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Recipes with sweet potato starch

6 recipes that use sweet potato starch, with photos, step-by-step instructions and cook times. The quickest, Fujian oyster omelette, takes 20 minutes. It is most often cooked with sugar, coriander and garlic.

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Taiwanese oyster vermicelli

Around Ximending in Taipei, people queue at standing-room stalls for a paper cup of this, spooning it up on the pavement as an afternoon snack or a late supper after the cinema. The thin brown wheat vermicelli melts into a glossy, bonito-scented broth thickened with starch, with plump starch-coated oysters and chewy pieces of braised pork intestine through it, finished with black vinegar, garlic and coriander. Buy oysters already shucked and very fresh from a fishmonger you trust; braised pork belly makes an easy stand-in for the intestine. The usual mistake is boiling the noodles separately until they turn to mush: the red vermicelli is pre-steamed and only needs a few minutes in the broth to soften. Chef's tip: coat the oysters in starch and drop them into barely simmering broth at the very end, so they stay plump with a silky jacket instead of shrinking.

60 minTaiwaneseSoups
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Changhua ba-wan

Changhua's old market streets are lined with shops whose woks are full of these dumplings sitting in warm oil, ready to be split open, sauced and eaten as a mid-morning or afternoon snack. The wobbly, translucent skin of sweet potato starch is chewy and slightly sticky, wrapped around a savoury filling of marinated pork, bamboo shoot and shiitake, and the whole thing is drenched in a sweet pink-brown sauce with garlic and coriander. The trickiest part is the wrapper: a dough made only of raw starch cracks and turns gluey, so cook part of it into a paste first. Make it gluten-free by using tamari or gluten-free soy sauce, as here. Chef's tip: oil the saucers well and keep your fingers wet when shaping; the starch dough is sticky, and water lets you smooth it into neat domes.

90 minTaiwaneseSnacks & StartersGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mazamorra morada

Mazamorra morada is a deep purple pudding from Lima, made by boiling Andean purple corn with pineapple peel and spices and then thickening the dark juice with sweet potato starch and fruit. It is sold in little cups at markets and street carts, and in Lima it is eaten all year but above all in October, often spooned into the same bowl as rice pudding, a combination called el clásico. It is fruity, gently spiced and wobbly, like a thick jam pudding. Dried purple corn (maíz morado) is sold in Latin shops and online; purple corn powder works too. Chef's tip: dissolve the starch in cold water and stir it in off the boil; tipping it into a bubbling pan makes lumps that never smooth out.

90 minPeruvianDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Fuzhou fish ball soup

Bite carefully: inside every Fuzhou fish ball hides a spoonful of juicy seasoned pork that bursts out with a little hot broth. Sold by street vendors and served in tiny bowls at Fuzhou snack shops, and eaten at New Year because the round balls mean a family together, they are firm and springy outside, never spongy. The paste is beaten by hand with ice-cold water and a little starch until it turns smooth and elastic. Serve the soup as a light lunch or as one bowl in a spread of small dishes, with a dash of vinegar and lots of white pepper. Chef's tip: keep the fish paste really cold from start to finish; warm paste never turns bouncy.

60 minChineseSoups
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Lychee pork

Despite the name, no fruit goes into this classic of Fuzhou banquets and family feasts. Lean pork is scored in a fine crosshatch and cut into small pieces that curl into bumpy red balls when fried, looking just like lychees in their shells, while crunchy water chestnuts play the white flesh. The coating is crisp, the sauce glossy, sweet and tangy, and the pork inside stays tender. It is a favourite at Fujian weddings and New Year tables, eaten with steamed rice and a simple green vegetable or clear soup. Chef's tip: score the pork two-thirds of the way through and then cut it into pieces; too shallow and it stays flat, too deep and it falls apart.

45 minChineseMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Fujian oyster omelette

Along Zhongshan Road and the night markets of Xiamen, cooks fry this on wide griddles all evening, one portion after another. Small fresh oysters are scattered into a batter of sweet potato starch and water, which sets clear and chewy, then eggs are swirled over the top so it ends up crisp at the edges and soft and gooey in the middle. It is salty from the sea, eggy and pleasantly sticky, with a squeeze of sweet chilli sauce to balance it. Eat it hot from the pan as a snack or with rice porridge for a light supper. Chef's tip: stir the batter just before pouring it in; the starch sinks to the bottom within seconds.

20 minChineseFish
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Goes well with sweet potato starch