Mini Sweet Potato Casserole Topped with shredded cheese 起司地瓜燒

Regular sweet potato or the fancy Japanese purple sweet potato (murasaki imo), I was literally standing in front of these two options at the supermarket for a minute. Both can yield a sweet and smooth casserole for my little afternoon treat. What persuaded me in the end is that there was this one chunky sweet potato, just the right size, and that means I only need to peel this one single sweet potato only instead of many smaller purple variety.

Mini sweet potato casserole topped with shredded cheese - 

Ingredients (for 2 big or 4 small servings)?

• 560 grams sweet potato
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• 2 to 4 teaspoons heavy whipping cream
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 100 grams shredded cheese (mozzarella and Cheddar preferred)

How?

Peel and slice the sweet potato into chunks.

Steam the sweet potato till fork tender. Mine took about 30 minutes.

Once ready, use a fork to mash the steamed sweet potato, just like what you'd do with mashed potato.

After this first round of mashing, add 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter, 2 teaspoon of sugar, and 1/8 teaspoon of salt. Also start with 2 teaspoons of heavy whipping cream and mash till evenly blended with the sweet potato. 

Check the consistency, if seemed too thick, blend in more heavy whipping cream, up to 4 teaspoons total. Also do a quick taste test and see if more sugar is needed for your preference. Once all set, mash again through a wire sieve if not too troublesome. This will give you an even smoother texture in the end.

Spread the sweet potato paste to ramekins, filled up to 80% full then top the remaining space with shredded cheese.

Into the oven and switch to high heat. Bake till the cheese has been melted and slightly browned. Remove from the oven and serve right away.

So on top of my initial hesitation between the regular sweet potato and the fancy Japanese purple sweet potato, I also had a hard time picking shredded cheese. My best choice would be mozzarella and Cheddar blend. However, I also have to look closer to the label and trying to get the most natural product as possible.

That left me with only one option, shredded mozzarella. Even though milky and satisfying, but I definitely think with additional salty Cheddar, the sweetness from the sweet potato will become more pronounced. So it's up to you, I would still choose whatever healthier product as possible. Just keep in mind that if you can find great mozzarella and Cheddar blend, that's the way to go.

Savory way to enjoy sweet potato:

• Sweet potato congee 地瓜粥

Napa Cabbage and Meatballs in Jinhua Ham Chicken Thick Soup

Not quite an actual soup recipe, but more so something with slightly thickened chicken stock flavored with Jinhua ham. So instead of enjoying it along like a soup, I personally prefer to add a few ladles on top of steamed rice, making it a full on heart-warming meal.

Napa cabbage and meatballs in Jinhua ham chicken thick soup - 

Ingredients?

• 320 grams coarse and slightly fatty ground pork
• 320 grams lean ground pork
• 4 Chinese water chestnut 荸薺
• 2 medium pieces fried bean curd skin 炸豆腐皮
• 1/2 medium napa cabbage
• 6 shiitake mushroom
• 1 piece bone-in Jinhua ham 
• 1 stalk scallion
• 1 small chunk ginger
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 6 cups water
• Some salt
• Some corn starch water mixture (optional)

How?

Trim-off the end of napa cabbage, section the remaining to medium size pieces. Bring a big pot of water to a boil and cook the napa cabbage for few minutes. You'll know when the naba cabbage is about semi-softened. Drain and set aside for later use.

Destem and chop the scallion. Save a small amount of chopped scallion greens for garnish in the end, transfer others to a big bowl. Scrape and grate the ginger, add about 1 teaspoon of grated ginger to the bowl too.

Peel and chop the Chinese water chestnuts. Add the water chestnut along with both ground pork to the bowl. Season with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Mix the pork and the ingredients in the bowl till evenly blended.

Use the pork mixture and form into medium sized meatballs. I also toss the meatballs back and forth between my palms to help drawing out some air trapped within. It'll help firming up the meatballs too. My recipe will yield about 8 medium sized meatballs.

Rinse the Jinhua ham under hot water and use the back of the knife to scrape the meat. You might get some grayish bits, so it's like pre-cleaning the ham before using it. Mine was quite clean and nothing came out.

Bring out a big pot and pour in 4 cups of chicken stock and 6 cups of water. Toss in the prepped ham too. Bring to a boil then adjust the heat to keep it at a gentle bubbling stage. Continue to cook this way for 30 minutes in order to draw out more flavor from the ham.

Rinse the fried tofu skin under hot water, which will help drawing out excess oil. Once done, slice the fried tofu skin to medium size pieces. Destem the shiitake mushrooms, halve or quarter the cap if the mushrooms are too big.

Meanwhile, after 30 minutes cooking the Jinhua ham in stock, add in prepped napa cabbage and continue to cook for 15 more minutes. Then add in the meatballs, prepped fried tofu skin, and shiitake mushrooms. Continue to cook 20 minutes.

After quite some time, remove the ham and give the stock a taste. Season with more salt if needed. However, Jinhua ham should make the stock a bit salty already, so the amount of additional salt needed depends. In fact, I didn't add any for my pot here.

Switch to low heat and wait till the stock cool-down a little. Have some corn starch and drinkable water mixture ready. Mix that into the pot while stirring the stock at the same time. This will help thickening the stock. Use more if thicker consistency is preferred.

Once the consistency and flavor have been checked. Garnish with some saved chopped scallion greens and serve.

See how I simply scooped the thick soup to brown rice? Such combo can be so comforting. The flavor is light but yet packed with umami thanks to the chicken stock and Jinhua ham.

About Jinhua ham, if you can find quality pieces and sealed nicely, go ahead buy some and store them in the freezer. I always have one or two pieces of Jinhua ham in the fridge, it's a bit like saving Parmigiano Reggiano rinds too, which can be great when added to western sauce and soup.

Other recipes using Jinhua Ham:

• Savoury Chinese congee using Jinhua ham and vegetables 金華火腿鹹味臘八粥
• Braised Chinese cabbage with Jinhua ham 金華火腿煨白菜