Potatoes in Chinese Cooking

[nakji]

Over in this topic, Fat Guy wrote,

I was assured by someone with experience/expertise that the pallid color was correct. The thing is, I've had that dish in several variants ranging from pallid to more colorful and I've never liked it. The Chinese have done amazing things with so many ingredients but not, in my opinion, with potatoes.

And it got me thinking about potatoes in Chinese dishes. As far as I can tell, they're usually used as part of a larger dish as a vegetable, rather than representing a starch mainstay in most of the regional Chinese cuisines - is that an accurate assumption?

I've had several potato dishes I've quite liked in China, not the least are the two mentioned in the Northeast Chinese in Flushing topic - the sugar potatoes and the crunchy julienned wok-fried potatoes with green peppers. Although, I was under the impression that these were Xinjiang staples; obviously there's some overlap in the cuisines of these regions.

I've also had a crispy potato pancake billed as a Yunnanese specialty in Shanghai that was quite enjoyable and would stand up against any other potato pancake I've ever had.

Potatoes are also in braised dishes like "big-plate chicken", and one dish that is another favourite of mine - chunks of potato braised (maybe fried first?) with the small, slightly hot thin-walled green peppers so common here, and eggplant. I don't know the name of this particular dish, but the three vegetables complement each other with taste and texture, and the braising sauce - I'm at a loss to describe it, other than to reckon soy and chili oil are both heavily involved. I'd happily eat this dish over rice for lunch every day if I had to.

Are there any other potato greats out there that I'm missing?

[annachan]

In Northern cuisine, there is this stirred fry potato dish with vinegar. Instead of the usual texture we're used to, the potatoes retain some crunch.

As a kid, my grandmother sued to make a dish with potatoes and beef. The potatoes were sliced and beef cut into small pieces. She generally marinate the beef in soy sauce, sugar, cornstarch and oil. She cooked most things in the wok so I assume she stirred fry this dish. The potatoes were cooked through with the outside being mushy, creating kind of like a thick sauce for the dish.

Other than that, we usually have potatoes added to soup and curry.

[sheetz]

Perhaps there aren't really any great Chinese potato dishes because maybe most Chinese prefer taro root? Classic taro dishes include taro duck, taro steamed with pork belly, and taro cakes. Certainly potatoes could be substituted for the taro in any of those dishes, but the inherent blandness of potatoes would result in a lesser dish, IMO.

I've heard of the Northern specialty of stir fried potatoes, but potatoes aren't used very often in the South. My parents are from the South and I don't think my mother ever used potatoes except in curry, and that's not even a traditional Chinese dish.

Edited September 6, 2010 by sheetz (log)

[liuzhou]

Potato and Chicken Hotpot (洋芋鸡锅) is a big favourite round here in winter.

[greenmountain]

I work in a classic chinese restaurant, and the only potato we use is sweet potatoes. I make a dumping out of them, cooking the potato, mashing, then mixing with rice flour and fill it with curried pork. It is fried until dark golden brown, and is delicious. A woman I work with says the sweet potato with curried meat is popular in Taiwan, and some parts of SE China. Regular potatoes have yet to make an appearance

[nakji]

As a kid, my grandmother sued to make a dish with potatoes and beef. The potatoes were sliced and beef cut into small pieces. She generally marinate the beef in soy sauce, sugar, cornstarch and oil. She cooked most things in the wok so I assume she stirred fry this dish. The potatoes were cooked through with the outside being mushy, creating kind of like a thick sauce for the dish.

This sounds gorgeous, and not unlike the Japanese dish, nikkujyaga. Do you think she fried it a bit, then simmered it down with the sauce added after getting a sear on things? Was there a sauce binding the beef and potatoes together, or were they dry?

[Fat Guy]

This website says China is the world's leading potato producer, with three times the production of the US. At first when I saw that I assumed the potatoes must be for export, but China is not a significant potato exporter according to the next list on the same site. So if the Chinese are growing 75 million metric tons of potatoes a year, what are they doing with them?

[Foodietopo]

McDonald french fries, alcohol, potato starch?

[prasantrin]

From a recent article in the Washington Post (bolding is mine)

Ever keen to seize opportunity, Chinese entrepreneurs are turning potatoes into forms more familiar to Chinese palates: buns, noodles, cakes. They are developing exotic varieties and have even sent seeds into orbit, saying that zero gravity makes them more nutritious and charging astronomical premiums for the seeds' offspring back on Earth.

Potatoes won't replace rice or wheat as mainstays of Chinese cuisine anytime soon, if ever. They are eaten as side dishes, and the government has not yet named them a staple, a distinction that would mean preferential treatment in domestic markets and would carry significant cultural weight.

and

The average acre of potato plants in China yields far fewer edible spuds than in other developing countries, mostly because farmers plant cheap, disease-prone seed.

[nakji]

I will say that the quality of potatoes I can purchase at the market is usually quite poor. They've obviously been stored incorrectly, because more often than not they're green. I'm happy if I can find them covered with dirt, as this protects them somewhat - although it does make a mess in the kitchen sink when I'm preparing them.

