How To Make A Yummy Yamarita At Home

Yamarita is simply a spin on your traditional fried yam and egg dish. Instead of having them separately, why not have them in a slightly thicker chip/fry form and roll it all into one! It’s really easy to make and while yam is not something I eat on a regular basis, it provided a good switch up for a change. There are various ways to cook this, so be sure to read the notes section, if you’d like to try it a different way, this is just the basic recipe.

Ingredients


1 Tuber of yam
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp salt
Vegetable oil for deep frying


2 tsp ground red pepper
1 serving spoon leftover stew (optional)

1. Cut yam into round slices
2. Peel skin off yam
 3. Start cutting yam slices into thick strips length-wise
3b. Keep cutting until you have all strips of yam
4. Rinse yam strips under cold running water, to rid of dirt and starch, till water runs relatively clear, drain water

5. Add yam to pot with clean water, enough to cover yam. Add 1/2 tsp salt

5b. Let yam boil over medium heat for 15 minutes till soft, yet firm enough to hold shape without breaking apart
6. Drain water, transfer boiled yam to dry bowl
7. Set yam aside to cool slightly, prepare egg wash, pre-heat oil in pan over medium heat
8. Break egg into bowl, add ground red pepper and salt
8b. Whisk egg
9. Add flour into a clean bowl along with a pinch of salt and pepper. Take one strip at a time, roll yam in flour
10. Dip flour coated yam into egg wash
11. Repeat steps #9 – #10 till all yam strips are fully coated
12. Begin frying coated yam strips over medium heat

12b. Fry for about 2-3 minutes per side, till golden brown
13. Once fried, transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel or napkin to absorb excess oil, sprinkle salt over it and shake up before serving
14. All done!



It’s important to partially pre-cook the yam because the yam won’t be soft enough if it’s just fried immediately. It’ll cook, but it won’t be cooked enough to be palatable.
Rolling the yam in flour serves to provide absorbency and crispness, depending on what method you’re using. For this basic method, the flour serves to absorb the oil to give that crisp coating. Another purpose is serves is to absorb any extra wetness/liquid from draining the yam after boiling, before frying. The flour also helps the yam brown better when frying.

This needs to be served immediately after frying and sprinkling some salt over it, otherwise it will lose it’s crispness and become limp.

You can twice fry dun dun oniyeri for maxium crispness. After frying once, remove from oil, drain excess oil on paper towel, increase heat to high and return yam into oil to fry for another 2-3 minutes per side.
You can bake these if you prefer. However, you don’t need to use the egg and flour. Instead, you’d use an oil and seasoning mix, gently coat the yam strips in the oil mix, put on a baking tray lined with foil and bake for 20-30 minutes at 400 degrees. Seasonings can be crushed knorr cubes and crushed red pepper, for added texture.
For the dipping sauce, you can use geisha stew, like I did, or corned beef stew, perhaps even regular stew.

Substitutes:
You can use corn oil for added crispness.
Don’t care for yam? Try regular or sweet potatoes

Serving Suggestions:
With onion and pepper/tomato sauce