What Happened? All That Work and Suddenly It’s Gone!
Most of the time spent on this vegetable was removing the tender parts from each stalk. After stir-frying for several minutes, the dish was on the table and quickly devoured!
Below are some links to more details, including photos:
My Story
I remember eating sweet potato leaves maybe once or twice in my life and both times were at a restaurant. When I saw them on sale at the supermarket, I had to grab a bag!
Inspiring Recipe
After searching for a recipe online, I found Yam Leaves, Stir-fried Sweet Potato Leaves from the blog, The Woks of Life. This is where I found recipes for some of my favorite dishes: braised oxtail, oxtail soup, and Chinese chives and eggs,
First Try
As with many stir-fried vegetables, the supplemental ingredients are already at home and it was true for this case.
Ingredients to Use
With 1.94 pounds of sweet potato stems with leaves, I increased the remaining ingredients on the default recipe to the following amounts:
- 2 ounces + 1 1/2 tablespoons + 1 1/8 teaspoons of oil
- 6 cloves of garlic
- 4 slices of ginger
- 1/2 tablespoon + 1/3 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon of sesame oil
- 1/2 tablespoon + 1/3 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon of Shaoxing wine
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground white pepper
- 3 1/2 tablespoons + 1 1/4 teaspoons of water
- 1/4 teaspoon of sugar
Of all the ingredients, I made only one substitution based on availability. In place of the vegetable oil, I used avocado oil.
Also, to save some time, I didn’t chop the garlic nor julienne the ginger. Instead, I only smashed and sliced them, respectively.
Lastly, in terms of flavor, I chose to include the wine, though it was optional, and added salt until the leaves weren’t bland.
Steps to Prepare
Though there were only three steps in preparing the sweet potato leaves, they didn’t go exactly as I had hoped. Below are some details:
- Step 1: Because I didn’t read the instructions thoroughly, I only pulled the leaves off when I could’ve pinched off other tender parts as well.
- Step 2: While heating up the oil, I didn’t wait long enough, so the garlic and ginger didn’t sizzle much when they were placed in the oil.
- Step 3: Since I had almost twice the amount of leaves than what was listed on the default recipe, I had to double the cooking time to four minutes before they were fully wilted.
Time to Eat
Converting the serving size on the recipe, the amount that I cooked should’ve been a little over 11 servings, but that’s not what it looked like:
Recipe Rating
Below were the results of the recipe after the first try:
| Number of Ingredients | Effort (Low🤏, Medium🤏🤏, High🤏🤏🤏) | Cost per Serving (<$2💰, $2-5💰💰, >$5💰💰💰) | Taste (Not for me🤔, Trying Again🙂, Eating Regularly😋) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1️⃣0️⃣* | 🤏 | 💰 | 🙂 |
Though there was barely enough for four people, the sweet potato leaves were soft and had a wonderful flavor. My husband even volunteered to prepare more, so I could cook another batch!
Second Try
For the second try, I didn’t want to waste any parts of the vegetable nor cook the leaves and stems in subpar oil temperature.
Ingredients to Use
Starting with 1.13 pounds of sweet potato stalks, I used less ingredient than before, as listed below:
- 3 tablespoons + 1 1/4 teaspoons of oil
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 3 slices of ginger
- 1 1/8 teaspoons of sesame oil
- 1 1/8 teaspoons of Shaoxing wine
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground white pepper
- 2 tablespoons + 3/4 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon of water
- 1/8 teaspoon of sugar
All the other details pertaining to the ingredients were the same as the first time.
Steps to Prepare
For the process during the second attempt, I did the following:
- Step 1: Plucked all the soft edible pieces from the sweet potato stalks.
- Step 2: Waited patiently until the oil looked hot before adding the garlic and ginger.
- Step 3: Cooked the leaves for a couple of minutes, as noted on the recipe, which was enough for them to fully wilt.
Time to Eat
Again, after the sweet potato leaves were cooked, only a small pile made it to the dinner table.
Recipe Rating
Below are the results of the recipe from the second attempt:
| Number of Ingredients | Effort (Low🤏, Medium🤏🤏, High🤏🤏🤏) | Cost per Serving (<$2💰, $2-5💰💰, >$5💰💰💰) | Taste (Not for me🤔, Trying Again🙂, Eating Regularly😋) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1️⃣0️⃣* | 🤏 | 💰 | 🙂 |
Like before, these leaves disappeared quickly. Even my older son, who’s favorite food is seldomly a vegetable, said that they were good.
Since we want more of a good thing, the next time I make this dish, I would do the following:
Continuous Improvement
- Buy 2-3 pounds of sweet potato leaves for one meal.
Making this simple stir-fried vegetable taught me that my younger self should do the following:
Lesson for Dumber Self
- Learn how to spot when oil is hot enough to cook with. (The article, How to Become a Cook Who Really Understands Heat and Oil, from The Kitchn, a food site made by home cooks, is one place to start.)
What will you do now?
Next Step for You
- Try the Yam Leaves, Stir-fried Sweet Potato Leaves recipe from the blog, The Woks of Life?
- Share your favorite recipe for sweet potato leaves?
- Read another post on this site? (Go to the menu at the top of the page.)