Do you STAMPPOT? Be prepared to smash your food for the winter!

When friends come to visit me in the Netherlands asking what is the typical dutch food worthy trying. I would reply by asking " Do you like mashed potato? or are you a big fan of deep-fried food? " It is interesting to see this article Smash Their Food accurately portray popular dutch dishes:

"Dutch people have 3 very specific ways of preparing food/vegetables. Dutch people like to either:

a) mash the hell out of something,

b) boil the shit out of something, or

c) deep-fry the life out of something!

I cannot agree anymore! To be honest, I am not a big fan of "dutch food",yet, I still enjoy reading magazine from supermarket binding all the information intends to teach you how to make a nice meal from in-store ingredients. There is no reason to skip "Stamppot" topic for winter collection.Citing a formula from AH magazine, october 2013, "Aardappelen+ Verse groenten= De lekkerste stamppot!" which means "Potato+ Fresh veggie= The best stamppot"

Stamppot is a traditional dutch winter fare made from mashed potatoes with one or several other vegetables, normally would be kale, endive or spinach. The most classic one is serve with smoked sausage " Rookworst". Mashed potato go with veggie is not only Dutch's privilege to claim as a local cuisine, similar recipe such as colcannon in Irish, with creamier texture by adding luxurious milk or cream and butter. 

Stamppot with Rookworst

Colcannon

It sounds very easy to make a stamppot especially for people need a way-out to release tense. Here you go! Smash as forcful as you can! It is also healthy to make stamppot if you do not surrender to creamy temptation or indulge yourself in whatsoever fillings of rookworst. I have adapted a light, colorful, vegetarian version of stamppot, because you know, "A minute on the lips, a lifetime on the hips!" Again it is not restricted to the veggies I used for this recipe, you can use whatever left in your fridge. I got a chance to find a nice, beautiful purple sweet potato last weekend, so I decided adding it to brighten up my plate, as well as myself given it contains generous anti-aging properties that every women are long for :)

JiJu Stamppot

JiJu Stamppot

JiJu Stamppot

Ingredients 

1. 5-6 Potato, peeled 

2. 1 purple sweet potato, peeled

3. 1 carrot, peeled and cut

4. 1 bowel of kale, finely chopped

5. 1 tsp fresh ginger grounded (go with kale when steam)

Seasonings:

1. 1/2 -1cup of non-fat milk

2. Salt and pepper for taste

Sha cha bean curd (沙茶豆干)：

Ingredients:

1. 2 block of big black bean curd, cut into 8 small pieces for each block

2. 1 onion, sliced 

3. 1 scallion, cut

4. 3-4 dry mushroom, soak into water until soft. Squeeze out liquid as much as you can and cut into half. Keep the mushroom water.

Seasonings:

1. 1tsp sha cha sauce

2. 1Tsp oyster sauce

3. 1Tsp sugar

4. 1/2 tsp five spice powder

5. 1 tsp white pepper powder

Instruction:

1. Place all the stamppot ingredient in different containers. Put it into Tatung rice cooker and pour in 1 and 1/2 cup water into rice cooker. Press the button to steam until it cooked.

2. During steaming time, start preparing shacha bean curd. Heat oil sauce pan with high heat,fry onion and scallion until aromatic. Keep the heat and stir in mushroom until its fragrance release generously.

 

3. Add bean curd and give it a good stir. Add in 1-5 seasonings and combine with all the ingredients thoroughly. Pour in mushroom water until it covers all the bean curds (about 1/2 to 1 cup of volume). Cover the lid and cook until to a boil. Stir slightly and cook for another10-15 mins until the bean curds absorb the sauce. Stir 1-2 times during this section.

 

4. Add white pepper powder to increase flavor before removing from the pan.

5. Smash the potato, carrot and purple sweet potato when it is done. Add salt and ground pepper into for taste, add milk gradually until smoothy. Divide into three portion and stir in carrot, purple sweet potato and kale separately.

 

6. Set on a plate and serve warm with Shacha bean curd. Enjoy!