Stir-Frying · FFET10199
Hot-and-sour shredded potato
Potato is cut into fine shreds, rinsed of starch and quickly stir-fried with dried chilies and garlic, with vinegar added at the end.
A plain round white porcelain plate holds fine pale-yellow potato shreds coated in glossy oil, with dried red chilies, Sichuan peppercorns, garlic and scallions, with a pair of wooden chopsticks resting beside the plate.
Cooking small pieces in a little oil over high heat, tossed quickly in the wok.
Hot-and-sour shredded potato is a home dish in which potato is cut into fine shreds, soaked in water to wash off the starch, stir-fried quickly over high heat with dried chilies and garlic, and seasoned with vinegar for a sour and hot flavor. This simple basic stir-fry is a staple in restaurants and homes. Its Sichuan classification comes only from 2 recipe labels; no place of origin or dated text was found. When the potato reached China is uncertain; some scholars place the records no earlier than the Ming dynasty's Wanli era. This is a secondhand account, for reference only.
What
Hot-and-sour shredded potato is potato cut into fine shreds, soaked to wash off the starch and stir-fried quickly with dried chilies and garlic, seasoned with vinegar, so that it stays crisp-tender and tastes sour and hot.1,2
When
No date was found for the dish here. When the potato entered China is uncertain; some scholars place the records no earlier than the Ming dynasty's Wanli era. This is a secondhand account, for reference only. The dish cannot predate the potato's arrival in China.3
Where
A home dish eaten across China. Its Sichuan classification comes only from 2 recipe labels; these do not establish its origin, which was not found here.1,2
How
The shreds are soaked in water to wash off the starch. Dried chilies (and in some versions Sichuan pepper) and garlic are fried in oil until fragrant, the potato is stir-fried over high heat for 2 to 3 minutes, and the vinegar goes in at the very end or off the heat so that its sourness is not cooked away.1,2
Why
A staple in restaurants and homes, it is a simple basic stir-fry with 10 to 15 minutes of prep and a few minutes in the wok.1,2
No tale about this food has been found.
Grandma Li
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
The keys to this dish are cutting the potato fine, rinsing off the starch, cooking it fast and adding the vinegar late. This is how I make it at home: soak the shreds, fry the dried chilies and Sichuan pepper in the oil until fragrant, add the garlic and potato and stir-fry over high heat, then add the salt and vinegar off the heat. The amounts mainly follow one named Sichuan-style recipe, and the stir-frying time follows it too; I also checked a second named recipe, and the two agree on the method: soak, fry the chilies and Sichuan pepper before the potato, and add the vinegar at the end.
Ingredients
- Potatoes (waxy) 2 large, about 400 g
- Vegetable oil 1 tablespoon
- Dried chilies 3 to 4
- Sichuan peppercorns 1/2 teaspoon
- Garlic 2 cloves, sliced
- Salt 1/2 teaspoon
- Chinkiang vinegar 1/2 tablespoon
- Scallions 2, chopped
Steps
- Peel the potatoes and cut them into matchstick shreds, as even as you can.
- Soak the shreds in cold water for about 10 minutes, changing the water two or three times until it stops turning cloudy, then drain them and blot off extra water with a clean cloth.
- Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat, add the dried chilies and Sichuan pepper and fry until fragrant, taking care not to burn them.
- Add the garlic and stir for a few seconds.
- Turn the heat to high, add the potato and keep stir-frying for two to three minutes. Taste a strand: it should be crisp-tender with no raw starch taste.
- Turn off the heat, add the salt and vinegar, toss in the scallions and serve at once.
Tips
- Add the vinegar at the end or off the heat, as both recipes do, so its sourness is not cooked away.
- The recipe I follow advises a waxy potato, whose shreds hold together better when stir-fried, and I choose mine that way too.