Introduction: Once winter arrives, the most popular street snack is none other than the warm, fragrant baked sweet potato, which is always tempting enough to make your mouth water and can be bought on the go to satisfy hunger.
In fact, eating baked sweet potatoes in the 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 long with few illnesses." The editor will teach you 4 delicious sweet potato recipes to keep you warm all winter.
To learn more sweet potato recipes, check out our special feature: Healthy Autumn Vegetables - The Great Transformation of Sweet Potatoes
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, along with purple sweet potatoes, belong to the same category of yams. Yams can be divided into several varieties, including red-fleshed, yellow-fleshed, white-fleshed, and purple-fleshed. Besides slight differences in color and texture, their nutritional value is not significantly different.
The biggest feature of yams 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 strengthening the immune system.
Generally speaking, red and yellow-fleshed sweet potatoes are sweeter and thus more popular; white-fleshed sweet potatoes have a relatively higher starch content and a slightly drier texture, making them more favored by people in colder regions; the popularity of purple sweet potatoes is a more recent phenomenon. Because they contain more antioxidants like anthocyanin and have a unique texture, they are deeply loved by women and children.
Different from other vegetables, sweet potatoes also contain a significant amount of 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 their preferred food for weight loss.
4 Sweet Potato Recipes
■Candied Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients: 2 sweet potatoes, 70g sugar, 1 tablespoon vinegar, 500ml oil
Instructions:
1. Wash the sweet potatoes to remove dirt, peel them, and then cut them into irregular chunks. (Rotating the sweet potato as you cut it creates irregular chunks).
2. Heat the oil in a wok, add the sweet potatoes and deep-fry over medium-low heat. Be 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 and drain the oil. Brush a plate with a layer of cooked oil.
3. In a non-stick pan, add 1 tablespoon of oil. Once the oil is hot, add the sugar and cook slowly over low heat. Once the sugar has completely melted and small bubbles appear, add half a teaspoon of vinegar and continue to cook slowly until the sugar 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 hot and accompany with a small bowl of cool drinking water.
Private Tips:
1. When frying sweet potatoes, they should be crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Make sure the sweet potatoes are fully cooked. If you feel one fry is not enough, fry them a second time.
2. For beginners, using oil to cook the syrup is more likely to succeed. You don't need much oil because when cooking with oil, you can judge by the color. The syrup is ready when it turns golden-red. Cooking with water is more complicated and the heat is harder to control.
■Sweet Potato Pancakes
Ingredients: 300g sweet potatoes, 300g flour, appropriate amount of pepper powder, chopped green onions, and salt.
Instructions: Steam the sweet potatoes until tender, peel them, and mash them into a paste. Mix with flour, warm water, and other ingredients. Shape into round patties and pan-fry until cooked.
Benefits: As a staple food, it can help treat constipation.
■Braised Pork Ribs with Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients: 200g sweet potatoes, 300g pork ribs, 1 mushroom, appropriate amount of green onion sections 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. Add marinade and enough water to cover the dish. Microwave on medium-high power for 20 minutes.
Benefits: Eating meat with sweet potatoes aids digestion.
■Sweet Potato and Corn Porridge
Ingredients: 250g dried sweet potatoes, 150g cornmeal.
Instructions: Soak the cornmeal in cold water to form a thin paste. Place the dried sweet potatoes in a pot and cook until soft. Add the cornmeal paste to the pot and stir continuously until cooked, then it's ready to eat.
Benefits: Has an auxiliary therapeutic effect on tumors and other conditions.
Health Link:
Sweet potatoes have many benefits for the human body, but it's 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 bloating, belching, and other symptoms.
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, 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 oxidase and decrease bloating. You can also eat them with some pickles to adjust the flavor, reduce stomach acid, and relieve gastrointestinal discomfort.