Description
One of my favorite ways to cook vegetables, this easy, crowd-pleasing recipe shreds sweet potatoes, pan-fries them into crispy little cakes and tops them with a flavorful, bright apple-mustard relish. Yes, it’s as good as it sounds!
Ingredients
Scale
Pancakes:
- 20 oz sweet potatoes, grated
- 1 egg, large
- 2 teaspoons Dijon or country grain mustard
- 3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1–1 1/2 cups vegetable or canola oil
- Sour cream, optional
Relish:
- 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon mustard seeds
- 4 tablespoons apricot preserves
- 2 apples, peeled and diced (I like to use one green and one red apple)
- 2–3 tablespoons flour
Instructions
- Crack the egg into a large mixing bowl. Whisk in mustard, paprika, salt, pepper and parsley. Grate the sweet potatoes (you can leave the skin on), then add to the egg mixture. Sprinkle in two tablespoons of flour, then mix to combine. If the mixture seems too wet, add another tablespoon of flour.
- Pour enough vegetable or canola oil into a saute pan so it is about 1/4″ deep. Warm over medium to medium-high heat. To test the oil, carefully drop a shred of sweet potato into the pan. If the oil bubbles and sizzles rapidly around the veggie, you are ready to go. Scoop portions of the sweet potato mix into the pan. I like to use a small ice cream scoop to make the shapes consistent, but you can make your cakes bigger or smaller to suit your preference. Press the potato portions down so they are flat and round, but not too thin. Keep the cake thicker than the oil is deep.
- Let the cakes cook until golden brown and crispy on one side, then carefully flip and finish on the second side. Should take about 6-8 minutes in total. Once done, use a slotted spatula to transfer to a plate lined with paper towel or a clean kitchen towel. Season with salt immediately while still hot. Repeat this process until all your sweet potato “batter” is cooked.
- In a separate saute pan, combine the rice wine vinegar, water, brown sugar and salt. Warm over medium-low heat until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Add the mustard seeds, along with the apricot preserves and mustard. Stir until everything is melted and combined. Toss in the apples toss to coat, then let them simmer for 5-10 minutes. Remove sauce from heat and set aside until ready to serve.
- To finish, top each with a small dollop of sour cream and a scoop of apple-mustard relish. Serve warm and enjoy!
Notes
- If you want to get a jump start, make the apple-mustard relish ahead of time. You can either serve it cold with the hot cakes, just like the cold sour cream, or you can warm gently in a saucepan before serving.
- You can also make the potato mixture in advance, but then fry as close to order as possible. To keep cakes warm while you finish cooking additional batches, hold in a 200 degree oven.