How to cook potatoes deliciously and easily

In our lives, if there is one food that is popular with the vast majority of people, it must be potatoes. It is said that potatoes are the most versatile food. No matter how they are cooked, the taste will never go wrong. That is why most kitchen novices choose to learn how to cook potatoes. If you want to make potatoes delicious and simple, you can learn the method we will teach you today.

Potato is a plant of the genus Solanaceae, commonly known as ground beans. It is a perennial herb, but is cultivated as an annual or twice a year. The underground tubers are round, oval, elliptical, etc., with eyes and red, yellow, white or purple skin. The above-ground stem is prismatic and hairy. Odd-pinnate compound leaves. The inflorescence is terminal, and the flowers are white, red or purple. The berries are spherical, green or purple-brown. Seeds kidney-shaped, yellow. It is mostly propagated by tubers. It likes cool, dry conditions and has a strong adaptability to soil, but loose and fertile sandy soil is preferred. Potatoes are called differently in different parts of China. They are called potatoes in the Northeast, yam eggs in North China, foreign potatoes in the Northwest, foreign sweet potatoes in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and potatoes in Guangdong and Hong Kong.

Some scholars believe that there are seven cultivated species of potatoes, which are mainly distributed in the temperate and subtropical regions of the Andes Mountains in South America and the surrounding coastal areas. The most important cultivated potato cultivars are tetraploid species. Tetraploid cultivated potatoes have spread throughout the world. The short-day type was first introduced from Colombia in South America to Spain in Europe in 1570. After artificial selection, it became the long-day type. It was later spread to Asia, North America, southern Africa, Australia and other places. Potatoes were introduced into my country only over a hundred years ago. It is said that it was introduced by overseas Chinese from Southeast Asia. It is mainly grown in my country's Northeast, Inner Mongolia, North China, Yunnan and Guizhou, where the climate is relatively cool. my country's potato planting area now ranks second in the world. Potatoes have high yield, rich nutrition and strong adaptability to the environment. They are now grown all over the world and can be cultivated in tropical and subtropical countries even in winter or cool seasons to obtain high yields. The world's major potato producing countries are the former Soviet Union, Poland, China and the United States. The main potato producing areas in China are the southwestern mountainous areas, the northwest, Inner Mongolia and the northeast.

Potato cooking tips

1. Peel the potatoes: prepare a piece of tin foil (for baking), place the shiny side of the tin foil facing outwards, crumple it into a ball, rub the potato skins with the tin foil ball, put the rubbed potatoes into a basin of clean water, and the potato skins will all float out.

2. When peeling, only peel off a thin layer, because the juice under the potato skin is rich in protein. If peeled potatoes are not cooked immediately, they should be soaked in cold water to prevent them from turning black, but they should not be soaked for too long to avoid the loss of nutrients.

3. Potatoes often have blue-green spots on their surface, which do not look good when served as side dishes. If you add some vinegar to the water used to boil the potatoes (one tablespoon for every kilogram of potatoes), the spots will disappear.

4. It needs to be cooked over a low heat so that it can be evenly cooked. If it is cooked over a high heat, the outer layer will be cooked or even cracked, while the inside will be raw.

5. Potatoes become mushy once boiled, and it is difficult to keep them intact even if they are boiled with the skin on. If you are using it for cold salad or making diced potatoes, you can add some pickling brine or vinegar to the water in which the potatoes are boiled, and the potatoes will remain intact after cooking.

6. Peeled potatoes should be placed in cold water. Adding a little vinegar to the water can prevent the potatoes from changing color.