Is A Yam And A Sweet Potato The Same Thing
Camila Farah
Similar to the sweet potato a yam is also considered a tuber vegetable but there s a stark difference in their appearances.
No yams and sweet potatoes are not the same. Both sweet potatoes and yams are very versatile. They can be prepared by boiling steaming roasting or frying. But back then the sweet potato was also white or yellow in color.
Often the copper skinned sweet potato is referred to as yam or sweet potato yam and these are a firmer version of sweet potatoes. The sweet potato is more commonly found in us supermarkets so as you d expect it is. White sweet potatoes may look like russets but they re loaded with some of the same fiber and vitamins that orange sweet potatoes have though not as much beta carotene. To know what you want to buy when faced with a sweet potato and a sweet potato yam in the grocery store it is important to know what you want to prepare.
That sweet orange colored root vegetable that you love so dearly is actually a sweetpotato. While they re often marketed interchangeably most likely because of a somewhat similar appearance the truth is yams and sweet potatoes are very different root vegetables. Yes all so called yams are in fact sweetpotatoes. Sweet potatoes have smooth reddish skin softer flesh when cooked and a sweet flavor.
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Sweet potatoes are available year round. Even more it s possible that you ve never even tasted a yam. The skin of a yam looks and feels like bark and just as there is a give to bark as it s being peeled off a tree the skin of a yam also has some resistance during the peeling process which is all much different than a sweet potato s softer skin. The truth is what you ve been calling a yam is most likely a sweetpotato.Yams have rough dark brown skin that is often compared to tree bark and their flesh is dry and starchy like a regular potato. Sweet potatoes originated in north america first joining market shelves alongside the white potato as far back as the late 1600s. According to chef marc bauer master chef at the international culinary center a yam is characterized by dark and sometimes rough skin though the flesh is whiter in shade and dry. Yams are sweeter than the sweet potato grow much larger and are also nutritionally inferior.
Most likely all yams and sweet potatoes that you use from the grocery store are sweet potatoes. Although they are both root vegetables they belong to two different plant families the sweet potato is from the morning glory family while the yam is related to the lily.
Source : pinterest.com