Yunnan Mashed Potatoes

This recipe was originally published in the award-winning cookbook Chinese-ish: Home Cooking Not Quite Authentic 100% Delicious by Rosheen Kaul & Joanna Hu (Interlink Books, 2023). Reprinted here with permission.

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Ingredients:

• 1 lb 2 oz (500 g) starchy potatoes, peeled and cut into small pieces
• 2 ½ tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 scallions, sliced, green and white parts kept separated
• 2 ½ tablespoons suan cai (pickled mustard greens), minced
• 1 teaspoons Sichuan or regular chile powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 4 teaspoons chile oil (homemade or use Lao Gan Ma chile oil), to serve

Method:

1. Boil the potatoes in a large pot of boiling water until tender. Drain and set aside, reserving 2 ½ tablespoons of the starchy cooking water.
2. Heat 4 teaspoons of the vegetable oil in a wok or non-stick frying pan. Add the garlic and stir-fry over high heat until fragrant. Add the sliced white scallions and fry for a few seconds, then add the suan cai and fry briefly. Add the chile powder and fry until fragrant.
3. Reduce the heat to medium and add the cooked potatoes and reserved starchy cooking water. Using a spatula, start crushing the potatoes and frying them simultaneously. You want a bit of textural contrast, so don’t worry too much about mashing the potatoes smoothly. Slowly turn the heat back up to medium-high.
4. Add the remaining vegetable oil to the wok and continue to fry the potatoes for 2-3 minutes. The additional oil is to make sure the wok’s surface remains non-stick and to prevent the potatoes from becoming a gluey mess. Add the salt and sliced green scallions. Stir for 10-15 seconds, then taste and add more salt if necessary. Transfer to a plate in a nice mound and drizzle with chile oil.