Steamed Sweet Potatoes Recipes

HOW TO MAKE STEAMED SWEET POTATOES

Steps:

• Peel the sweet potatoes. This is generally easiest to do with a conventional potato peeler. You can also use a sharp knife. Throw the peelings into a compost bin to avoid waste. Better yet, cut the peels into long strips, leave a little flesh on them, and make sweet potato skins
• Cut the potatoes into chunks. The exact size isn't important - cutting each potato into three or four slices is usually fine. What matters is that all the chunks are about the same size so that they cook evenly.
• Place the sweet potatoes in a steam tray. Steaming the sweet potatoes means exposing them to hot steam without submerging them in the boiling water below them. To do this, first put your potato chunks into a steam tray, which is a metal device that sits in a pot above the boiling water. Put the full steam tray in a large pot with two cups of water at the bottom. If you don't have a steam tray, you can improvise one from a small metal strainer. You can even put a clean cooking rack at the bottom of your pot.
• Boil the water. Put the pot + steam tray on the stove over high heat. Cover the pot. When the water reaches a strong boil, reduce the heat to medium. Let the potatoes cook this way until soft all the way through. Depending on how big the sweet potato pieces are, cooking times will vary from about 15-20 minutes. A good policy is to check the potatoes for done-ness after about 12 minutes. You can do this by prodding them with a fork. If the fork slides in easily, the potato is cooked. If they still feel hard, cook for another 5 minutes. Remove the pot lid carefully - the escaping steam can burn you.
• Serve and enjoy. When the sweet potatoes are soft, they're ready to eat. Turn off the heat and transfer them to a serving plate. Serve immediately. Season as desired. Sweet potatoes are (obviously) naturally sweet, so you can enjoy them as-is if you wish. In the next section, however, we've provided a few easy serving suggestions if you don't want to eat them plain.

STEAMED SWEET POTATOES

Steps:

• Place water in a pot* to a level just below the steamer basket (about 1 inch of water). Bring it to a boil.
• Add the steamer basked with whole sweet potatoes. Maintain a steady boil and steam for 25 to 35 minutes, depending on the size of the potato, until tender when pierced with a fork. Allow to sit for 5 minutes, then slice in half and top with your favorite toppings (see Stuffed Sweet Potatoes).

SWEET POTATOES WITH TAHINI BUTTER

Steps:

• Bring a few inches of water to a boil in a medium pot fitted with a steamer basket or footed colander. Place sweet potatoes in the steamer. Cover, reduce heat to medium and steam until potatoes are completely tender, 35 to 40 minutes. (Use a skewer or paring knife to check for doneness; the potatoes should be soft all the way through.)
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk butter, tahini, lime juice, soy sauce, sesame oil and garlic until smooth. It might seem as if the butter and liquids will never fully combine, but they will - just keep stirring! Taste, and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper and more lime juice as needed.
• Set a small pan over medium heat. Toast the sesame seeds, swirling the pan continuously, until seeds are golden. They'll give off some oil and start to clump together, so if needed, stir with a wooden spoon to keep them moving so that they toast evenly. They'll turn a nice deep-golden shade just as they dry off a bit, about 4 minutes. Transfer seeds to a small bowl to prevent them from overcooking.
• When the sweet potatoes are tender, use tongs to transfer them to a large plate or platter. When they are just cool enough to handle, split potatoes in half lengthwise, and season with flaky salt. Spread tahini butter generously onto the flesh, and top with sesame seeds. Serve immediately with lime wedges.