I have just finished watching seven episodes of Discovery Channel’s mythbusters back to back. It’s a helluva lot of fun (watch it, you won’t regret it) and it got me excited about busting a myth I’ve held true for the longest time: are Yams fattening?
First of all, let me just clarify something that has been annoying me no end. Yams are not sweet potatoes, regardless of what the Americans say. When they cook yams at Thanksgiving, most likely they’re talking about sweet potatoes. Candied yams? Yup, sweet potatoes. Yam wedges? Once again, sweet potatoes.
Thankfully, I realised this difference before I actually attempted to candy a taro yam (I shudder to think of having to swallow that disaster) but just in case anyone else isn’t so lucky, I thought I would clarify.
OK. Back to the mythbusting. I have always approached yams with caution cos I assumed that because yams were so starchy, the were highly fattening. So, though I love em, I eat them sparingly.
I decided to look up the nutrition value of yams on the Internet. Why I never did this before, I don’t even know. Well, like I said: timing and universal direction.
Well, it definitaly doesn’t quite come close to watching cuties Grant Imahara, Kari Byron and Torrie Belleci busting myths but I’m pretty pleased that this here myth about yams is now “Busted”.
Shape the mixture into balls (size: golf ball) and shallow fry or bake. If you are baking, add a dribble of oil in the mix when shaping.