How to boil yam with skin
I learnt to boil yam without peeling the skin, this was while growing up. Never remembered this method in my house. As a child growing up in my parents house, there were times we just washed the yam seedlings and boiled without peeling.
The peels come off easily after the boiled yam is cooked soft. This type of boiled yam is best enjoyed with palm oil or pepper sauce.
As an adult, that method of boiling yam escaped my memory until the day salad master cookware distributors came for a demonstration.
We were then taught that yam is best boiled without peeling off the skin because that way all the yam nutrients are retained.
That yams peeled before boiling tend to lose nutrients as the yam boils and cooks in the pot because the skin is removed and the nutrients are easily lost.
TWO METHODS OF BOILING YAM IN NIGERIA
Basically, there are two methods of boiling yam in Nigeria.
- Peeling the yam before boiling.
- Boiling the yam without peeling.
First wash the yam tuber with clean water and a sponge.
Next, place the clean yam tuber on a hard surface.
Thirdly, cut the yam in circles, cut as thick or flat as you like. The thicker slices take longer to cook but the texture is nice though.
After cutting yams into circles or cubes or any shape of choice, place in a deep cooking pot and add water to cover the yam pieces.
Finally, place the pot on the burner and cover with a lid. Wait till it begins to boil before sprinkling your salt or sugar. We do have a post on how to boil yam with sugar.
Let yam boil until it’s cooked, or till a toothpick or skewer goes in effortlessly.
When boiled yam is cooked, the skin comes off easily. At this time, you can just sear with a knife and easily remove the skin. It’s best to remove boiled yam skin when the yam is still hot or warm.
Discard the skin and serve your boiled yam with any sauce of choice like peppered palm oil, pepper sauce, vegetable sauce, egg sauce with vegetables or tomato stew.
When you eat yams boiled without peeling the yam skin off the texture is different. Very tasty.
Enjoy!
So, that’s how we boil yam without peeling the skin. To make pounded yam though, we peel off the yam skin before boiling. Even yam porridge doesn’t need yam peels in it.
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