Last week, a very African tuber- a yam, landed in my veggie basket. I had ordered sweet potato and got the yam instead from the veggie man. Just the egging on I needed to get experimenting.
The yam is the tuber of a tropical vine (Dioscorea batatas) and is not even distantly related to the sweet potato.
The word yam comes from African words njam, nyami, or djambi, meaning "to eat".
A yam has a brown or black skin, which resembles the bark of a tree, off-white, purple or red flesh, depending on the variety and is HUGE compared to a potato or sweet potato; the one used here was about 40 cm long and 15 cm in diameter..
8 good (African) things with yams-
*boiled yam- peeled and cut into large pieces, the yam is boiled in salted water until tender- about 30 minutes. Good served with lots of butter, ground pepper, salt and a sprinkling of nutmeg.
* fufu-yam and pieces of peeled ripe plantain are boiled together and mashed with cooking water, butter and lots of seasoning. I know Africans like their fufu really smooth but I mashed mine quite coarsely, and really liked it.
* dundun onyeri slices (a street food snack in Nigeria)- lightly boiled thin slices of yam are battered in egg and flour and fried to a golden brown. I served them with a simple dip of spring onion, oil, lemon juice and seasoning
* yam pancakes with cinnamon and sugar- pureed yam in a buttermilk pancake batter. Small pancakes are served with a sprinkling of cinnamon and brown sugar
* smoked yam and peanut soup- raw pieces of peeled yam, lightly smoked are cooked with onion, tomato, ground raw peanuts and vegetable stock to a thick rich soup. Delicious served with extra sliced chilli and a dollop of thick yoghurt or soured milk. (very African)
*baked yams- large pieces of yam wrapped in tin foil and baked in hot coals. Serve with lots of butter and salt
* ojojo- spicy Nigerian yam fritters, with pieces of shrimp and chopped coriander.
* yam oto- is a very symbolic Ghanaian food, served to brides before marrying, offered to twins to seal their special bond, at birthdays, to people escaping accidents or recovering from an illness.
It is a yam puree, flavoured with chopped onion and tomato fried in palm oil and hard-boiled egg yolks. This gives the puree a bright orange colour. Oto is garnished with pieces of hard-boiled egg
baked yam
Here’s one of the recipes, the rest will have to wait for the book-
Ojojo –Nigerian Yam & shrimp fritters
300 g yam, peeled and finely grated
1 small onion grated
1 teaspoon chilli paste
1 handful fresh coriander, chopped
100 g raw prawns, peeled and chopped
60 ml sunflower oil
Knead all the ingredients together with clean hands, until well mixed and season with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large shallow frying pan and drop tablespoons full of the mixture into the hot oil. Fry to a golden brown on both sides over medium heat. Remove from the pan, drain on paper towel, sprinkle with salt and serve with extra chili sauce.
ojojo and dundun onyeri
Looks so good, especially the pancakes. Love yams
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