Recipe: Korean Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Posted by ZenKimchi in Fusion, Korean Food 101 | 7 comments

This is an experiment that’s been brewing in my head for a while. I don’t know what made me think of it, but I wanted to make a dessert gnocchi using Korean sweet potatoes. The reason was I don’t like bahm goguma 밤고구마, the “chestnut” style sweet potatoes. Unlike the orange hobak goguma (pumpkin sweet potatoes), bahm goguma have light starchy dry flesh that I need a gallon of milk to chase down. But because of this starchiness, I felt it was a prime candidate for gnocchi.

Keeping with the journal aspect of this site, this is what I did, and I’ll note what I would do differently next time.

I boiled three sweet potatoes until they were tender. Just poke them with a chopstick to see when they’re ready.

I shocked them in cold water to make the skins come off easier and peeled them. EJ snagged a bite. Again, these are the chestnut variety of sweet potatoes. That’s why they’re whitish.

Now, when I’ve made gnocchi in the past, they’ve turned out heavy and gummy. A few people then suggested that I put the potatoes through a ricer. Well, I don’t have a ricer. So I put a mesh colander over a pot…

And smashed them through with my big wooden pounder. This was the first time I tried anything like this, and it actually worked. I’ll make mashed potatoes this way from now on. It does beef up your arm a bit.

This was the end result. Throw in some butter and cream, and we’d have a nice side dish. But for gnocchi, I put in 2 1/2 cups of cake flour, a pinch of salt and an egg.

I then shaped it into a ball.

And kneaded it a bit. Not too much.

I took a piece and rolled it out like a snake. This is where that pre-school training comes in handy.

Cut them into pieces with a knife. EJ convinced me to make them bigger after this batch.

She helped me by scoring them with a fork. They looked like white beondaeggi.

I cooked them in salted boiling water until they were blurry floating. Then scooped them out.

In another pot I melted a stick of butter with around three tablespoons of dark brown sugar. The taste was heavenly!

I tossed the gnocchi in the butter and sprinkled a little more brown sugar and a few dashes of cinnamon.

How I would do it differently

I could taste the sweet potato in the gnocchi, but it wasn’t immediately evident. Next time, I’ll mix a tablespoon of sugar with the egg and add it, along with some more salt.  Maybe garnish the end product with some apples or more sweet potatoes.

Even though I can think of improvements, it turned out pretty darn good. This made a lot of gnocchi. Make sure you have a child around to help you. We brought a bowl downstairs to our neighbor.

Korean Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Brown Sugar Butter

INGREDIENTS
3 Chestnut Sweet Potatoes (Bahm Goguma 밤고구마)
2 1/2 C Cake Flour
1 tsp. Salt
1 TBS Sugar
1 Egg
1 stick Butter
3 TBS Dark Brown Sugar

1. Boil the sweet potatoes until tender and then shock them in cold water.
2. Peel the sweet potatoes.
3. Push the sweet potatoes through a strainer or ricer.
4. Add flour and salt and combine.
5. Mix sugar with egg and add to dough. Mix.
6. Roll into a ball.
7. Put on a counter and knead for less than five minutes. Just until it comes together.
8. Take off a piece of dough and roll it into a snake.
9. Cut into 1-inch pieces.
10. Press with a fork. Repeat until the dough is all used up.
11. Put the gnocchi in boiling water until they float. Remove and strain.
12. Melt the butter in a separate pot over low heat with the brown sugar. Whisk until incorporated and bubbling. Turn off the heat.
13. Toss the gnocchi with the butter mixture.

Garnish with sprinklings of brown sugar, cinnamon, sweet potato or apple and serve hot.

Joe McPherson is the founding editor of ZenKimchi. He is also dining editor for 10 Magazine and writes and consults for multiple publications. He is the only non-Korean judge for the Korean section of the Miele Guide--but don't ever call him a food critic.

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