Farm Recipes: Tasty Green Sweet Potato Leaves Vegetable Dish

Nowadays we are more familar with the commercially available vegetables such as kailan, sawi, pak choy, etc. - with many of them being imported from China due to their cheaper cost.  Many of us do not know that sweet potato shoots or pucuk ubi keledek makes a great tasting vegetable dish and is very nutritious.  At my Sunday market stall, I am often asked how these leaves can be prepared.  There are many ways of cooking these leaves and they are quick to prepare.  In this blog, I am presenting two ways to prepare the dishes.

As with any leafy vegetable, get those that have not been contaminated by pesticides or herbicides - if the leaves have "bite" marks, this is one of the pointers.  In my opinion, these leaves taste like a cross between kangkong and spinach but without the "thready" texture of kangkong.

Green Sweet Potato Leaves with Eggs or Sayur Pucuk Ubi Manis Goreng Dengan Telor

Ingredients:

1. Sweet Potato young leaves (pucuk ubi manis)
2. Garlic (bawang putih)
3. Red onions (bawang merah)
4. Eggs
5. Salt and pepper
6. Oil

Preparation:
Cut the leaves the way you would prepare spinach, separating the young stalks and the leaves.  Dice onions and garlic.  Heat oil in pan and fry the onions until translucent.  Add garlic and continue cooking until garlic soft.  Add the sweet potato stalks and toss for a few minutes.  Add eggs, scrambling them in the mixture.  Add the leaves and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Notes:

• The quantity of garlic used can be adjusted to your taste.  The garlic can also be cut in big chunks instead of diced.
• You can use 1-2 eggs, depending on the quantity of vegetable.
• You can use either white or black pepper - depending on your preference
• The oil used is according to your taste.  For added health benefits, you can use olive oil or good quality vegetable oil such as safflower or sunflower.
• If you like chillis, you can add them either as paste or cut.

Green Sweet Potato Leaves with Salted Fish or Sayur Pucuk Ubi Manis Goreng Dengan Ikan Masin

Ingredients:

1. Sweet Potato young leaves (pucuk ubi manis)
2. Garlic (bawang putih)
3. Red onions (bawang merah)
4. Dried salted fish
5. Salt and pepper
6. Oil

Preparation:
Cut the leaves the way you would prepare spinach, separating the young stalks and the leaves.  Dice onions and garlic.  Heat oil in pan and fry the onions until translucent.  Add garlic and cut-up salted fish and continue cooking until garlic soft.  Add the sweet potato stalks and toss for a few minutes.  Add the leaves and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Notes:

• The quantity of garlic used can be adjusted to your taste.  The garlic can also be cut in big chunks instead of diced.
• Choose good salted fish that is not too salty.  Depending on the salt content in the fish, you may not need to add more salt.
• You can use either white or black pepper - depending on your preference
• The oil used is according to your taste.  For added health benefits, you can use olive oil or good quality vegetable oil such as safflower or sunflower.
• If you like chillis, you can add them either as paste or cut.