• 1 big grocery bag of sweet potato leaves (stems peeled if you have the patience)
  • 3-4 cloves of garlic
  • 2 tbl oil
  • 1 tbl oyster sauce
  • 1 tsp sambal
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • Pinch of salt
about a month ago during dim sum my mother, in her usual fashion, decided to pass off a mystery bag to me. i normally then pass it off to my husband to carry the load. often times, the bag weighs nearly 5-7 lbs and i sometimes wonder how a tiny woman such as my mother could carry two to three of these bags into chinatown from queens to give to each of her kids.

this particular sunday she passed me a large albeit lighter bag filled with sweet potato leaves. she took out one of the leaves and started to peal the skin of the thin stem back, telling me that i needed to do this in order for the dish not to be stringy.

i don’t recall ever having eaten these before. i wasn’t sure how to cook them so i looked up what these little things were and the best way to cook them up.

i found out that these leaves are similar to spinach in that it’s a great source of dietary fiber, vitamin a, k, b6, thiamine, foliate, riboflavin, potassium , magnesium, and manganese. i figured they must cook similarly as well. i assumed they would wilt down into practically nothing after cooking, just like spinach does.

cooking these could be just as basic as sauteing them in garlic, and oil. but i wanted to go for typical chinese flavors for this dish by adding oyster sauce and sesame oil. the consistency of this dish was very similar to spinach but with less of a delicate, waxy texture. the leaves were heartier and have a savory quality to it. i would most definitely use these leaves as a side dish over spinach any day. i thought they we’re delicious but most importantly, my husband, the pack mule, liked it a lot. he grips less often now that he knows there’s ‘rewards’ that come out of his heavy lifting.
what you need:

note: the great thing about this recipe, can’t find sweet potato leaves? try making this with spinach or chard, kale works just as well (we made this last night over rice and it was great…the food yenta)

  1. clean sweet potato leaves well in cold water. peel back the stems. if you not, it should be fine. in fact, leaving them as it will probably will just add more fiber to your diet.
  2. heat vegetable oil in a large pan, and saute the garlic over medium heat for about 1 minute, but not until it’s brown.
  3. turn the heat on high and add the sweet potato leaves, toss with the garlic and oil. turn down the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 4 minutes.
  4. uncover the pan, stir, add the oyster sauce, sambal, sesame oil and salt. cook, uncovered, for another minute.
serve with your favorite rice as a meal or a side to chicken or steak.
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