Announcement

This site will be migrating to a new address.
Please visit me at @Køkken and change your subscription to this blog to my RSS Feed

You Will Be Redirected!

Please do not leave any more messages on this blog. I will not be publishing or responding to any more comments left here. You will be automatically redirected to http://www.atkokken.com All posts have been migrated. You will be able to locate any posts by performing a quick search at my new site. Thank you.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Creamy Mashed Potato - Eat Kentang

Mashed Potato 2

Mashed Potato1


Eat Kentang! All of you fellow bloggers from the West, you probably are scoffing at my audacity of putting up a post on mashed potatoes...does she not have anything better to share? It's almost akin to writing a post on cooking white rice. Simple as it may seem, not everyone here in Asia can make a good mashed potato. Potato is not our staple food and you may find it amusing that for most of us in Singapore who are 35 years old and above, our first exposure to mashed potato was actually through Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) and our first sight of French Fries was at Mac Donald's , when they opened  shop here some 30 years ago.

Potatoes are available in Asia, but we tend to cook it differently. My favourite are the softened potatoes in the spicy curry chicken broth. In fact, I remember whenever my mother cooked curry chicken, the potatoes in the one pot dish would be the first to be wiped out - leaving behind chunks of chicken meat in dried up curry gravy... The types of potatoes we have here in Asia also tend to be very limited. Most of what we get are smaller potatoes of the waxy variety. The floury Russet, Yukon or Maris Piper are not readily available and tend to be more expensive.
Russet Potato

When we were younger we also tended to associate potato dishes with the Westerners. Western food like pork chops and steaks were commonly served with fried potato wedges and used to be favoured by 'English speaking' families. Hence, for classmates who came from 'English Speaking' families, we commonly refer to them as kids who fed on Kentang (the malay word for potato). Looking back, those memories are so incronguent with our lifestyle today but they've taken on a retro charm of its own and I am glad to be part of the generation that had been charmed by them.

Well, having said that, I must admit the mashed potato at KFC was one of my favourite side dish back then. However, as one gains experience and a more refined palate, one gains the ability to discern the good from the bad... Hence, when I saw that guest chef ,Tim Ross-Watson's Old School Sunday Roast class at Shermay's Cooking School included a 'Michelin-Star' Mash Potatoes, I signed up in a heart beat.

Mashed Potato with Luncheon Bits


The recipe is easy to follow and the end result is a smooth and creamy yet fluffy mashed potatoes that had me stealing mouthfuls of  it as I whisked. I am not going to publish the recipe as the Chef is still running classes at the school. However, I can share what I have picked up as pertinent points to a good mashed potato :

1. Choose the right potato. Floury species are best suited for mashing.
2. The technique used to mash the potato makes a difference to the final texture. I have added a new toy to my ever expanding collection of kitchen gadgets : the Mouli grater.
3. Using a smoked salt to season the potato gives it a subtle enhanced taste. ( I got the Fleur de Sel with Smoked Jalapena at a fine food store in New York last year. Possibly expired but hey, salt is salt.)
4. Last but not least  - lots and lots of good butter!

Smoked Salt
Other than that, the process is simple and any cookbook will be able to provide good instructions on how to prepare the mashed potato.

For now, this recipe is for keeps - everyone whom I had fed it to, had been impressed and loved it!
Mashed Potato 4

8 comments:

pishpilla said...

It looks gorgeous...and tasty!
As you may now, Peru is potato country of the world, and we enjoy over 100 different varieties all year round. Here you'll find several good recipies that you can replicate with your own native ingredients.
Have fun and enjoy!
http://www.best-potato-recipes.com/potato-recipes-peru.html

Shirley @ Kokken69 said...

Hi Pishpilla, thanks for stopping by and thanks for the link. Will definitely check it out.

TimTams said...

Thats a fantastic write up on mash and potatoes. Awesome photos too. Thanks for the mention :) See you soon.

Shirley @ Kokken69 said...

Hi chef! Thanks for popping by and thanks for the recipe.

Irene's Footprints said...

Hi
Your pictures are veri nice, the angle and lighting is good.

How u manage to do it? What SLR you using?

I am trying to learn from your pictures? Do you use colored papers as background?

Impressive!

Shirley @ Kokken69 said...

Hello Irene, good to hear from you again. My pictures are actually amateurish... I don't use SLR :-(... I am still using my old compact camera - Canon Ixus D70. Very difficult actually. I try to do my photos in the morning near a bright window. Sometimes I supplement with a white daylight lamp. Luckily I have a tripod so that helps to minimise shaking. Yes, I use coloured paper- that's a cheap way. And of course, post touch up with Picasa helps. I hope to get an SLR soon.... :(

Anonymous said...

Beautiful display and garnishing! I'm sure they have convinced many a sweet tooth to take a savory bite ;-)

A nice twist on mashed potatoes- especially when served with fish- is to infuse some olive oil with lemon rinds and the use the juice of the lemon along with the oil to cream everything together. Sometimes a little milk helps, but with a finishing touch of parsley and sea salt it is quite divine!

Martina from The Foreign Kitchen

Shirley @ Kokken69 said...

Thanks,Martina for your suggestion. They sound yummy. I am currently quite besotted with Truffles. I have since used White Truffle oil and Truffle salt with my mash - quite heavenly :)

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails