Ginger-Yam Fritters
I am a culinary genius. At least that is what I am telling myself tonight.
I had no inspiration for what to make for dinner tonight, other than when I bought fresh ginger last night for the Szechwan dish I was making, the G.O. store only had it in bags of 6-7 large pieces. That's enough ginger for me for about 4 months, if only it would hold that long. For whatever reason, I also picked up a bag of the small-ish sweet potatoes / yams they had for a great price. Don't ask me which they are, sweet potatoes or yams, I know there is a difference, but the bag says both things on it. They are orange-colored inside, that's all I can tell you.
Anyways, I decided this afternoon that I wanted to make something with both of these items. I've never really cooked much with any kind of potato or tuber other than the standard American russet, so this was stretching my skills a little. I looked around the internet, and didn't see anything too exciting, until I saw a recipe for "Gingery Sweet Potato Fritters" on cooks.com. But, they had you boil the potatoes, and then food process them until smooth and creamy, and only then did they add the eggs and flour and such to make them into patties. It sounded like frying up baby food to me, not at all appealing. Plus, it only called for 2 teaspoons of grated ginger. I was looking for something more in the neighborhood of tablespoons of ginger, not measly teaspoons!
Then, I remembered a zucchini fritter recipe that anita_margarita had shared with me last summer. My muse had spoken, and I knew what I was going to do. And seriously? They turned out awesome. A little sweet, a little savory, altogether delicious. The only thing I would do differently next time is have some Greek-style yogurt to go with them. Yummy! Okay, here's what I did:
Ingredients
1-3 raw yams/sweet potatoes (depends on size, enough to shred into about 4 cups)
1 large piece of ginger root (enough to shred into about 1/4 - 1/3 cup)
4 eggs
dash of salt
1/4 tsp corriander
1/4 tsp nutmeg
4 TBSP white rice flour
vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
Scrub, peel and shred the yams (I used the food processor). Put into a large mixing bowl. Peel and grate the ginger root. If it is fairly tender, use the large grate; otherwise, use the fine grating tool so it is not too fibrous. Add to the yams. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs with salt and spices. Pour over yams and ginger, and stir together. Add the flour one spoonful at a time, stirring in, until thin batter forms and shredded veggies start to stick together just a bit.
Heat about 1/4 to 1/2 inch of oil in a skillet over medium heat. When hot, spoon in yam mixture, in about palm-sized clumps, flattening slightly with back of spoon. I could fit 3 into my skillet. Let fry on first side for about 4-6 minutes, or until golden brown and firmly cooked together. Flip, and cook other side for another 3-5 minutes, being sure not to let them burn. Drain, and serve warm. Makes about 15-18 fritters.
I had no inspiration for what to make for dinner tonight, other than when I bought fresh ginger last night for the Szechwan dish I was making, the G.O. store only had it in bags of 6-7 large pieces. That's enough ginger for me for about 4 months, if only it would hold that long. For whatever reason, I also picked up a bag of the small-ish sweet potatoes / yams they had for a great price. Don't ask me which they are, sweet potatoes or yams, I know there is a difference, but the bag says both things on it. They are orange-colored inside, that's all I can tell you.
Anyways, I decided this afternoon that I wanted to make something with both of these items. I've never really cooked much with any kind of potato or tuber other than the standard American russet, so this was stretching my skills a little. I looked around the internet, and didn't see anything too exciting, until I saw a recipe for "Gingery Sweet Potato Fritters" on cooks.com. But, they had you boil the potatoes, and then food process them until smooth and creamy, and only then did they add the eggs and flour and such to make them into patties. It sounded like frying up baby food to me, not at all appealing. Plus, it only called for 2 teaspoons of grated ginger. I was looking for something more in the neighborhood of tablespoons of ginger, not measly teaspoons!
Then, I remembered a zucchini fritter recipe that anita_margarita had shared with me last summer. My muse had spoken, and I knew what I was going to do. And seriously? They turned out awesome. A little sweet, a little savory, altogether delicious. The only thing I would do differently next time is have some Greek-style yogurt to go with them. Yummy! Okay, here's what I did:
Ingredients
1-3 raw yams/sweet potatoes (depends on size, enough to shred into about 4 cups)
1 large piece of ginger root (enough to shred into about 1/4 - 1/3 cup)
4 eggs
dash of salt
1/4 tsp corriander
1/4 tsp nutmeg
4 TBSP white rice flour
vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
Scrub, peel and shred the yams (I used the food processor). Put into a large mixing bowl. Peel and grate the ginger root. If it is fairly tender, use the large grate; otherwise, use the fine grating tool so it is not too fibrous. Add to the yams. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs with salt and spices. Pour over yams and ginger, and stir together. Add the flour one spoonful at a time, stirring in, until thin batter forms and shredded veggies start to stick together just a bit.
Heat about 1/4 to 1/2 inch of oil in a skillet over medium heat. When hot, spoon in yam mixture, in about palm-sized clumps, flattening slightly with back of spoon. I could fit 3 into my skillet. Let fry on first side for about 4-6 minutes, or until golden brown and firmly cooked together. Flip, and cook other side for another 3-5 minutes, being sure not to let them burn. Drain, and serve warm. Makes about 15-18 fritters.