What if there are only potatoes and tomatoes left in your refrigerator when you are hungry? If you happen to have noodles on hand, it’s perfect—you’ll be able to make delicious mashed potato noodles. If not, don’t worry! You can use other main staples to pair with the mashed potatoes.
This recipe is simple because the steps aren’t complicated, but it takes some time due to steaming and mashing the potatoes. However, the dish is definitely worth your time. Just go for it!
Ingredients
This recipe is flexible, and you can adjust the ingredients as you like:
- 1 potato (430g)
- 1 tomato (320g)
- Noodles (150g)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 stalks green onions, chopped
- 2 stalks cilantro, chopped
- 1 chili pepper, minced
- 2 Tbsp oil
- 1 Tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp yellow soybean sauce (huangdoujiang)
- ¼ Tsp dark soy sauce
- ¼ Tsp chicken bouillon powder (optional)
You can double the amount of noodles according to the amount of potato and tomato. I didn’t cook that much because I only had 150g of noodles on hand.
Chicken bouillon isn’t necessary; you can substitute sugar. Its purpose is to neutralize the sourness of the tomato. I personally don’t like sugar, so I avoid it.
Before cooking, prepare the garlic, cilantro, green onion, and chili pepper. You can mince all of them if you prefer.
Yellow soybean sauce adds a savory umami flavor and also acts as the salt in this dish. If you don’t have it, try using Lao Gan Ma or another sauce. If you don’t have any sauces, just use salt.
Steam the potato for at least 30 minutes until completely soft. Yellow potatoes are better because they contain more starch. You can cut the potato into small pieces or mash it beforehand to save time later.
The tomato needs to be peeled before mincing. Boil water, score an “X” on the tomato, then blanch it for 1-2 minutes. This will make peeling easier.
How to Make Mashed Potato Noodles
Once everything is ready, use a non-stick pan. Avoid using an iron pan because the acidity of the tomato can react with the iron, resulting in a strange flavor and a rust-like smell. Now, let’s get cooking!
Step 1: Heat oil in the pan, then add the minced garlic and chili pepper. Once fragrant, add the potato and mix everything together.
Step 2: Add light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, chicken bouillon, and the yellow soybean sauce, and mix thoroughly.
If you haven’t mashed the potato yet, turn off the heat and mash both the potato and tomato now. Add some water after mashing and let it boil to prevent the mashed potato from becoming too thick and hard to stir.
If you mashed the potato beforehand, add the tomato now and mix. Add some water and mash the tomato while heating. If you need more time to mash the tomato, turn off the heat.
Step 3: If you’re an experienced cook, you can boil the noodles in a separate pot while preparing the mashed potato mixture. This will save time. If you’re not comfortable managing two tasks at once, cook the noodles after the mashed potato mixture is done.
Step 4: Finally, add the cooked noodles, green onion, and cilantro to the pan. Mix everything well. Now you can enjoy your delicious mashed potato noodles!
I hope you like this dish! Let me know how it turns out.
