Sweet potato fries

Feature Ingredient: Sweet potato  

The sweet potato plant is a large, starchy, sweet-tasting root vegetable popular in various cuisines. The root is native to tropical regions in America, accustomed to growing in warm temperatures averaging 25˚C. According to statistics, China produces the majority of the sweet potato crops, which are distributed as food as well as for live stock feed! Sweet potatoes are considered a complex carbohydrate, providing dietary fibre as well as many other nutrients, such as vitamin C, vitamin B5, manganese and vitamin A, especially in the orange variations of sweet potatoes (also called yams in the US). As a result, they have become a staple food in many tropical regions. Sweet potatoes are used for a variety of dishes, ranging from sweet desserts to savoury meals. Today we'll be doing a fairly simple dish with this interesting ingredient:

Recipe: Sweet potato fries 
Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled 

1 tbsp paprika 

1 tbsp sea salt

1 tbsp pepper

1 tbsp garlic powder

Olive oil, for tossing

Method

1. Slice the peeled sweet potatoes into 1cm thick and 5cm long pieces, kinda like carrot sticks. 
2. Season with the spice mix and toss with olive oil to ensure the "fries" are well coated.
3. Roast in the oven for about 20 minutes at about 230˚C or until with a crisp outside.
4. Serve whilst hot!

Here's some photos I took;

Peel and cut the sweet potato into smaller pieces.

Season!

Before and after shots.

Serve!

Ratings/Comments:

Price: 1/5

Difficulty: 1/5

Taste: 3/5

Overall: 3/5

(1 being low - 5 being high)

This was an interesting combination of flavours that I wasn't quite sure if I liked. The contrast between the sweet potato and the savoury spices was strange but at the same time, I couldn't stop munching on them. It also had a texture unlike the usually starchy white potatoes, if anything, the texture of these "fries" was soft like pumpkin (and the colour also resembled it!) but certainly tasted unique. It was also very inexpensive to make; it would be a cost effective snack if you need to cater for large groups. I "packaged" the fries in a cone shape, but you could also serve these in the typical fry snack box. I'd recommend everyone to give this a go as an alternative to the average yellow fried potato fry, and you can make a decision on the flavour yourself.

- C