Sweet Potato — season, tips, and recipes in New Zealand
Sweet Potato is a vegetables available in New Zealand during . This page is a practical guide for home cooks: when to buy sweet potato, how to pick a good one, how to store it, what it goes well with, three original recipes, and detailed nutrition information.
Called sweet potato in Australia, where it is grown year-round. In NZ the local equivalent is kumara, which has been grown here for over 700 years.
How to pick a good one
Firm with no soft spots or sprouting. Orange-fleshed varieties (like Beauregard) are sweetest. Purple sweet potatoes are earthier.
How to store it
Cool dark place, never the fridge. Cold damages the cells. Lasts several weeks.
Goes well with
coconut: Coconut fat carries sweet potato's beta-carotene and amplifies its sweetness. Used together in Pacific and Southeast Asian cooking in curries and soups.
chilli: Chilli's heat and sweet potato's sweetness create a contrast that prevents the dish from being cloying. Used across Caribbean, African, and Asian cooking.
lime: Lime acid cuts through sweet potato's sweetness and gives it a sharper edge. The combination is used in salads and slaws where the sweetness needs a counterpoint.
cumin: Cumin adds earthy savouriness to sweet potato's sweetness, making it work in main courses. Used across North African, Middle Eastern, and Mexican cooking.
butter: Sweet potato with butter is one of those combinations where the quality of the fat is apparent. The fat moderates the sweetness and carries the beta-carotene, making the vegetable more nutritious as well as richer.
Recipes
Sweet Potato Wedges
Crispy, sweet, spiced.
Ingredients: 2 sweet potatoes, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp smoked paprika, salt
Method: Cut into wedges. Toss with oil, paprika, salt. Roast 200C for 30 min, flipping once.
Sweet Potato & Coconut Soup
Creamy, warming.
Ingredients: 2 sweet potatoes, 1 onion, 400ml coconut cream, 500ml stock, 1 tsp curry powder
Method: Sweat onion with curry powder. Add diced sweet potato and stock. Simmer 20 min. Add coconut cream. Blend.
Loaded Sweet Potato
Dinner. One ingredient as the vessel.
Ingredients: 2 large sweet potatoes, 1 tin black beans, 1 avocado, sour cream, coriander, lime, chilli
Method: Bake sweet potatoes at 200C for 45 min. Split open. Load with heated beans, sliced avocado, sour cream, coriander, lime, chilli.
Nutrition
One medium sweet potato provides 400% of your daily vitamin A (from beta-carotene), 35% of your vitamin C, and 4g of fibre. Orange varieties have the most beta-carotene; purple varieties contain anthocyanins instead. About 103 calories. Gram for gram, sweet potato provides more vitamin A than any other common vegetable.