Fast and Easy Butter Potatoes Chinese Recipe: Perfect Side Dish for Festivals!

Though potatoes originated in the Andes between 8000 and 5000 BC, China saw the first potatoes in the 17th century. Till then, it has become one of the most common vegetables used in Chinese cuisine. Potatoes are used in hundreds if not thousands, of recipes as these tubers are a good source of carbohydrates.

If you want to make something tasty with this common vegetable, I recommend the butter potatoes Chinese recipe. This recipe is easy to make and tastes delicious. The crispy skin of the potatoes with a tender inside gives you the perfect bite, especially when you need something to go with your proteins. Let’s get into the detailed recipe.

Recipe Overview For Simple Look

As this recipe has only a few ingredients, the preparation time is really short. The following chart will contain a bunch of necessary information about this recipe, so don’t miss it.

Course: Side dish	Cuisine: Chinese		Difficulty: Easy
Total Time: 15 minutes
Serving		Preparation Time	Cooking Time	Calories
4 persons		3 minutes	12 minutes	56 kcal

Ingredients Needed for the Recipe

You might have already assumed two of the ingredients, potato and butter. Get the full list of ingredients below.

• Potato: 200g of Chinese potatoes
• Butter: 50g
• Green Onion: ½ tsp, finely chopped
• Garlic: ½ tsp, minced
• Light Soy Sauce: 1 tsp
• Oyster Sauce: 1 tsp
• Coke: 200ml
• Sesame Seed: 1 tsp

Butter Potatoes Chinese Recipe: Step-By-Step Instructions

You will get all the detailed steps in the following recipe.

Step 1: Prepare the Potatoes and Aromatics

Peel the potatoes and cut them into large cubes. Each cube should be about 1.5 inches. Then, chop the green onions and mince the garlic.

Step 2: Fry the Potatoes

Add butter to a hot pan and let it melt. Then, add the potato cubes to the pan. Stir-fry the potatoes for about 7-8 minutes or until they turn golden brown. Keep stirring the potatoes so that they don’t burn.

Step 3: Add the Aromatics and Sauces

Add chopped green onions and minced garlic to the potatoes. Then, pour 1 tsp of light soy sauce and 1 tsp of oyster sauce over the potatoes. Also, add 200ml of coke to the pan. Stir to mix everything well. 

Simmer them for about 4-5 minutes until the sauce thickens up a bit. Finally, sprinkle some sesame seeds on top. Now you can enjoy delicious butter potatoes with any of your favorite main dishes.

Nutritional Values of Butter Potatoes Recipe

Though potatoes don’t have any notable fat, you get some fat from the butter. The following list will give you the nutritional value of this dish.

• Total Carbohydrates: 13g
• Protein: 2g
• Total Fat: 1g
• Saturated Fat: 0.5g
• Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5g
• Monounsaturated Fat: 0g
• Total Dietary Fiber: 1g
• Total Sugar: 1g
• Cholesterol: 0mg
• Sodium: 0mg
• Potassium: 314mg
• Calcium: 10mg
• Iron: 0.5mg
• Phosphorus: 30mg
• Magnesium: 12mg
• Vitamin A: 0IU
• Vitamin C: 14mg
• Folate: 12mcg

You might have noticed that this recipe contains a very low amount of fat and sugar. So, it will be a healthy choice if you want to consume potatoes. Also, this dish has no sodium, which is good for your heart. The calorie count of this dish is also low at 56 kcal per serving. This dish will provide you with the energy you need for your daily activities without making you obese.

However, you need to moderate the intake of this dish as eating too much carbohydrate can be detrimental. It will increase your craving for eating more carbs and you will end up gaining weight. I recommend pairing this dish with proteins occasionally.

Do’s and Don’ts of the Recipe

You’ll find some useful tips below that will help you perfect this dish and take it to the next level.

Do’s

• After peeling and cutting the potatoes, leave them in water for some time. It will prevent them from discoloring and remove excess starch.
• Fry potatoes in a flat pan so that the surface of the potatoes is in contact with the pan. 
• Use medium-low heat to fry the potatoes. Otherwise, the outside will be dark and the inside will be undercooked.

Don’ts

• Don’t put any salt in this dish. It already has soy sauce, which is enough for seasoning the potatoes.
• Don’t put pepper, chili, or other spices. This dish is meant to be slightly sweet with fragrance from the aromatics.

What Type of Potato Is the Best for This Recipe?

Whenever you are frying potatoes in the pan, try to use potatoes with less starch. These potatoes turn out much crispier and give a better mouthfeel. For example, Yukon Gold potatoes have a lower starch content than Russet potatoes. So, they are perfect for this recipe.

If you use Russet potatoes, they will result in a mushier fry with a much thicker sauce due to the starch.

Do I Need to Blanch the Potatoes Before Frying Them?

Blanching potatoes isn’t a must for this recipe. However, you can blanch the potatoes before frying them. If you blanch them, it will tenderize the center a bit and soften the surface. When you put the blanched potatoes in the pan, the surface area will be higher, so you will get much more crispier potatoes.

Also, blanching will partially cook the potatoes. So, the frying time will be reduced. And the fried potatoes will have a much more tender core. If you have a few minutes extra, you can blanch the potato cubes.

Which Dishes Pair Well with Butter Potatoes?

You can serve a wide variety of main dishes with these butter potatoes. For example, they are perfect for any roasted meat dish. If you make roasted chicken, beef, pork, or duck, you can make these butter potatoes. They can also be combined with rice or noodle dishes.

Even fried chickens taste better with these butter potatoes. If you want, you can serve these potatoes directly as a snack. Munching on these creamy potatoes before the afternoon tea isn’t a bad idea at all.

Can I Store These Butter Potatoes in the Fridge?

If you have leftover butter potatoes, you can store them in the refrigerator for a few days. For this, the potatoes should be completely cooled before you put them inside the refrigerator. Before serving the stored potatoes, you need to heat them up.

Another way of storing these potatoes is to freeze them. You can put the potatoes with the sauce in an airtight container. Then, keep the container in the fridge and the dish will be good for a few months. Remember, frozen potatoes might not taste as good as fresh potatoes.

Conclusion

Potato dishes are commonly used as side dishes with many main dishes. Instead of making common and boring potato recipes, you can make the butter potatoes Chinese recipe to amaze everyone. It has a nice aroma coming from the garlic and green onions. 

The sweetness from the coke nicely balances the saltiness from the soy sauce. Overall, this is the perfect side dish for any occasion or festival. But as consuming too much coke isn’t good for health, I don’t recommend eating this dish too often.