Sweet potato. What is sweet potato and how to cook it

The sweet potato root vegetable has a beneficial effect on the state of the nervous system and helps to cope with chronic fatigue or insomnia.

Sweet potato, or kumara, or sweet potato, native to the tropical regions of America, is classified as a tuberous plant in the Bindweed family. Nowadays, sweet potatoes are grown in tropical and subtropical regions of the world, most of all in India, China and Indonesia. The root vegetable is usually equated with one type of potato, but in fact it does not belong to the nightshade family.

Sweet potato tubers are about 30 cm long with a thin skin, depending on the variety, they can vary greatly in shape – round, fusiform. The pulp can be white, orange, yellow, red, and even purple.

Sweet potato is an incredibly healthy root vegetable, as are celery, beetroot, radish and Jerusalem artichoke. Due to the content of many useful substances, sweet potatoes must be included in the winter-spring diet, when many vegetables and fruits are unavailable or not useful. Sweet potatoes contain beneficial carotenoids and anthocyanins that are heat-resistant.

Sweet potato: beneficial properties

The calorie content of sweet potatoes is 60 kcal per 100 g, which is slightly less than that of potatoes – 77 kcal. Sweet potato contains vitamins of group B, A, C, rich in phosphorus, thiamine, riboflavin.

Orange and yellow sweet potatoes are high in beta-carotene, sometimes even exceeding carrots. The purple-fleshed varieties contain anthocyanins, which persist even after heat treatment.

Sweet potatoes are often recommended for people with diabetes because the insulin index of the root vegetable is significantly lower than that of potatoes, which helps stabilize blood sugar levels.

The root vegetable also helps to normalize the activity of the liver, kidneys and gastrointestinal tract, and also helps with chronic fatigue, insomnia, and eye diseases.

How to cook sweet potatoes?

The sweet potato taste can be either bland or very sweet. Cooked sweet potatoes are most reminiscent of sweet, frozen potatoes, which is why they are called sweet potatoes. Raw sweet potatoes taste like carrots.

Sweet potatoes can be eaten raw, but most often the root vegetable is boiled, fried, stewed, baked and canned. During heat treatment, sweet potatoes do not lose nutrients.

Sweet potatoes can be used to make vegetable broths, soups, and can also be added to cereals, salads, dumplings, lasagne, cabbage rolls, pancakes. Fish, cheese, mushrooms go well with sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are also used to make starch, chips, jams, preserves, soufflés.

In this selection of recipes, you will learn about 3 different ways to make a delicious sweet potato. Sweet potatoes are believed to be beneficial in treating cancer and heart disease. It is very low in calories. There are about 105 of them in a medium-sized tuber. These root vegetables also contain little fat, so they can be safely eaten without fear of gaining weight.

Easy baking It takes very little time to bake sweet potatoes in the oven. There are a couple of variations on this process. Both require heating the oven to 230 ° C and 30-45 minutes depending on the number and size of tubers. The easiest way is to lightly scrape the tubers with a knife and put them in the oven over medium heat. Outside, they will be covered with a delicious crispy crust. To make it even tastier, before putting the tubers in the oven, put a piece of butter on them, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Wrap the tubers in foil. This is necessary so that the juices that stand out make the tubers even softer and more tender. After cooking, the tubers must be removed from the oven, cut and sprinkled with your favorite seasonings.

Sweet potato gratin Sweet potatoes are usually mixed with breadcrumbs and baked with cheese. Sometimes milk or heavy cream is added to them, but you can do without them by serving them later to the table. However, it is not necessary to peel the sweet potato before cooking. Its peel is quite edible, thin, and contains many beneficial nutrients. In addition, she looks interesting on a plate. With just a little time in the oven, you can take out the sweet potato dish and start tasting it. It is usually eaten with a spoon. Source: https://grandkulinar.ru/1888-10-sposobov-prigotovleniya-batata.html Grand Culinary

Deep-fried sweet potato There are 2 ways to prepare this sweet potato dish. If you want the sweet potato to be not very roasted, cut it into strips, put it on a baking sheet covered with baking paper and sprinkle with olive oil. You can salt and pepper the sweet potato and sprinkle with any of your favorite seasonings. The sweet potatoes should be baked in the oven at 120 ° C for 25 minutes, turning the pieces from time to time. You can pierce the slices with a fork to check if the food is ready. If you are not afraid to put on some extra calories and want a nice and crispy product, the second method is more suitable for you. Also cut the sweet potatoes into strips and for 15 minutes. immerse completely in ice water – this is necessary in order to remove excess starch, without it, the sweet potato will be crisper. Pour 1 inch high peanut butter into the skillet. Dry the sweet potato slices with a paper towel and slowly dip them one by one into the butter pan. Fry the sweet potatoes at 180 ° C for 5 minutes or until they are golden brown. Now sprinkle it with your favorite savory or sweet spices.

How to bake sweet potato in the oven

Sweet potato turns out incredibly tasty in the oven. You can simply bake it whole in its skin (after washing it well), or bake it with sauce, seasonings, vegetables, meat, sweet spices. In general, the recipe for baked sweet potato is limited only by imagination.

The oven must be heated to 200-220 degrees. Grease a baking dish with olive or sunflower oil. Stir sweet potato tubers or chopped pieces with butter. Sprinkle the sweet potato with your favorite spices or other vegetables, and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Ideal spices for vegetables are turmeric, nutmeg, suneli hops, ground coriander, garlic. Serve baked sweet potato with mustard, sour cream or your favorite sauce. It can also be used as a side dish for meat or fish.

How to cook sweet potato

Usually sweet potatoes are boiled for further grinding into a puree. Other boiled vegetables can be added to sweet potato puree: carrots, onions, potatoes, cauliflower. You need to cook sweet potato for 15-20 minutes after boiling in salted water. In sweet potato puree, as in potato puree, you can add butter or milk. 

Sweet potatoes are also boiled to make soups. Sweet potato soup is slightly sweet. In the soup, this root crop is good friends with carrots, pumpkins, onions, and beans.

Roasted Sweet Potato Recipe

Sweet potatoes are fried a little faster than potatoes – about 15 minutes. Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan, put the chopped sweet potato and fry. Do not forget to generously pepper the sweet pulp, add onion and garlic, or pour over the sauce.

Sweet potato fries

A great appetizer or side dish for meat. Sweet potato fries are softer than potatoes cooked in the same way, and also slightly sweeter. It is prepared not in a deep fryer, but in the oven.

To prepare, cut the sweet potato into equal slices. Pour cold water and leave for 10 minutes – so the vegetable will become crispy. Pour the sweet potato with olive oil (4 tablespoons per 500 g of sweet potato) and mix well. Salt and pepper. Spread on parchment paper and bake for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.