar and continue to cook the sugar slowly until it turns yellow, then from yellow to red. Immediately turn off the heat, add the fried sweet potatoes, and toss them a few times to coat them evenly with the syrup.

4. Serve while hot, accompanied by a small bowl of cold drinking water.

Private Tips:

1. When frying sweet potatoes, aim for a crispy outside and tender inside. The sweet potatoes must be fully cooked. If you feel one fry is not enough, fry them a second time.

2. For beginners, using oil to caramelize the sugar is easier to succeed. You don't need much oil because with oil, you can judge by the color; the sugar is ready when it turns golden-red. Using water is more complicated and the heat is harder to control.

Sweet Potato Pancakes

Sweet Potato Cakes

Ingredients: 300g sweet potatoes, 300g flour, appropriate amount of pepper powder, chopped green onions, and salt.

Instructions: Steam the sweet potatoes, peel them, and then mash them into a paste. Mix with flour, warm water, and other seasonings, form into round cakes, and pan-fry until cooked.

Benefits: As a staple food, it can help treat constipation.

Sweet Potatoes with Braised Pork Ribs

Ingredients: 200g sweet potatoes, 300g pork ribs, 1 mushroom, appropriate amount of green onion segments and ginger slices.

Instructions: Cut the sweet potatoes and pork ribs into pieces. Marinate the pork ribs with seasonings for a moment. Place a mushroom at the bottom of a bowl, then fill with pork ribs and sweet potatoes. Pour in the marinade with enough water to cover the dish and microwave on medium-high heat for 20 minutes.

Benefits: Eating meat with sweet potatoes aids digestion.

Sweet Potato and Corn Porridge

Sweet Potato and Corn Congee

Ingredients: 250g dried sweet potatoes, 150g cornmeal.

Instructions: Soak the cornmeal in cold water to form a thin paste. Put the dried sweet potatoes in a pot and cook until they are soft and mushy. Then, add the cornmeal paste to the pot, stir constantly, and cook until it is done before serving.

Benefits: Has a辅助 therapeutic effect on tumors and other conditions.

Health Link:

Sweet potatoes have many benefits for the human body, but it is best not to eat them alone.

Sweet potatoes are high in sugar. Eating them on an empty stomach can produce a large amount of stomach acid, causing a "heartburn" sensation. Sweet potatoes also contain an oxidase that produces a large amount of carbon dioxide gas in the gastrointestinal tract. Eating too much can lead to symptoms like bloating and belching.

Sweet potatoes lack protein and fat, so they should not be eaten as a staple food alone. To avoid nutritional imbalance, eat them with vegetables, fruits, and protein-rich foods. When steaming or boiling sweet potatoes, you can add a little alkali to the water, or soak the sweet potatoes in salt water for 10 minutes before cooking to reduce the effect of the oxidase and decrease bloating. You can also eat them with some pickles to adjust the flavor, reduce stomach acid, and alleviate gastrointestinal discomfort.