Sweet Potatoes

I told Mom I wanted to eat steamed sweet potatoes and she looked at me with disbelief. "You'd never wanted to eat them before," she said.

Well, yeah. I did not fancy steamed sweet potatoes, but yeah, I do like them battered and deep-fried, baked or roasted in charcoal embers. But I suppose people's taste change over time. Lately, I prefer simpler flavours with less seasonings used in my cooking. I wanted to enjoy the natural tastes of food, and sweet potato roots have got that delightful natural sweetness.

Mom, of course, was glad that I'd come to my senses and was now in favour of healthier food choices. She steamed them for me in a jiffy. "You can eat one piece a day," Mom said. Sweet potatoes are nutritious and are supposed to stabilise the blood sugar level. One piece a day? Nah, don't think so.

Anyway, I was at the supermarket today, and browsing around, I saw some sweet potatoes on display. I headed there and looked at the tag. It said "UBI CINA RM4.00/kg". Ubi Cina? Sounds pretty racist, if you ask me. Can't there be a more politically correct name? The sweet potatoes have got dark purple skin and are coated with soil. I picked 2 medium-sized ones. They were really firm, and cost merely RM1.20.

Ubi Cina, RM1.24

In the kitchen, I rubbed the soil away under running water, and then peeled off the skin. Then I halved them and steamed them for 15 minutes.
 

The purple-flesh potatoes were indeed sweet. I actually love the deep-purple colour. So pretty. I think they will look great if made into pastries.

I also bought some orange-coloured sweet potatoes, and those are called ... yeah, UBI OREN. Lol.

 Ubi Oren

Hmn. If compared, the purple ones tasted sweeter than the orange ones. While the orange sweet potatoes were softer and smoother, the purple ones were more fibrous and had more bite. So, I guess I prefer the purple variety. For this time around, anyway. ;))