These pale-looking, spaghetti-like thin strips are shreds from a potato, may I assure you. I first encountered them when visiting Qxingdao in China, a city far away from Sichuan where this dish was originated. Then, I keep seeing this hot and sour potato shreds (written as 醋溜土豆絲 in Chinese and pronounced as Cu Liu Tu Dou Si in Mandarin) from Chinese cook books and Chinese food blogs. There are variations though, they all tend to include peppercorns and dried red chilies as the key ingredients .
To me, potato is not at all any alien food, but still I found it hard to associate these shreds with the potato family in my very first bite. I excused myself for too getting used to eat deep fried and baked potatoes, which are either crispy or fluffy. To describe these funny thin strips, I would say, they are more or less like cuts from a jicama, something crunchy indeed.
I rarely serve this dish with rice (my staple food) considered they are both high in carbohydrates. But I have been happy to enjoy it as an appetizer as soon as I get used to its crunchiness.
- Ingredients
- 1 potato, ~230g
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 tsp dried peppercorn
- 6 dried red chili
- 1/3 tsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 sprig spring (green) onion, julienned, optional
- Salt water
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups water
- Sauce
- 2 tbsp black vinegar (I use Chekiang type)
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
Method
Shredding potato : Peel, rinse, pat dry the potato. Cut a thin slice from one side to form a flatten bottom. Doing so will help better hold the potato in place while slicing it. Then, cut the potato into about 1mm slices. It doesn’t harm much even the thickness of each slice is not the same. Mine differs as well. You may then choose to shred each slice one by one. But I like doing it with all slices stacked halfway. That is, lay flat each slice one on top another. Instead of aligning them edge to edge , I distance their edges on one side, from which the shreds are cut .
Soaking potato shreds : Soak potato shreds in salt water for about 15 minutes. This will help minimize the potato from turning rusty while at the same time washing away a certain amount of starch from the shreds. Rinse the shreds in a colander under running water and drain away excess water.
Stir-frying potato shreds : Over moderate heat, heat one table spoon of oil in wok. When heated, add in peppercorns, sauté till fragrant, about a minute. Discard peppercorns, but leave oil in wok (it is now a peppercorn-flavored oil). Toss in garlic and dried red chilies; sauté briefly. Add in potato shreds, stir-fry constantly for 2 to 3 minutes, or until done. Dish up. On the other hand, mix well all ingredients for the sauce for dipping, or, simply mingle them with the cooked shreds (which will then be colored in light brown) and, garnish with spring onion. Serve hot, or chilled which is particularly good for summer.
- Category: Vegetable .
- 28 comments
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A very popular and delicious dish of home cooking! Perfectly shredded potatoes. Thumbs up!
The potatos are soooo beautifully shredded and I love this Chinese style of cooking potatoes. You’re a really good cook!
I saw this on a tv program and very curious what it tastes like. and crunchy potatoes?? hmm…
@pigpigscorner, Sounds like this interested you : ). Yes, the potato shreds are crunchy even chilled in fridge .
I have ever tasted this crunchy potatoe before. Sounds very refreshing. Really want to try.
Didn’t know that Chinese are fans of potatoes? Probably that province? Lovely and simple dish
I think I still have Chekiang. I don’t know what to do. I just added sometimes to stir fry.
Wow, potato shreds are definitely new to me and I would love try them! They look so perfect and so delicious!
My Chinese friend also introduced me to this 醋溜土豆絲 and I am with you…..I found it weird eating this with rice…it is like eating carbs with carbs. But such a dish chilled and with vinegar should be great for summer eating.
@penny aka Jeroxie, Probably, there should be some more humble Chinese dishes that are cooked with potatoes, like stewed potatoes with meat, potato patties, potatoes in soups … I believe I’m just quoting a few out of the many : ).
Pepy@Indonesia, How about using your Chekiang vinegar in Hot and Sour Soup? Enjoy!
I dont think I’ve seen potatoes with such an elegant presentation before. This looks beautiful.
I’m a new fan of your blog. Thanks for the recipe. I love this dish but still find it hard to get around the idea that this is a vegetable dish (and not a carb) although in my country, potato IS considered a vegetable to be eaten with rice.
Beautiful shots, btw.
Love the texture of potato, slightly fried, still crunchy. Simple cooking, but lots of flavour in it. This is an ideal dish to comfort me 🙂
I have never seen this dish before, and I must say I’m very curious to try it, it seems as it it would be absolutely delicious!
What a novel potato dish. I love how it looks like noodles, but has crunch, plus an addictive tangy-spicy bite.
OH my goodness! i had this dish during my brief stay in Beijing and I remember enjoying it VERY much. I completely forgot that I had this dish until I read your post. Thank you for reminding me and for the delicious recipe! i have some potatoes here so will try this recipe soon!
Oh wow. You, dear, have some serious cutting skills. Absolutely beautiful!
~Kurious Kitteh
This sounds like a really cool way to cook potatoes! I’ve never seen anything quite like this before! It sounds really interesting too- like you, I’m used to baked or fried potatoes…..I might have to try this one day!
Wow! Your shredded potatoes look absolutely perfect! This dish is new to me but I don’t mind to eat it as an appetizer. Looks very appetizing!!
They look so so so pretty and you could do the same with other veggies too! Yum
Interesting … I wonder if the potato threads would hold up as a ‘pasta’?
@asiansupper,
Very creative, I have yet to try to serve these potato shreds as a pasta. When doing such, I believe we shall avoid prolonged cooking of the potatoes in order that they won’t be broken up.
I have been looking for this recipe forever! Thank you for such a great description and beautiful photos 🙂
I love this dish. Had it once at a northern style restaurant. Mother in law translated. Thanks for giving the recipe. Very tasty, and a different way to eat spuds.
I go to Dalian + Qingdao a lot for work and this is my favorite dish there. I’ve been looking for this recipe, and yours has the perfect subtle blend of tart vinegar + spice that makes the dish so special + northern Chinese. Some people blanch the potatoes first, but yours is better since it comes out crunchy every time. Thanks for posting.
@May,
You are welcome! Glad that you like this and thanks for your feedback.
OMG I had this ALL the time in Zhoushan!!! Whenever we’d go to Sichuan restaurants we’d always have this, the reeeaaally good tofu which is cooked at your table in the mini wok thing, and I always wanted the pork too. There were good cold chicken dishes too, and the cabbage, hot and sour, like your recipe I think(which I must try making) we almost always got. I’m so glad I found your site!!! It’s got so many things I miss from China T-T
[…] At Print. we roast and serve fingerlings alongside many proteins starting at breakfast through to dinner. At home cooking with potatoes can seem mundane at times so I am submitting this unique Chinese shredded potato dish where potatoes take on a new texture and flavor profile (be sure to keep the skins on though) : http://www.tastehongkong.com/recipes/hot-and-sour-potato-shreds/ […]