Last Updated on March 11, 2021 by Simon Fan
At Chinatown markets, you can often find two types of Chinese yam: the thicker one, ranging from 1½ inches (3 cm) to 2½ inches (6.4 cm) in diameter with yellowish skin, and the thinner one, about 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick with darker skin. The thinner variety is called iron stick yam (tiegun shanyao 铁棍山药), so named because the marks on its skin resemble rust.
Both varieties are wonderful and suitable for a variety of preparations in cooking. The thicker variety is crisp and tender, which means it’s great eaten raw or briefly stir-fried. It’s also used to make clear tonic soups, as in steamed quail and Chinese yam soup, Hui style. By comparison, the thinner iron stick yam is starchier and slightly sweeter. It’s often steamed, boiled, or added to stews or soups.
The mild sweetness in Chinese yam makes it a nice ingredient for sweet dishes too. Here, iron stick yam is steamed, sliced, and then steeped in osmanthus syrup—one of my favorite ways of cooking this amazing tuber. I like to serve the dish chilled as an appetizer or snack.
Steamed iron stick yam with osmanthus syrup (桂花山药)
Serves 2
Ingredients
Osmanthus syrup (see Note)
2 oz (60 g) sugar
½ cup (120 ml) water
1 tablespoon dried osmanthus flowers
7 oz (200 g) iron stick yam
Directions
- Add the sugar and water to a small saucepan. Bring the liquid to a boil, then add the osmanthus flowers and stir for 10 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat. Cover and set aside.
- Wearing a pair of gloves (to prevent possible skin itching), peel the yam with a swivel peeler. Cut the yam into 2 or 3 sections that will fit into your steamer. Place the yam on a heatproof plate and steam over high heat until tender (you should be able to slice it with a knife with very little resistance), about 15 minutes. Remove it from the steamer and let cool.
- When the yam is cool enough to handle, cut it crosswise into ½ inch-thick (1.3 cm) pieces. If you like, you can use a small round cookie cutter to cut them into perfect circles. Pour the osmanthus syrup into a bowl, and add the yam pieces. Cover, let them steep in the syrup as they cool, then transfer the bowl to the refrigerator. The yam is ready after steeped for 2 hours. To serve, arrange the yam pieces beautifully on a serving plate, and drizzle some syrup and osmanthus flowers on top.
Note: You can instead use store-bought osmanthus jam mixed with water, or any syrup of your choice.
