I love all things sweet potato but am not so fond of regular potato.  I was pleased to discover that botanically they are actually not even the same family.  Regular potatoes are part of the Solanaceae family which belong to the nightshade group (which I like to avoid as they are said to contribute to inflammation).   Sweet potatoes are in the Convolvulaceae family also known as the morning glory vine.  You can serve these cakes as a side dish or as a main dish over grains. You can also serve them cold over a bed of green salad.  You can use them in a sandwich or make small patties and serve as pupus or appetizers.  You can watch Chef Lyndon make these patties on our cooking video here.

  • swtpotatocakes1 sweet potato (any local variety)
  • 1/2 cup corn
  • 1/4 cup green onion, chopped
  • 3 teaspoons plum sauce
  • 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
  • 1 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil

Steam the sweet potato until fully cooked then let it cool down. In a mixing bowl, mash the potato with all the other ingredients and mix well. Form into patties with your hands. Heat a fry pan until hot and sauté the sweet potato cakes with olive oil until golden brown on each side.

You can substitute the sweet potato with Kabocha squash (if you do, please increase the amount of Panko to 1 and 1/2 cups).  Panko can be found in the Asian section of grocery stores or in Chinatown. The Panko gives a nice crunch to the sweet potato corn cakes, but if you don’t have it, you may substitute regular breadcrumbs instead.