Lemon Grass Palm Oil Pan-Fried Potato Wedges

I fell in love with potato wedges in my fourth year of high school. We were lazing around and decided to go to yellow cab and order pizza. The pizza came with potato wedges as sides and up to this day, they are the best wedges I have ever had. Believe it or not, I have tried several times to recreate this recipe and I think I am a lot closer than when I first began.

Have you heard about palm oil? It is the red semi-solid oil that is popular in West Africa and the western region of Uganda. In almost all my childhood, we always had palm oil and I can recall it being cooked quite a lot. It is recently that I have really learned to appreciate the benefits of palm oil. It adds a rich orange-reddish color to food, it has a great unique taste too and I just read on Wikipedia that it has zero cholesterol. Also I have been using it for my hair for the past one year and the benefits are amazing. But hey, this isn’t about hair. This is about how pan frying potatoes in palm oil is probably one of the best things I have ever done! As you can see, I had a hard time naming this dish! It has a variety of flavors, from lemon grass roots, palm oil, garlic and also the crunchy touch of green beans.

What you will need:

I Kg. Irish Potatoes, washed and cut into wedges

2 C. Green beans, julienned

2 Large onions, thinly sliced lengthwise

3 Garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 Tbsp. Lemon grass root, finely chopped

½ C. Palm oil

Ground black pepper

Salt

Method

Add the palm oil in a clean and dry saucepan and put it on high heat. Wait for the oil to fully cook. This might take 5-7 minutes or until the yellow foam on top of the oil is gone. Add the lemon grass root and let it brown a little. It will release a sweet flavor. Next add the garlic. Let it brown a little and then add the potatoes. Stir occasionally. After five minutes, add salt and stir the potatoes. After another five minutes, add the onions and black pepper and stir well. Cover the pan and let the potatoes cook on high heat. Don’t forget to stir occasionally. Once the potatoes are starting to become tender, add the green beans and stir well. Let the potatoes cook till soft when a fork is inserted. Remove from fire and Let them cool a little. Serve

Observations:

I skipped peeling the potatoes though you can peel them if you prefer to.
Lemon grass root can be obtained by uprooting a mature lemon grass plant which is crazy really because it took almost a year for that little bush to grow (the things we do for flavor!). Make sure that the lemon grass root is tender.

How do you use palm oil? Lets discuss in the comments.

🙂

Sophie