Basi Shanyao

candied Chinese yam: batons of shan yao fried until golden, turned in molten sugar, and lifted from the plate in long glassy threads, dipped in cold water at the table

Origin: Jinan, Beijing & Northern China

From the journey of Yam.

Basi means pulling silk, and it is a northern Chinese sugar technique: sugar is melted to the thread stage, the fried ingredient is turned in it, and every piece lifted from the dish draws a long glassy filament behind it. A bowl of cold water stands beside the plate, and the diner dips each piece in for a second, which sets the sugar to a brittle shell and, not incidentally, saves the mouth. Shan yao, mountain medicine, is the Chinese yam, Dioscorea polystachya, a slender white tuber native to China and eaten as much as a tonic as a vegetable. The Shennong Bencao Jing, the Han pharmacopoeia, already ranked it, and the finest is still said to come from the old prefecture of Huaiqing, around Jiaozuo in Henan, whose huaishan is one of the four Huai medicines. The same tuber goes into soups with pork ribs and into steamed dishes; basi shanyao is what the restaurant kitchen does with it.

Ingredients

Yam

  • 500 g Chinese yam (shan yao / nagaimo), peeled and cut into 4 cm batons
  • 3 tbsp cornflour
  • 700 ml vegetable oil, for frying

Syrup

  • 150 g caster sugar
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil

To Finish

  • 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
  • A bowl of cold water, to serve

Method

  1. Peel the yam under running water and cut it into batons. Wear gloves if your skin is sensitive, since the raw sap itches.
  2. Pat the batons dry and toss them in the cornflour.
  3. Heat the frying oil to 170°C and fry the yam in batches for 4 to 5 minutes, until pale gold and crisp at the edges. Drain.
  4. Wipe out a wok, add the tablespoon of oil, the sugar, and the water, and melt over a low heat, stirring, until the syrup turns pale amber and a drop pulled between two chopsticks makes a thread.
  5. Tip in the hot yam, turn quickly to coat every piece, and scatter with sesame seeds.
  6. Serve at once, with a bowl of cold water on the table for dipping.

Notes

Oil the serving plate lightly so that the sugar does not weld the dish to it. The same treatment is given to sweet potato, taro, and apple in northern restaurants.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

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Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
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