They're available throughout the seasons, and at pretty much any street market I've been through, which suggests to me that people are buying them and using them regularly. When my weekly vegetable box arrives, however, I usually only get one potato, which I assume means they're expecting me to use it as a part of a larger dish. I supplement as needed with more from the market, and the market stall lady gets a kick out of me buying 5 or 6 at a time.

McDonald french fries, alcohol, potato starch?

I think baijiu is made from rice or sorghum, isn't it? French fries I would believe though.

[nakji]

and one dish that is another favourite of mine - chunks of potato braised (maybe fried first?) with the small, slightly hot thin-walled green peppers so common here, and eggplant. I don't know the name of this particular dish, but the three vegetables complement each other with taste and texture, and the braising sauce - I'm at a loss to describe it, other than to reckon soy and chili oil are both heavily involved. I'd happily eat this dish over rice for lunch every day if I had to.

I ordered this at lunch today - 地三鲜- Disanxian, as it turns out it's called. Upon further examination, I'd say the three vegetables were deep fried first, then tossed in a sauce featuring chili paste, sugar, garlic, and soy. I couldn't finish it, so it came home with me, where it turned out to be even better cold from the fridge.

[jo-mel]

I had a memorable shredded potato dish when I was studying in China in '85. It was not part of the usual dorm food, but there was a Student Canteen in the building where you could select dishes and pay on the side. They had a shredded potato dish with a hint of Sichuan pepper and vinegar, that stood on its own, in that it was not part of another dish. I absolutely loved it. But I never was able to find it in my large selection of Chinese cookbooks -------until I came across it one day in "Cooking from Mainland China" - Hatano. According to that book, it is a 'Peking' dish. Was I happy! It is one of my favorite side dishes!

But I never found it in any Chinese restaurant in all those years. Until --- A Sichuanese place near me in No.NJ (Chengdu 1) changed hands and turned out to be one of the best places around. AND -- they had a shredded potato dish on their menu! (I heard about it thru an E-Gulleteer's review) Not quite like the one I had, as it has finely shredded green peppers and chili rather than the 'hua jiao'. But it is great and I get it every time we go there.

[annachan]

As a kid, my grandmother used to make a dish with potatoes and beef. The potatoes were sliced and beef cut into small pieces. She generally marinate the beef in soy sauce, sugar, cornstarch and oil. She cooked most things in the wok so I assume she stirred fry this dish. The potatoes were cooked through with the outside being mushy, creating kind of like a thick sauce for the dish.

This sounds gorgeous, and not unlike the Japanese dish, nikkujyaga. Do you think she fried it a bit, then simmered it down with the sauce added after getting a sear on things? Was there a sauce binding the beef and potatoes together, or were they dry?

I don't think my grandmother used a sauce. I think the "sauce" was created by the mushy outer layer of the potatoes, the juices from the beef and the seasonings.

[SoupNoodles]

I picked up a remarkable book in Hong Kong that speaks directly to this topic. It's called How the Chinese Eat Potatoes, edited by Dongyu Qu and Kaiyun Xie. It's an oddly-shaped hardcover recipe book, with vivid pictures. I'd recommend it to the attention of anyone interested in this topic. I have not had the chance to cook from it, so I suppose I can't vouch for it completely, but I can vouch for its charm, and the beauty of its pictures. It was definitely too expensive, but how can one resist a book that:

- is dedicated to "International Year of the Potato 2008"

- contains a recipe for "Braised Potato with Goose" (Da E Men Todou)

- contains not less than 5 recipes for fried potato cakes

I'll include a paraphrased recipe, to give the feel:

MASHED POTATOES IN LOTUS LEAF (HEYE TUDOU NI)

Steam 300g potatoes, then peel and mash. If using dried lotus leaf, steam it to soften.

Mince 2 red peppers (it doesn't say what kind; I'd probably go for Fresno peppers in my area) and 20g of green onion.

Add to the potatoes 50g cooking oil (these days, I'd add lard), 3g salt, water (not sure I'd do this) and the minced peppers and onions, stirring to mix evenly. Then wrap it in a lotus leaf and steam 30 minutes.

[Will]

I've had several potato dishes I've quite liked in China, not the least are the two mentioned in the Northeast Chinese in Flushing topic - the sugar potatoes and the crunchy julienned wok-fried potatoes with green peppers.

Variations of this dish (the crunchy potatoes) seem popular in a number of Chinese regional cuisines. I see it at quite a number of restaurants around here, though I think the dish may be more common as a home-cooked dish than in restaurants. I've had variations with jalapenos, celery, or with dried chilies and huajiao (Sichuan peppercorn), and I've had it both with and without vinegar. One of my favorite simple, comforting, homestyle Chinese dishes. My girlfriend's dad makes it at home sometimes.

Because the starch is rinsed off, and the potatoes aren't cooked that long, you get a very fresh, crisp texture. Not to everyone's liking maybe, but I really enjoy it.