Mum’s velvet potatoes

A simple dish that is silky and flavoursome, an elegant, luxurious way to enjoy this humble vegetable.

Mum’s velvet potatoes Credit: Hetty Lui McKinnon

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  25 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

"My mother made many dishes that we considered to be ‘signatures’, and her saucy pork chops with potatoes is one we absolutely adored growing up... The chops then go into a large bowl, along with sliced potatoes, soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine, salt, sugar, cornflour, a splash of water; toss together. A wok is heated, a few cloves of smashed garlic go in to perfume the oil, then the pork chops, potatoes and all the juices are added to the pan. A lid goes on. It is tossed every now and then. When it is ready, the pork and potatoes are unthinkably tender and juicy. Recently, I learned that this home-style technique of dredging meat in cornflour is called velveting, a rather regal name for such a simple technique."

Ingredients

• 35 g (¼ cup) cornflour
• 2 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine (or dry sherry or water)
• 2 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
• 1 kg potatoes (any variety), peeled and sliced into 8 mm thick discs
• Neutral cooking oil (grapeseed, sunflower or vegetable oil)
• 2 eschalots, finely sliced (or 1 brown onion)
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed but left whole
• Sea salt and white pepper
• 2 green onions (shallots), sliced
• Rice, to serve

Instructions

1. Make a slurry by combining the cornflour, Shaoxing rice wine and soy sauce or tamari in a large bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of water and whisk to combine. Add the potato and toss well to coat. Set aside.
2. Heat a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. When hot, drizzle generously with oil and add the eschalot and garlic cloves. Allow to sizzle for 15 seconds, then reduce the heat to medium and cook for 3–4 minutes, until softened and starting to caramelise.
3. Add the potato, along with the cornflour slurry, and 200 ml of water. Stir and toss the potato well to prevent lumps, then, when it bubbles, reduce the heat to low, cover with a lid and cook for 20–25 minutes, tossing every 5 minutes or so, until the potato is tender and glistening (it may cook quicker if your potato slices are smaller, so check the potato often for doneness). Taste and season with sea salt and white pepper.
4. Transfer the potato to a serving bowl and top with the green onion. Serve with rice.

Notes

• For a gluten-free version, replace the Shaoxing rice wine with dry sherry or water.

Images and recipes from Tenderheart by Hetty Lui McKinnon, published by Plum, (RRP $59.99). Photography by Hetty Lui McKinnon.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

"My mother made many dishes that we considered to be ‘signatures’, and her saucy pork chops with potatoes is one we absolutely adored growing up... The chops then go into a large bowl, along with sliced potatoes, soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine, salt, sugar, cornflour, a splash of water; toss together. A wok is heated, a few cloves of smashed garlic go in to perfume the oil, then the pork chops, potatoes and all the juices are added to the pan. A lid goes on. It is tossed every now and then. When it is ready, the pork and potatoes are unthinkably tender and juicy. Recently, I learned that this home-style technique of dredging meat in cornflour is called velveting, a rather regal name for such a simple technique."