Sweet Potato Tacos

Mash sweet potatoes with serranos and garlic, spread into tortillas and fried for the perfect party snack.

Even without all the fixings for the traditional taco it is simple to win over a crowd of your nearest and dearest with these tasty sweet potato tacos. All that is needed is sweet potatoes, chicken or vegetable broth, garlic, Serrano peppers, tortillas, oil, salt, and pepper. Cooking the potatoes takes the longest but if you cut the pieces small enough not even that will take the joy out of entertaining.

Satisfyingly Sweet Taco

You may be thinking that a sweet potato taco sounds less than interesting but the crunch of the fried tortilla shell and the smooth and spicy filling makes the taco addictive and absolutely satisfying. Once you have made and enjoyed a sweet potato taco you will find it difficult to keep enough of them ready.

Ingredients

4 sweet potatoes
4C chicken stock or vegetable stock
4e garlic cloves
3e Serrano peppers
1 dozen tortillas
tt salt
tt pepper
olive oil

Directions

1. Wash and cut up sweet potatoes. Put potatoes into a large pot and cover them with chicken or vegetable stock. Add a couple pinches of salt.
2. Dice up garlic and Serrano peppers and sauté them in a small pan with olive oil on medium heat.
3. When sweet potatoes are soft and fork tender (or smashable), strain and reserve the liquid for later use. Mash the potatoes with two forks.
4. Add sautéed garlic, Serrano peppers, and oil to the sweet potatoes and fold. If needed add extra liquid from the reserved portion used to cook the potatoes. You want to achieve a smooth texture of mashed potatoes. (Make sure not to mix too much because the mash will only turn out more starchy and tacky.)
5. When potatoes are ready and seasoned to taste, pull out the tortillas and a well-oiled pan. Heat up the pan and cook the tortillas only till soft.
6. When soft, start stuffing the tortillas with sweet potato mixture and fold the tortillas over. Aim to under-stuff the tortillas and avoid the potatoes from coming out the sides of the tortillas.
7. Heat up a large sauté pan with a generous amount of oil. Fry the tacos on both sides till crispy and have a drying area ready for when the tacos are fried and ready to be pulled.

Cook the Potatoes

When it comes to preparing these tacos there are only a few tips that need to be kept in mind. First off, it is incredibly important to wash the sweet potatoes well because of the atmosphere in which they grow. If you are concerned about the thoroughness of your cleaning I would suggest peeling the skin after the washing. Also, just cover the potatoes in the pot. Too much liquid will only be wasteful and whatever is not used to smooth out the mash will usually be discarded (unless you have a dog that enjoys a little broth on their food). And, do not forget to add salt to the potatoes and broth since, as it is a root vegetable, they absorb salt best when immersed in a liquid. If you try adding salt after the potato is done cooking it will be more difficult to disperse the salt evenly; and, do not try to add the salt once the mashing has already taken place because too much mixing will destroy the product.

Build the Taco

Once the potatoes are ready with the garlic, serranos and a proper amount of seasoning you are ready to cook the tortillas. Cook the tortillas slowly in a small amount of oil first and then, when you fry them, add more oil and fry them harder. The first fry is to soften them up and the second fry is for crispness so crisp them well. When the tortillas are stuffed, fried, and dried they will be ready to toss down the gullets of your friends and family and… they will love you for them. Trust in the recipe, follow every step and it is guarantee that you will want them again and again.