all about fruit and veg

this is a separated detailed post juz about purple yam. there are other posts about yams in this blog. purple yam, as the name suggests, it stands out with its bright attractive purple colour flesh. other than the flesh colour, purple yam differs in its skin - a real bark-like skin, looks like a segment of tree trunk. the diameter reaches about 10cm for most pieces the colour of the flesh would range from pale pink-purple to bright purple. in my experiences, thinner pieces will have a darker flesh colour but the colour may depend on the freshness also. as with other purple colour vegetables, their colour may lose a bit after cooking because the colour pigments will leach into the water. they don't have the sweet aroma of their white relative (white yam), but they have the same slimy texture.  cooked purple yams taste similar to the white yams, the difference is that it has a firmer texture, which I think is similar to that of chestnuts. that was quite out of my exp...

yam is not a common ingredient on the table, yet it is too good to be missed out. they may not have an attractive outlook, with hairy and muddy bark-like skin, but they are bright white on the inside. just because people always judge produces by their appearances, not much will go for these “tree branches”! In fact, they are a root vegetable with a texture resembles sweet potatoes. and the taste? I would say it's a bit like potato but with a hint of sweetness. however they are not that common. this is why I wanna share my experience and introduce this amazing vegetable to those who have never tried it or have no idea about it. i have tried both white yam and purple yam, including different varieties from china, taiwan and japanese. to be continued... -------------------------------------------------------------------------- chinese yam~ japanese yam~ purple yam~ *individual details of different varieties are recorded on separated post...

kudzu is common in chinese cooking, especially as a soup ingredient. this root vegetable is starchy and fibrous, and will be mildly sweet when cooked.  uncooked, knife as size comparison raw, cross-sectioned chubby root looks like turkey? fat root cross-sectioned boiling them in a large pot of water a thick foam on the surface, and the water will become a sweet brown liquid after cooking.  half of the root, cooked hand removed skin, after cooked the other side of the skin revealing the flesh with some skin removed, white mushy part is resulted when trying to spoon out the flesh.  real fibrous juz beneath the skin after biting into the “heart” another cooked half piece root are going deep under the skin cooked cross section, non circular piece