Yams are orange-flesh sweet potatoes and the ones with light yellow skin and flesh are called sweet potatoes. There are various ways to prepare or cook yams. They are boiled or baked as the side dishes. Yams can be added to soups, stews and braises. They can be used for making pies or quick breads.
Ingredients
- Yams
Cooking Time
- Cooking time depends on the type of cooking.
Method to cook yams
Select a saucepan or Dutch oven that will be large enough to hold the sweet potatoes without crowding them. Fill the pot about half full (you will need just enough water to cover the sweet potatoes) and add a dash of salt. Bring to boiling. Add sweet potatoes. Cover the pan and cook sweet potatoes for 10 to 12 minutes or until just tender on the outside but resistant in the center when pierced with a knife. For soft, tender sweet potatoes, cook for 25 to 30 minutes
Put the yams in the saucepan and put water and cover the pot. Put a pinch of salt in it. Cover the lid and cook for about 10-12 minutes or until it becomes tender outside. Pierce the yams with a knife and check if the center is still resistant. To make soft and tender yams cook it for about 25-30 minutes.
To mash the boiled yams you can use potato masher or electric mixer. When 2 medium sized yams are mashed, you can get about 1-1.5 cups mashed yams.
Baked yams are very popular as side dish and they are quite nutritious also. These can be used as side dish for meat loaf, steaks and also for grilled chicken or fish. To bake the yam, preheat the oven to 425F. Scrub the yams with brush and dry it. Prick the yams with fork. Bake it for 40-60minutes. Then place the baked yam inside a kitchen towel and roll the towel to soften the flesh. Cut X on the top of each yam and then press on the skin so that flesh comes upward. This can be served with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon.
You can microwave whole or sliced yams. For microwave, you can prick the scrubbed yams all over the body using the fork and microwave it for about 8-10 minutes. To microwave sliced yams, put them into 1/3 cup of water into a microwave safe bowl and microwave it for 10-13 minutes or until tender.
Read this Article in: Français (French)
