Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Ñame Con Mojo de Ajo (True Yam in Garlic Lime Sauce)

Ñame (pronounced Nyame) is a type of yam, it is not sweet at all very starchy, similar to a potato but not really, it is more starchy and heavy. It can go by other names I went online to research it, some people call it "true yam" or "tropical yam"

This dish uses a very common method, which is simply boiling a starchy vegetable in salted water til tender then draining and eating with "Mojo de Ajo" garlic lime sauce, but I must warn this isn't something that any palate can handle, Mojo de Ajo is extremely garlicky and sour so many not used to it may not like it.

Also I just wanted to share that Cuban cuisine has plenty of starchy vegetables that are used, Cuban cuisine is not low carb friendly we pretty much consume probably every single type of carb laden food, we eat plenty of rice and beans, adore sugar, love good bread, have corn based dishes, and we love starchy vegetables like Yucca, Malanga, Boniato, Ñame, Potatoes, and also Winter Squashes to name a few.

Heck my grandmother is even familiar with "Purple Yam" also goes by names such as "Ube" (called that by Filipinos) and the Chinese here in stores MISTAKENLY call it "Taro" (taro is another type of root I have no idea why the confusion) My grandmother calls this yam "Boniato de Vino" (which means something like Sweet Potato of Wine) don't know how she became familiar with it, she said her family grew it in their farm near Havana before Castro I don't know the name of the farm, or what area I need to ask her later,

That's not to say there aren't healthy choices, the problem with Cuban food is it's so good people tend to eat seconds and get fat, luckily I try my hardest to practice moderation so I don't gain weight and I exercise to.

Ingredients:
-Ñame (true yam)
-water
-salt
-Mojo de Ajo (Garlic Lime Sauce click here to see recipe)
Directions:
(1)
Peel root, cut into large chunks, remove any dark markings, add to water immediately because it oxidizes quickly and browns, bring to a boil with salt boil for 25-35 minutes until tender, DO NOT EAT RAW ITS POISONES!
(2)Drain, spoon some of the Mojo sauce over it in a dish, and serve, also reserve some mojo for people to spoon more over the root if they desire (heck we finished the whole thing of Mojo and NO WE DO NOT STINK!