A SUBJECT FOR FURTHER STUDY: THE ROLE OF THE POTATO IN FAR EAST ASIAN COOKERY

Lately I've been wondering about the role of the potato and the sweet potato or yam in Chinese and Japanese cuisines.

It seems to me that nearly always when I have dined inside an East Asian-style restaurant, the potato or sweet potato or the yam was not featured as an ingredient in any entree that I ate inside that restaurant.

However, I am fairly sure that I have eaten a potato side dish in at least two of the Korean-style restaurants in Austin where I have dined in a recent prior year. And it seems to me now that I can recall at least one Chinese-style buffet restaurant in north Austin that featured a potato side dish as an option in that buffet, when I dined in that restaurant several years ago.

I must make a point of pursuing some factual research on this subject, to attempt to discover any recipes for delicious Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, or Thai dishes that feature the potato or the sweet potato or yam as an ingredient.

It seems likely that if I could learn where in Far East Asia the potato and the sweet potato and the yam are raised commercially by farmers, this information would immediately tell me which provinces of Far East Asian countries are most noted for culinary dishes featuring the potato or the sweet potato or yam as a major ingredient.