Savory Sweet Potato Cakes Adventure

This season seemed apocalyptic, and not just because of the pandemic. The sun shone orange through skies smoky from wildfires. So did the moon. Record heat. Snow. More heat. Illegal drag races tore around the neighborhood after midnight. Other nights, coyotes howled in the nearby open space.

I felt sapped and trapped, especially with all our windows closed tight against the unhealthy air.

During yet another suffocating week, I flipped through our “work in progress” recipes pile in a bid for mental escape. There were the sweet potato cakes from Yotam Ottolenghi’s vegetarian cookbook “Plenty.”

If you know this cookbook, you can imagine what’s coming. The instructions are loose. Some recipes need ingredients that were already difficult to procure here in the Before Times. But my friend Cami taught me to see the recipes as a jumping off point. Keep what you like, skip what you don’t. If there’s a simpler method, embrace it. Her relaxed take on the pasta and fried zucchini salad is still my favorite.

So when the sweet potato cakes recipe said, “Steam the sweet potatoes until completely soft, then leave in a colander to drain for at least an hour,” I knew there had to be a better way. Guillaume confirmed that, yes, we could use the pressure cooker.

Now, I’m not one of those people who is convinced that the pressure cooker will explode. No. My worry is that I’ll accidentally burn myself. See also: deep frying. Normally Guillaume handles the pressure cooker. He helped refine the instructions for the Greek beans. But I’m tired of feeling scared. Time to use the pressure cooker solo. And let off some real steam.

There were other hurdles, though. Like the sweet potatoes. They’re called just about everything else at the store. Ideally you want ones with reddish brown skin that are orange inside, sometimes labeled “garnet” or “jewel.” If you can only find white sweet potatoes — a Russet crossed with a sweet potato — they work, but you might want to increase the sugar amount slightly.

The original recipe produced an interior that was a bit too soft. I didn’t want to load in more flour so I tried adding regular store-bought breadcrumbs. You can’t see or taste them in the final cakes, but they do improve the texture.

Pan-frying was stressful at first. The butter pooled and burned. Sizzling fat splattered onto my arm as I dropped in the second round. Swapping most of the butter for vegetable oil helped — for a dairy-free version, omit the butter and make sure the oil level doesn’t get too low. Working off-heat between rounds and then deploying a splatter guard also improved safety.

Perhaps the one thing that made it all easier was letting go of perfection. These cakes are rough around the edges and vary in size. They probably won’t be evenly browned. The frying smell fills the kitchen. But eating them with the delightfully sour green sauce and a light shopska-style salad truly did pull me away from the darkness for a little while.

Sweet Potato Cakes with Greek Green Yogurt Sauce
Adapted from Plenty

Makes 12

Sweet potato cakes:
2¼ lbs. sweet potatoes
2 tsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. sugar
½ to 1 tsp. sambal oelek, as desired
1 – 2 fresh scallions
¾ C. (115g) all-purpose flour
¼ C. (30g) traditional bread crumbs
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
4 Tbsp. vegetable oil, divided

Sauce:
7 oz. container 2% Greek yogurt
Sprinkle of garlic powder
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp. olive oil
½ tsp. salt
Parsley
Cilantro

Special equipment: Pressure cooker, heatproof steamer basket, blender.

Make the sauce: The herb amounts will be approximate, but you’ll want around 3 tablespoons of parsley leaves, stems removed, roughly chopped and 4 or 5 tablespoons of cilantro, stems included, roughly chopped.

Place all the ingredients in a blender or a container that fits an immersion blender, adding the herbs last. For a looser sauce, use an extra tablespoon of oil. For a thicker dip-like texture, add less oil.

Start on low speed and then switch to high. Pause the blending to scrape down the sides with a spatula if needed. Sauce is done when uniformly green and all ingredients evenly incorporated. Goes well on the sweet potato cakes. Refrigerate the sauce until ready to use. Can be made several days in advance.

Make the sweet potato cakes: Wash, dry, and peel the potatoes. Cut them into 1-inch chunks. Add 2 cups of water to a pressure cooker pot. Set a steamer basket in it. Place the potatoes in the basket, leaving the center lifter accessible.

Put the lid on, adjust the pressure to the high setting. Set the pressure cooker over high heat. Once you see it pressurize, lower the heat to medium (5.0 on a programmable stovetop) and cook for 10 minutes. While the potatoes are cooking, cut trim and finely chop the scallions. Set aside.

Carefully bring the pressure cooker to the sink and run cool water over the lid until it depressurizes. Return the pot to the stovetop, remove the lid, and allow the potatoes to cool for just a couple minutes. If they sit out, they can start to turn brown. Transfer cooked potatoes to a large bowl.

Mash the sweet potatoes. Stir in the soy sauce, salt, sugar, and sambal oelek with a large spoon. Mix in the scallions. Add the flour, going at ¼ cup at a time, mixing until there are no streaks left. Mix in the breadcrumbs. Avoid over-mixing the batter. Put paper towels on two large plates for draining the fried cakes.

In a large nonstick pan, heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 2 tablespoons of oil over medium until the butter is melted. Swirl to evenly coat the bottom of the pan. Add six dollops of the batter to the pan, which should be half the total batter.

Fry on medium heat for 6 minutes on the first side, or until they have a nice brown crust. Flip them, pressing slightly to flatten them, lower the heat slightly (to 4.0) and cook for about another 4 minutes. Remove to the paper towels.

Off-heat, add the rest of the butter and oil. Then add the remaining six dollops of batter. Place the pan back on the burner and repeat the frying process, checking after 4 minutes per side. Might need to place a splatter guard on top at this point.

Serve the sweet potato cakes warm with the green Greek yogurt sauce.

Refrigerate any leftover cakes and reheat them to serve again. Sauce keeps for several days in the refrigerator. It also works as a dip for crudités, fries, and pretzels.