Sweet and Sour Potatoes with Mango

One of the most interesting and challenging part of cooking is experimenting with flavors and spices. It reminds me of my lab-experiment days when you'd keep adding elements till you successfully concocted a new compound and exaltingly cried out "Eureka!!" Ok, I know not all experiments go great, but at least that gives you enough incentive to try out new stuff; that's precisely what I felt a few days back when I decided to try a vietnamese recipe for Sweet and Sour Potatoes with Mangoes! A bit hesitant, a bit reluctant and afraid, I timidly thought I should try replicating this recipe that we relished at a Tofu House restaurant. But as I started mixing the ingredients, which was totally on my whim, it started looking good, and I got more enthusiastic and confident. The blend of spices with soy sauce, thai chillies, red pepper with mango and rice vinegar resulted into a winning recipe of baby potatoes cooked in sweet and sour sauce, and the addition of mango gave it just the right burst of flavor!

I did not follow any recipe while making this, so incidentally, I think this one is definitely My Original recipe, and that makes me even more elated! Making the sauce was a challenge that I conquered; flavored with ginger, rice vinegar, soy and mango, it has a uniquely asian taste. I added a bit of worcestire sauce, but you can totally avoid it if you are not used to that flavor.

Ingredients
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup rice vinegar (you can add more if you like the taste)
1/4 cup tomato puree
1-1/2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup water (more to make the gravy)
1 tspn garlic powder
2 tsp freshly grated ginger
4 tbsp sweet chilli sauce (the red one)
1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce (optional)

The ingredients above yield about 2 cups of thick sweet and sour sauce

7-8 baby potatoes
1 small medium-rip mango(more green than yellow)
chopped scallions - for garnish

Method

Sweet and Sour Sauce
Mix all ingredients for the sauce (except cornstarch and water) together and bring to a boil in a small pot. Mix together the cornstarch and water, add to the other ingredients and stir to thicken. You can add more vinegar or water till you achieve your desired consistency.

Boil the baby potatoes and dice them into 2 (or you can leave them whole). Prick them with a toothpick so they can be better flavored with the sauce. Chop the mangoes into thin slices and keep aside.

Now take a pan, add 2 tbsp vegetable oil, then saute the potatoes in it for some time. Then add the sweet and sour sauce, half of the mangoes and grated ginger, then cover with a lid and let it simmer for 8-10 minutes. Keep stirring in between.

Once cooked, check for flavor and consistency of the sauce; add water or seasonings if required. Chop some scallions for garnish.

Serve the Baby Potatoes cookied in Sweet and Sour Sauce with Steamed rice. Garnish with remaining chopped mangoes and green onions.

This goes to Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging that features Ginger this week!

If you liked this post, please subscribe to our feed so you'd never miss a recipe or article again!

Subscribe in a Reader

Subscribe by Email